The internationally renowned Turkology education at the University of Szeged attracted Dr. Chen Hao, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University who was invited to our university by Dr. István Zimonyi, to Hungary a few years ago. The Chinese expert in Central Asian history and Turkology, who graduated in Berlin, brought two students from China with him, who also regularly attended the classes of Dr. Sándor Papp, professor of SZTE BTK (Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences). This is how the relationship began, which reached a new level in May 2024.

– Based on the experiences gained at the time, the Chinese professor probably had a good impression of the University of Szeged, since when he found out that we were traveling to China, he asked us to visit them as a delegation. This has now come true, and to our great joy, we were received with genuine interest and had promising discussions – said Dr. Sándor Papp, lecturer at SZTE BTK, whose recognition and international reputation contributed to the fact that the leaders of the two institutions sat down at the table.

Founded in 1896, SJTU has 34 independent departments, 12 clinical units, and 13 research institutes, and approximately 1,800 of its nearly 50,000 university students come from abroad. The three-member delegation of the University of Szeged was led by Prof. Dr. Péter Zakar, vice-rector for international and public relations of SZTE, and Dr. Szabolcs Felföldi, assistant professor of the Department of Archeology of SZTE BTK, was also a member. During the meeting, it was revealed that representatives of higher education institutions with a similar approach met and that it is also possible to find points of connection beyond the humanities. The Asian institution, like the one in Szeged, has serious traditions, but at the same time, it is very modern. On behalf of the Chinese university, among others, Dr. Chen Hao received the Hungarian delegation, in addition to him, the delegation had a work meeting with Prof. Dr. Liu Weidong, vice-rector for international relations, Ms. Guo Liang, deputy director of the Department of International Relations, Prof. Dr. Cai Wenjing, deputy dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Prof. Dr. Chang Chiyun from the Institute of History. During the discussions, Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Péter Zakar presented SZTE, the best university in Hungary based on the QS ranking.

– It aroused a lot of interest when I talked about our two Nobel laureates, Albert Szent-Györgyi and Katalin Karikó, since they are both world-famous and received recognition for a globally significant discovery. Our impressions are positive, as it turned out that many lecturers teaching at this Asian university have obtained their qualifications in Europe, so language skills, cultural awareness, and openness are a given. Based on our experience, we are talking about a higher education institution that fits perfectly into the European education system, where mobility in both directions can be easy for students, lecturers, and researchers. We have identified several possible areas of cooperation. The focus of the meeting was on research related to the East, but, in addition, we can also learn from each other in the fields of medicine, philosophy, history, international relations, and even administration, and joint projects are also possible in the field of medicine, said Prof. Dr. Péter Zakar, vice-rector for international and public relations at SZTE.

During the meeting, the parties agreed to begin working out the details of the written cooperation declaration, which the representatives of Shanghai Jiao Tong University will sign during their visit to Hungary, which is expected to take place next year.

Text: Ferenc Lévai