International environment at the Corvinus – interview with Martin Rimóczi, President of the College for Advanced Studies in Practical Diplomacy

Reporter: Hanna Weller-Petrás; editor: Hanna Olay; copy editor: Panna Pipis; cover picture: College for Advanced Studies in Practical Diplomacy 

The original article is available on the Közgazdász Online student blog in Hungarian. 

Hanna Weller-Petrás: Introduce the College for Advanced Studies in Practical Diplomacy to us, please! 

Martin Rimóczi: 

The primary objective of the College for Advanced Studies in Practical Diplomacy is to create the perfect balance between theoretical and practical skills, and to extend the latter. 

The world of diplomacy is fairly colourful, so our uniquely practical programmes try to present as many relevant disciplines to the members as possible. In each semester, our students can extend their knowledge in international politics, international relations, protocol, economics, law, sociology, negotiation techniques and lots of other disciplines that will provide essential experiences later in the diplomatic and business sectors. The majority of our members are the students of the Corvinus University of Budapest, but there is no such condition in the admission process, so we have members from the Pázmány, the Károli, the BGE (Budapest Business School), the NKE (University of Public Service) and the ELTE universities, too. The two-round admission procedure ensures the outstanding composition of our college, and provides a good foundation for efficient cooperation in the future. Our organisational structure allows all our old and new members to feel themselves as members of full value in the college, be it project or management work, opinions about the operation or the community. 

Hanna Weller-Petrás: In what ways is the international environment present in the student organisation? 

Martin Rimóczi: 

We set the objective of becoming intercultural for the first semester of academic year 2022/23, and in parallel with that, we would like to play a more important role in the integration of the international students of the Corvinus University of Budapest. The period of applying for admission to the Diplomacy Club starts on 15 September 2022, this is a new and exciting programme. It covers the autumn semester in 2022, and it is exclusively for the international students of the Corvinus University of Budapest. We apply a two-round admission process here, too, which ensures the outstanding composition of the programme, and offers a good foundation for efficient cooperation in the future. Written admission exams will take place on 15-25 September, while the oral procedure will be between 26 September and 2 October. The aim of the program is to support international students at the Corvinus who are interested in the world of diplomacy, and with whom we can share our college identity and objectives. The Diplomacy Club will start on 3 October, with twenty international students, and this group will not only be a determining part of the community of our organisation, but will be able to improve their professional skills through a number of possibilities. Apart from community programmes, the selected students may attend various discussions, lectures, visits to embassies, a course of six occasions and a grand simulation, and they can visit the UNO City in Vienna with us. During the programme, they can learn competencies and tips from similarly thinking fellow students, professionals, diplomats and ambassadors that will lay the foundations of their future careers. 

Hanna Weller-Petrás: What are the favourable impacts for Hungarian and foreign students? Why is this environment beneficial for their future careers? 

Martin Rimóczi: 

The programme provides foreign students with a unique opportunity to take part in professional and community programmes, too, in addition to the classes at the university, and they can do that jointly with Hungarian students.  This can help their integration, and it is a good opportunity for Hungarian students to build relations. They can learn about the cultures of other nations, and not only through face-to-face classroom training, but through personal experiences, too, and, at the same time, they can obtain relevant knowledge. Hungarian and foreign students can all learn about and accept each others’ perspectives, which will allow them in the future to think in a more sophisticated way, to make more cautious decisions, and to develop their social sensitivity, too. The friendships made during the process may make students more open, and will allow them to settle in their jobs easier. From the aspect of finding employment, it may be important already in the process of application if the given person feels comfortable working in an international team, too, where smooth cooperation – over cultural backgrounds, language barriers and personal prejudice – may be more difficult.