ELTE International Opening Ceremony 2026

Welcome speech of András Gombás, President of the University Doctoral Students Union (EDÖK)

Honorable Vice-Rector, Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, and most importantly, dear fellow students! 

My name is András Gombás, and it is my distinct honor to welcome you today as the President of EDÖK, the University Doctoral Students Union. 

The mission of our organization is straightforward: we provide advocacy, guidance, and community for all doctoral students of ELTE. 

To understand how we can support you, it is helpful to see where EDÖK fits within the network of student organizations. 

At the university level, we work closely alongside EHÖK, the University Students Union, which represents bachelor's and master's students, as well as ISAC, the International Student Advisory Committee, which fosters community building across all study levels for international students. We are a similar organization to EHÖK, but our focus is on the support and the representation of the unique needs of PhD students, both national and international. 

Structurally, within EDÖK, we have faculty-level doctoral students unions, called Faculty DÖKs, who can assist you with faculty and doctoral school-specific matters. And on the national level, we work in close cooperation with DOSZ, the Association of Hungarian PhD and DLA Students. They also offer an excellent Ambassador Program across all universities in Hungary, where you have the opportunity to represent your country of origin. This multi-level network of student organizations at ELTE ensures that your voice is heard everywhere from your local research group or laboratory, all the way to national higher education policy discussions no matter where you come from. 

Speaking of higher education policy and advocacy, we are currently focusing our best efforts on addressing one of the most critical aspects of our lives as young researchers. As you can see on this graph, our primary goal right now is to advocate for an increase in the basic doctoral stipend as we aim to help the university and the government provide the necessary financial stability for doctoral students and to prevent early dropout and mental burnout. 

We know the immense dedication, long hours, and intellectual rigor your research demands, and we firmly believe that this dedication must be met with fair financial appreciation. Please be assured that we are actively negotiating at the highest administrative and ministerial levels to secure better financial conditions and a more sustainable future for you. 

I am also very happy to announce that, in addition to administrative representation and advocacy for higher stipends, we launched an international integration strategy last year within EDÖK to ensure your voices are fully represented. 

We now have a Presidential Commissioner for International Integration, Emmanuel, who is dedicated to making sure you feel at home here at ELTE. 

A PhD journey is often described as a solitary path, but I want to assure you that you do not have to walk it alone. Reach out to us, join our community, and let's shape the future of science together. 

In this spirit, I also want to emphasize that we are organizing an International Freshman Camp in cooperation with the other student organizations and the university's InSINC office. You as doctoral students are also most welcome to join us at this camp at the end of September, where you can get to know your fellow students, the Hungarian culture, cuisine and the ELTE international community a bit more. 

I wish you all a highly successful, productive, and inspiring academic year. Thank you for your attention!