I remember the year I spent at CEU as an exciting time of exposure to ideas and people new to me. Some of the courses I took formed the questions and interests I have pursued in my research ever since. The M.A. thesis I wrote became my first peer-reviewed publication in an international social science journal. I remember also long discussions on various issues (as well as fabulous parties) with people from Europe and the United States I met at CEU. Some of them are still my dear friends even today.
Peter Stamatov (MA 1995-96),
Assistant Professor, Yale University
"Central European University opens a new world of doing research in political science to me. I benefited enormously from its rigorous and systematic training on empirical research methodology, from its rich literature not only through its resourceful library but also through its knowledgeable faculties, and from the telling open-mindedness and impressing diversity among the faculties and students. My study at the PhD program at Central European University has been the most rewarding academic journey for me."
Hairong Lai (Ph.D. 2003-2008),
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow,
China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics
"Looking back I can describe CEU as a great meeting place for people, for different cultures, knowledge and experience. CEU was an invaluable source of knowledge and development for me. As a result I could open my mind, widen my views and get more in depth knowledge especially on the turmoil of transition and the context around it. CEU meant a lot for developing my interest in research and provided an excellent springboard for my further career."
Mariana Sireteanu Gustavsson (MA 2000-2001), Research Assistant,
Learning Lund, Lund University
"I regard my one year MA experince at the CEU as the best experience of my life. CEU is indeed a unique home which blends academic excellence with her truly dedicated, friendly and professional academic staff with equally exceptional students from all over the world. During a one-year period at the CEU, I have acquired the academic skills which I couldn not have acquired in any other instiution in such a short period of time. This has helped me a great deal as I got acceptance by all the three prominent PhD programs I applied in Istanbul. Now I am continuing my academic studies at Bogazici University, the Atatürk Institute on Modern Turkish Studies. This helps me further understand what a valuable experience the CEU has been. Furthermore, the great friends I made at the CEU, which I still correspond, have taught me even more about the world we live in. Therefore, I am grateful to the CEU for giving us the opportunity to know each other, for offering us the unique academic excellence and also for her invaluable contributions to the world peace."
Sule Chousein (MA 2006-2007), PhD Candidate,
Atatürk Institute on Modern Turkish Studies, Bogazici University
"CEU and my Budapest experience are very precious to me, I will always keep them in my heart. You helped me to be what I am now - I feel young and successful and it is sure that you contributed a lot to this feeling of mine.
Thank you all for being exactly what you were, for helping me and my colleagues to grow up, because when we came back in our countries, we were different people, enriched with all kinds of scientific, cultural and personal experience. In CEU I also met many new friends that are a part of my life now.
Thank you all for being exactly what you were, for helping me and my colleagues to grow up, because when we came back in our countries, we were different people, enriched with all kinds of scientific, cultural and personal experience. In CEU I also met many new friends that are a part of my life now.
CEU and the POLSCI faculty developed in me many qualities that I use in my professional life now. You gave me more patience, concentration and tenacity.
CEU helped me on one hand to listen and to understand the positions of my interlocutors but, on the other hand to have a strong personal opinion and to present it clearly."
Emilia Lubenova
(MA 2007-2008), Marketing Specialist,
Prime Capital Management, Bulgaria
"The Central European University is all about transformation and movement. It is about the fascination with the ways in which societies, places and practices transform – sometimes slowly, sometimes overnight. And it is about the constant movement of ideas and persons, which often lead to unexpected encounters and conversations that happen in the right place, at the right time.
That year when I was a Masters student at the Department of Political Science certainly transformed my thinking and greatly influenced my personal movements. It broadened my horizons and, equally importantly, helped me acquire the skills that are essential to navigate well in an academic world that is increasingly transnational, but only considers English its official language. All this took place in Budapest – a city I thought I knew like the back of my hand, but appeared beautifully unfamiliar when I walked its streets with my CEU friends from Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia and the United States"
Endre Danyi (MA 2002-2003), PhD Candidate,
Department of Sociology, Lancaster University
CEU was a wonderful experience as it helped me to grow both professionally and personally. International environment of the University in general and in the Political Science department in particular, rich library funds, innovative courses, communication with highly-qualified tutors and fellow students, encouraged me to pursue academic career and to be dedicated to the reform of higher education in Ukrain
Yuliana Palagnyuk (MA 2003-2004), Senior Lecturer,
Department of Public Policy and Management, Institute of Public Administration,
Black Sea Petro Mohyla State University in consortium with “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”