During his 4-year term, ambassador Virri visited Debrecen and UD several times. Debrecen has a twin town in Finland, and the Finnish language has been available for students of the university since 1914, the first academic year of the Hungarian Royal University, UD’s legal predecessor, when the Department of Hungarian and Finno-Ugrik Linguistics was established.
UD students can study Finnish as a specialisation in a BA programme, or can choose the MA course in Finno-Ugric Studies if they would like to obtain deeper knowledge of the Finnish language, literature and culture. Those taking the doctoral school can write their theses about topics related to Finnish and Finno-Ugrik linguistics.
- Students have various scholarship programmes to choose from. Every year 10–12 students can participate in a summer university course in Finland or, in the framework of Erasmus agreements, spend a semester at a Finnish university in Helsinki, Turku, Jyväskylä or Oulu. All of these opportunities are the benefits of cooperation between Hungarian and Finnish institutions – emphasised Róbert Keményfi, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the meeting.
Ambassador Virri talked about the University of Debrecen with recognition, and pledged to continue joint work.
- After I have completed my diplomatic mission in Hungary, I will return to Finland. But our embassy will continue to support the educational and research work conducted at the University of Debrecen, which includes translations for the embassy, strengthening student exchange programmes, and participation at events organised by the Finnish Cultural Centre – said ambassador Virri upon his last official visit in Debrecen.
During the visit it was highlighted that UD worked closely together with the Finnish Ministry of Education as well.
- Finnish linguistic reviewers have worked at UD since 1971. Also, the Finnish Ministry of Education regularly delegates trainees to study at the university, and in the framework of a teacher exchange programme Finnish linguists, literary scholars and historians hold courses at the Faculty in almost every semester – pointed out Sándor Maticsák, head of the Department of Finno-Ugrik Linguistics. He added that a new reviewer would join the faculty staff this summer. The linguist, who speaks good Hungarian, graduated from the University of Turku.
Press Centre – BZs
