Hundreds of people celebrated the opening of the Gellért Campus

Students have been studying in the modern and innovative spaces of the Gellért Campus for almost two weeks now, and we officially opened the new campus and a new era of the University on 22 February with a grand student and staff open day.  

The campus can accommodate about 680 students at a time, with a useful area of almost 14,000 square metres. The building is filled with collaborative, multi-purpose teaching/research and community spaces, and includes a 300-seat auditorium. Outdoor classes can also be held in the 1.1-hectare park.  The multi-purpose sports centre includes an outdoor and an indoor team sports field, a fitness room and 4 exercise studios for Corvinus citizens. The campus’s sports specialty will be the soon-to-open climbing wall room.   

The opening

More than 800 students and staff members came to one of the day’s programmes. They could choose from workshops, round-table discussions, presentations and a variety of playful programmes about campus spirit, innovation, sustainability and community. There were presentations by Father Feri Pál on mental health, César Hidalgo, Director of our Centre for Collective Learning, on data visualisation, and climate scientist Diána Ürge-Vorsatz on sustainability, and a discussion with Marco Rossi, the head coach of the Hungarian football team, where the audience could ask questions. As part of the programme, workshops were held to try out the Campus’ speciality, Data Space, and the Makerspace, which offers a wide range of design tools. 

At the event, Zsolt Hernádi presented the symbolic keys of the Campus to Lajos Szabó, Acting Rector of the University, and Kristóf Kovács, President of the Student Union, on behalf of the University. The bunch of keys, consisting of five keys, refers to important data regarding the construction of the campus. For example, it symbolizes the 786,713 work hours required for its completion and the 2,834 technicians involved in the construction.  

Kristóf Kovács expressed gratitude to everyone who participated in the preparation of the campus and added, “The new campus serves as inspiration for all of us to aim higher and achieve even more.” These walls will bear witness to legendary lecturers, funny moments, great loves, and hopefully, few exam failures for thousands of economics students in the future.  

The President of the Board of Trustees of the Maecenas Universitatis Corvini Foundation stated in his opening speech, “We aim to reach the forefront of Central Europe, and this building is a symbol of that. We are creating a university from Corvinus that will attract students from the region; one that can compete with Western universities; one that offers the most competitive degrees to students; one that establishes an intellectual corridor in the region from north to south.”  

In his speech, Lajos Szabó expressed that the building is the house of the 4Is: innovation, inspiration, interaction, and integration. These are the key factors that make this place special”.  János Csák, Minister of Culture and Innovation, also participated in the official opening, emphasizing: “The building itself is just stone, iron, and glass. What defines this building is the spirit with which you, the students, fill it.  

We hope that as many people as possible have been inspired to spend time on the campus and take advantage of its excellent opportunities. 

Check out pictures from the opening and a video of the campus: