Two Days, Countless Questions – METU Joins Researchers’ Night with an Exciting Programme
2026-09-11
Budapest Metropolitan University will join the nationwide Researchers’ Night programme for the third time on 25–26 September 2026. Friday will focus on business, sustainability and the future of work, while Saturday will explore current questions relating to art, literature and freedom.
How does ESG affect our everyday lives? What enables a family business to thrive across generations? What will our jobs look like in 2035? What is freedom for, and how do contemporary art, literature and philosophy approach this question?
METU’s two-day programme will explore these and many other topics through lectures, interactive workshops, professional discussions, film screenings, creative workshops, a literary event and a concert.
Business, Sustainability and the Future of Work
On Friday, 25 September, the Faculty of Business, Communication and Tourism will welcome visitors with programmes in Hungarian and English.
The Special Perspectives on ESG programme will examine the most common abbreviations associated with sustainability, the differences between CSR, ESG and the SDGs, and the particular challenges faced by different sectors of the economy. The event will open with remarks by Dean Dr Viktor Friedmann, followed by a lecture by Professor Dr Cecília Szigeti and roundtable discussions involving representatives of industry and academia.
An English-language workshop led by FEIR HUB student researchers will focus on succession in family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. