Successful accreditation of the doctoral schools by The Hungarian Accreditation Committee

Pursuant to the decision of the Plenum of The Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB) on January 28, 2022, the doctoral schools of the Corvinus University of Budapest have been accredited for another 5 years. Therefore, the Doctoral School of Business and Management, the Doctoral School of Economics, Business and Informatics, the Doctoral School of International Relations and Political Science, and the Doctoral School of Sociology and Communication Science can continue their activities until January 28, 2027, the beginning of the next accreditation procedure – in compliance with the legal requirements and quality assurance guidelines. The renewal efforts of Corvinus in view, the transformations related to the fusion of doctoral schools in 2020 and the ongoing implementation of the doctoral quality assurance system, the Hungarian Accreditation Committee will request a written report in 2024 on the results of the improvements made so far. 

The comprehensive reform of doctoral training on Corvinus began in April 2018 with the creation of the Corvinus Doctoral Schools umbrella organization, the first phase ended on 1 July 2020, with the fusion of the closely related doctoral schools, which was carried out in accordance with the document entitled “From school to workshop – Concept and Implementation Plan for the Renewal of the Doctoral Training” adopted in the meantime. In the 2020/21 academic year, a two-way doctoral program (academic and expert career) was developed, and the Corvinus Doctoral Scholarship was launched, which will serve the successful implementation of the goals of the University, as set out in the Institutional Development Plan. The implementation of the doctoral quality assurance regulation started in the autumn of 2021/2022, which will allow the feedback on the training to be formulated on an online platform by 2022. 

The accreditation process for the Corvinus Doctoral Schools, which began in the fall of 2019, has significantly catalyzed the reform of the doctoral training, as the new type of accreditation guidelines adopted by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee in the summer of 2019 served as a guideline for internal renewal. The Hungarian Accreditation Committee no longer acted as an “audit authority” but in an “advisory” role in supporting the improvement of the quality of training, which was based on a very diverse self-assessment report and discussions of the visiting committees with stakeholders. In the discussion 25 to 30 participants per doctoral school participated, during which the visiting committee was informed about the internal processes and the environment supporting them, from the management through the administration to the supervision. The procedure was closed with the decision of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee Plenum and a document contains proposals for the future. 

The four doctoral schools under the auspices of the Corvinus Doctoral Schools organisation are currently training 635 doctoral students, some of whom have already completed their study-phase and working on the final dissertation in collaboration with the supervisors, while others are working to collect the 240 credits required to obtain the dissertation. Participants in Corvinus’ doctoral program are integral components of the university’s scientific ecosystem, providing a link between master’s and talent management (TDK movement) and young researchers, professors of the future. The doctoral schools continuously, as an extremely high-quality operating ferry, transport from one coast to another the next generation of scholars, the successful lecturers and supervisors who guarantee success, with internationally competitive knowledge, commitment to the academic career and responsibility for quality in their backpacks, all the things that makes Corvinus a University.