BCE Közgazdálkodás és közpolitika / CUB Public Policy and Management

🎓🌍 Great news from our doctoral community!
Our second-year PhD student, Márton Zsuráfszky, recently had the opportunity to present his doctoral research at the University of Oxford, one of the world's most renowned universities.
His presentation, titled "Strategic (in)Action – A Configurational Analysis of Education Policy Change in Europe", explored why governments sometimes pursue major education reforms—and why they sometimes choose not to.
The presentation was followed by a lively discussion on education policy, public service reform, and the challenges of policy change. It was a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas and engage with an international academic audience.
We are always proud to see our doctoral students sharing their research beyond Hungary and contributing to important international conversations. 🌍📚
Congratulations to Márton on this outstanding achievement! 👏 We would also like to thank Szilvia Schmitsek (Module Convenor) and the Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford for making this valuable academic exchange possible.

🏆 Outstanding news from !

The Department of Public Policy was strongly represented at this year's NISPAcee Conference, and in the coming weeks we will be sharing some of the exciting work presented by our colleagues. 📚

We start with fantastic news: our colleague Áron Hajnal received the prestigious NISPAcee Best PhD Thesis Award 🏅, one of the most important recognitions for doctoral research in public policy and public administration in Central and Eastern Europe.

🎓This marks the third time in the past five years (following Zoltán Török and Iga Jeziorska) that a PhD researcher from our department has received this distinction – a remarkable achievement that reflects the excellence of our students, supervisors, and academic community.

Congratulations to Áron and his supervisor, Dr. Attila Bartha, on this outstanding success! 👏🎊

Felvételi sorrendmódosítás? Július 7-ig van lehetőség változtatni! ⏰
A felvételi eljárásban a korábban megadott jelentkezési sorrend egyetlen alkalommal módosítható, ezért érdemes alaposan átgondolni, melyik intézmény és képzés kerüljön az első helyre.
Ha olyan mesterszakot keresel, ahol valódi szakpolitikai és társadalmi kihívásokkal foglalkozhatsz, nézd meg a Corvinus angol nyelvű képzéseit! 🌍
🎓 Egyéves képzések:
• MSc in Public Governance
https://www.uni-corvinus.hu/post/landing-page/mesterkepzesek/kozossegi-kormanyzas/?lang=en&fbclid=IwY2xjawR6ZAdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFheVBlYzdYclAxMFh5ajVqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqj3SShi90SbwGum2Sb5UE61Rv-lRmkFx7E_-f3-UaHbCZ8g1ryqYGKEJivK_aem_lZTwONrXqZcIGtyoPIkyUQ
• MSc in Health Economic Evaluation
• MSc in Global Development Policy
• MSc in Climate Policy and Regional Development
🎓 Kétéves képzés:
• MSc in Public Policy and Management
https://www.uni-corvinus.hu/post/landing-page/masters/msc-in-public-policy-and-management/?lang=en&fbclid=IwY2xjawR6ZK5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFheVBlYzdYclAxMFh5ajVqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHi9JPNQbtdTQtkgFtqvFJhPlBUe8u3DA1jP6vEoT9fTLRZOLlVFqWziaIUCn_aem_sc80FsEJ6qnysL20JycdKQ
Nálunk a kutatás, a gyakorlati tudás és a nemzetközi lehetőségek találkoznak — nemzetközi projektek, study tripek, szakmai közösség és valódi policy kihívások mentén.

🚀 Milyen egy nemzetközi, gyakorlatorientált policy mesterszak a Corvinuson?
Hallgasd meg Public Policy and Management hallgatóink tapasztalatait a képzésről, közösségről és lehetőségekről. 🌍
🎥 Videó:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HinSpWfwuo

Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem

Discover the Corvinus MSc in Public Policy and Management 🤔 Unsure about your next step after earning your bachelor’s degree?...

Last week our Nonprofit Management and Civil Society class left the university classroom behind and visited the inspiring Anyahajó (“Mother Ship”) community NGO, led by professor Eva Kovacs and co-organized with the Corvinus Science Shop 🌿

During the visit, students stepped into the role of consultants and explored one of the biggest dilemmas many volunteer-based NGOs face today: how can a community organization survive and remain sustainable when the people carrying it are constantly changing?

