Eötvös Loránd University

Eötvös Loránd University is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, it is the longest continuously operating university in the country.
The almost 30 thousand students at ELTE are organized into nine faculties, and into research institutes located throughout Budapest and on the scenic banks of the Danube. ELTE is affiliated with 7 Nobel laureates, as well as winners of the Wolf Prize, Fulkerson Prize and Abel Prize, the latest of which was Nobel Prize in Literature winner László Krasznahorkai in 2025.
The predecessor of Eötvös Loránd University was founded in 1635 by Cardinal Péter Pázmány in Nagyszombat, Kingdom of Hungary as a Catholic university for teaching theology and philosophy. In 1770, the university was transferred to Buda, later to Pest. It was named Royal University of Pest until 1873, then University of Budapest until 1921, when it was renamed Royal Hungarian Pázmány Péter University after its founder Péter Pázmány. The Faculty of Science started its autonomous life in 1949, when the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Medicine was separated from the university. The university received its current name in 1950, after one of its most well-known physicists, Baron Loránd Eötvös.

History

The university was founded in 1635 in Nagyszombat, Kingdom of Hungary by the archbishop and theologian Péter Pázmány. Leadership was given over to the Jesuits. Initially the university only had two faculties. The Faculty of Law was added in 1667 and the Faculty of Medicine was started in 1769. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order, the university was moved to Buda in 1777 in accordance with the intention of the founder. The university moved to its present location in Pest in 1784. The language of education was Latin until 1844, when Hungarian was introduced as an exclusive official language. Women have been allowed to enroll since 1895.
Although several Hungarian universities opted for the new foundation model, Eötvös Loránd University remained state-owned.

Academic profile

ELTE is Hungary's largest scientific establishment with 118 PhD programs at 17 doctoral schools, and also offers 38 bachelor's programs, 96 master's programs, and over 50 degree programs in foreign languages. The course credits awarded are transferable to universities in Europe through the Bologna process.
The nine faculties are :

Faculty	Code	Founded	Defunct	Institutions	Educators	Students	Dean
Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education	FSNE	2000		5		2094	Gabriella Papp
Faculty of Economics	FE	2021	-	-	-	-	György Andor
Faculty of Humanities	FH	1635		18	589	6960	Dávid Bartus
Faculty of Education and Psychology	FEP	2003		8		3963	Anikó Zsolnai
Faculty of Informatics	FI	2003		4		3128	Tamás Kozsik
Faculty of Law	FL	1667		0		4172	Pál Sonnevend
Faculty of Medicine	FM	1769	1951	-	-	-	-
Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education	FPPE	2000		0		1831	Éva Márkus
Faculty of Theology	FT	1635	1950	-	-	-	-
Faculty of Science	FS	1949		5		3815	Imre Kacskovics
Faculty of Social Sciences	FSS	2003		6		1762	Gábor Juhász
Faculty of Teachers' Training	FTT	1983	2003	-	-	-

Timeline (1873–present)

Reputation and rankings

In the 2013-14 QS World University Rankings, Eötvös Loránd University was ranked 551-600th. In 2018, according to the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, ELTE ranked between 601 and 800. Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the university among the best 301-400 between 2010 and 2014.

Campuses

ELTE has campuses at several places in Budapest:

Egyetem tér in the 5th district
"Trefort Garden" in the 8th district
Lágymányos campus in the 11th district
Buildings in Kazinczy utca and Izabella utca
Ecseri út in the 9th district
Kiss János altábornagy utca in the 12th district

Since 2017, ELTE has a campus named "Savaria University Centre" in Szombathely.

Faculties

Faculty	Abbreviation	Postcode	Address
Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education	FSNE	1097	3. Ecseri út
Faculty of Economics	FE	1088	7. Rákóczi út
Faculty of Education and Psychology	FEP	1075	23–27. Kazinczy utca
Faculty of Humanities	FH	1088	4. Múzeum krt.
Faculty of Informatics	FI	1117	1/C. Pázmány Péter sétány
Faculty of Law	FL	1053	1–3. Egyetem tér
Faculty of Primary and Pre-School Education	FPPE	1126	40. Kiss János altáb. utca
Faculty of Science	FS	1117	1/A. Pázmány Péter sétány
Faculty of Social Science	FSS	1117	1/A. Pázmány Péter sétány

Library

The University Library and Archives was founded in 1561 and it is located in 6 Ferenciek tere. However, each faculty of the university has its own library. They are located in different parts of Budapest.

The library of Medieval Studies of the Central European University was located in the building of ELTE's Faculty of Humanities.

Notable alumni

Nobel Prize laureates:

Fülöp Lénárd, Nobel Prize in Physics
Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
György Hevesy, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
György Békésy, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
János Harsányi, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
Ferenc Krausz, Nobel Prize in Physics
László Krasznahorkai, Nobel Prize in Literature

Other notable alumni:

Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Science
Sport

The Eötvös Loránd University has its own sport club, Budapesti Egyetemi Atlétikai Club. The biggest achievement of the association football department of the club was qualifying for the 1924-25 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. However, in the subsequent season the club was relegated to the Nemzeti Bajnokság II and has never since been able to qualify to the top flight.
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