University of Pécs
The University of Pécs is one of the largest higher education institutions in Hungary. The history of the university began in the Middle Ages, when in 1367, at the request of King Louis I the Great, Pope Urban V granted permission to found the institution. This made it the first university in Hungary and the fourth in Central Europe. The official successor of the university is the Elisabeth University of Pozsony, founded in 1912. In 1921, after Bratislava became part of Czechoslovakia, the university was moved to Pécs in 1951, the Faculty of Medicine separated and existed as an independent institution, until it merged with the Janus Pannonius University in 2000, which united the other faculties in Pécs. This is how the current University of Pécs was created.
Approximately 22,000 students attend the university at the moment, 4,900 of whom are international students enrolled in English or German courses. As a result, it ranks among the universities in the nation with the most students. The institution supports students' academic growth through a number of clinics and research institutes in addition to its ten faculties.
History
Medieval university (1367– 1390)
The medieval university of Pécs was founded in 1367 as the last in the first wave of Central European university foundations., Krakow, Vienna Historical public consciousness considers Louis the Great as the founder of the university, but the king's role in the foundation can be considered formal, as part of the Holy See procedure. The operation of the University of Pécs was authorized on September 1, 1367 in a bull by Pope Urban V, at the request of King Louis the Great of Hungary. The true spiritual father of the first Hungarian university was the contemporary bishop of Pécs, William of Koppenbach, who, in addition to his ecclesiastical office, was royal chaplain and secret chancellor, one of Louis the Great's important diplomats and confidants. The University of Pécs was primarily intended for the proper teaching of church law and the Latin language, so that the Hungarian students of the time did not have to travel abroad if they wanted to attend university. In Pécs, the faculty of humanities and law can be taken for granted, so the medieval university was truncated. The Pope did not allow the establishment of the Faculty of Theology. Very few written documents have survived about the medieval University of Pécs, and we hardly know anything about its functioning. We know a total of four teachers and seven students by name who can be proven to have taught or studied at the university. The most famous medieval professor in Pécs was the Italian Galvano di Bologna, who stayed in Pécs between 1372 and 1374. The second and last chancellor of the university was Bishop Bálint Alsáni of Pécs . The university was fundamentally linked to the person of Vilmos Bishop, and then began to decline after his death, finally ending sometime around 1390, it was almost certainly not functioning when the University of Óbuda was founded in 1395. The modern Pécs University is not legally continuous with its medieval predecessor, we can only speak of an intellectual heritage. After that, university-level education did not exist in the city until the beginning of the 20th century, but the renowned and high-quality chapter school continued to exist. The supposed building of the medieval university in Pécs was excavated between 1978 and 1998 in the bishop's castle, east of the Golden Mary chapel, in the immediate vicinity of the Pécs Cathedral, on its north side. The definition of the building is disputed, many researchers do not agree that the medieval studium generale operated in the building. In 2015, a permanent university history exhibition was opened in the restored building, with important medieval Gothic sculptural monuments.Modern university
In 1785 Joseph II moved the headquarters of the Royal Academy from Győr to Pécs for about twenty years. It was not until 1833 that Bishop Ignác Szepesy, in cooperation with the city council, founded the Academy of Pécs, with faculties of law and humanities. For the lyceum, he had an ornate palace built for 100,000 forints, which was completed in 1832. He donated 251,260 forints to the lyceum and made it his heir in his will. He arranged specialist libraries for his teachers, and placed Klimó's large library there, gifting it with 400 books, 400 minerals and numerous medals.The Royal Hungarian Elizabeth University in Pozsony was founded in 1912, which can be considered the legal predecessor of the University of Pécs. At the end of the First World War, as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, Bratislava became part of Czechoslovakia. After that, in 1921, the Hungarian National Assembly adopted the law that temporarily moved the University of Bratislava to Pécs. Delayed due to the Serbian occupation of the city, in any case the university operated from 1923 with four faculties: law, medicine, humanities and evangelical theology. The latter is in Sopron. During the Second World War, the Faculty of Humanities was temporarily moved partly to Szeged and partly to Kolozsvár, which became part of Hungary as a result of the Second Vienna Award of 1940.
In 1950, the Faculty of Evangelical Theology in Sopron was separated and upgraded to an academy. In 1951, the medical faculty continued to operate as a separate and independent university under the name Pécs University of Medicine, so the University of Pécs continued to operate with a single faculty, the faculty of law. In the meantime, improvements were made at the medical university. In 1966, the so-called 400-bed clinic was opened, in which five different units operated. Dental training also began in 1973. From 1975, a new faculty of economics was established, and in 1982 the Pécs Teacher Training College merged with the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Law. The new institution was named Janus Pannonius University. In 1990, the Faculty of Health Sciences was established within the Medical University of Pécs.
In the meantime, the Faculty of Teacher Education was divided into the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Pollack Mihály Technical College was merged with Janus Pannonius University in 1995. In 1996, the Faculty of Arts was established as the sixth organizational unit of the university.
The University of Pécs was established in 2000 by the merger of the Janus Pannonius University, the Medical University of Pécs and the Gyula Illyés Teacher Training College in Szekszárd.
In 2004 the Pollack Mihály Technical College transformed into a full-fledged university faculty under the name of Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering. In 2005 the Faculty of Adult Education and Human Resources Development is established as the tenth faculty of the university. The College of Health Sciences becomes a full-fledged university faculty under the name of Faculty of Health Sciences in 2006. The name of the Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering becomes Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. In considering the merger of the Faculty of Adult Education and Human Resources Development and the Illyés Gyula Teacher Training College of Szekszárd the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Education and Regional Development is formed.
In 2015 the university had nine faculties. In 2016 the Faculty of Pharmacy was expected to be established, and as a result, the University of Pécs will once again, feature ten faculties. Besides the general medicine program, training in dentistry and pharmacy were launched in 1973 and 2001. Meanwhile, the English Program in General Medicine was implemented in 1984, the first medical education program of its kind in Central Europe. A similar German Program was initiated in 2004.
Education and research
As part of the European higher education system, UP follows the Bologna process and offers a three-tier system that includes doctoral level programs, master level programs that last two to four semesters, and bachelor level programs that last six to eight semesters. The university also provides one-tier, undivided, five- to six-year master's degree programs in engineering, medicine, law, and the arts. Additionally, interested students can participate in short programs like summer universities, preparation courses, and partial trainings.The Szentágothai Research Centre of the University of Pécs is a research institute established on the basis of modern international science organizational and management normatives. The Technology Transfer Office has been at the disposal of researchers, students and business partners. In order to effectively operate and develop the research infrastructure, research support laboratories have been established, which carry significant scientific and innovation potential and collaboration opportunities. More than 200 researchers from 19 research groups work in the institution, and several associated members and centers are also part of the professional community. Since September 2020, two National Laboratories have also been housed in the Pécs research center.
The South Transdanubian Regional Library and Knowledge Center also belongs to the university. The former city and county library and the University Library and Knowledge Center of the University of Pécs, as well as the university's Law and Economics Library, moved into the thirteen thousand square meter, four-story building. The building has two 200-seat lecture halls and a conference room, as well as research rooms and Internet workstations. The library is open 84 hours a week, every day from eight in the morning to eight in the evening, even on Saturdays and Sundays. Free Wi-Fi is available everywhere in the building, and almost 300 computers are available to readers. The institution is also suitable for organizing community, cultural and leisure programs. The library welcomes readers from October 25, 2010. In November 2015, the library had 25,000 registered readers. The designer of the building is Balázs Mihály Kossuth award-winning and Prima Primissima award-winning architect.