🔹 What happens when organizational memory mostly exists in people’s heads?
🔹 How do you prevent volunteer burnout when the “invisible work” — administration, coordination, finances, opening doors, fixing printers, organizing keys, writing grants — always falls on the same few committed people?

The conversation with the organizers gave students a fascinating insight into the realities of grassroots civil society work. Anyahajó is a fully community-based space built by mothers for mothers — a place where women can create programs, test ideas, support each other, and gradually rebuild professional and social identities after motherhood 🌱

One of the most interesting discussions focused on volunteer turnover and continuity. Many mothers actively participate while they are at home with small children, but once they return to full-time work, they often no longer have the capacity to stay involved in organizing the NGO itself. This creates a constant challenge: how do you bring new generations into the organizing core before the previous volunteers burn out?

Students also reflected on broader questions:

📌 Can an NGO remain informal, organic, and community-driven while also becoming sustainable?
📌 How much structure is needed before flexibility disappears?
📌 How can organizations preserve knowledge, routines, and community culture when leadership constantly changes?

A huge thank you to the Anyahajó team for their openness, honesty, and inspiring reflections. Experiences like this remind us that civil society is not only something we study in books — it is something people build every single day through care, trust, and collective effort ✨

🎓 At Corvinus University of Budapest, students in the Public Governance MSc programme combine academic theory with hands-on experience, field visits, simulations, project-based learning, and real-world policy challenges.

The programme brings together research, practice, and international perspectives to prepare students for careers in the public sector, NGOs, international organizations, and policy-related fields.

🔗 Learn more about the Public Governance MSc programme: https://www.uni-corvinus.hu/post/landing-page/mesterkepzesek/kozossegi-kormanyzas/?lang=en&fbclid=IwY2xjawR5AkBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFheVBlYzdYclAxMFh5ajVqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvVog0vHxdKqcXSart6k82hcc5XkTQzwd4a-2fu0ajSKW-YbNZD8KgG7CwhG_aem_4oSA9zWOIKUpq1Zk-C28Hw

🤖 AI, governance, and the future of administrative innovation
We were delighted to host Minjun Hong (Global Development Institute for Public Affairs, Seoul National University) at the Department of Public Policy, Corvinus University of Budapest as part of our Power, Policy, and Practice seminar series.

In his presentation, “Generative AI Prompts as a Data Source for Administrative Innovation,” he explored a cutting-edge question:
👉 What can the way public officials interact with AI tell us about the future of governance?
💡 The talk highlighted how interactions between public officials and generative AI systems produce “prompt data” — a novel and largely untapped source for understanding how AI is actually used, adapted, and embedded in administrative work.
Using a simulation-based approach, the research demonstrated how such data can reveal emerging needs, patterns of administrative work, and new opportunities for data-driven governance — while also pointing to important limitations.
🌍 The discussion that followed reflected exactly what we aim to foster at Corvinus:
critical engagement with real-world policy challenges, at the intersection of technology, governance, and innovation.
🙏 Many thanks to Minjun Hong for the inspiring presentation and discussion, and thanks to the organizers of this seminar

💡 Big ideas. Real impact.
Recently we had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Peter Raeymaeckers (University of Antwerp) at the Department of Public Policy, Corvinus University of Budapest for a full day of discussions with our Public Policy and Management community.
From a lively research forum to a thought-provoking lecture on welfare state transformation in Europe, the conversations went straight to the heart of today’s most pressing governance challenges.
🌍 What did we explore?
How relationships between governments and NGOs are changing across different political contexts — and how performance, accountability, advocacy, and power are reshaping the landscape.
⚡ One key takeaway:
We are witnessing a shift from trust-based collaboration to more performance-driven systems.
Efficient? Perhaps.
But also risky.
Because when governments stop listening and limit the space for civil society:
• NGOs adapt
• resistance strategies emerge
• and “collaboration” can quickly turn into contestation
Especially in countries with strong and active civil societies.
🙏 A big thank you to Prof. Raeymaeckers for the inspiring exchange and for engaging with us so openly during such a politically and socially dynamic time in Budapest.
🎓 At Corvinus, this is what we do.
Our Public Governance MSc prepares students to understand — and navigate — these complex, evolving relationships between government and civil society.
🚀 Want to work on real policy challenges?
Join us:
https://www.uni-corvinus.hu/post/landing-page/mesterkepzesek/kozossegi-kormanyzas/?lang=en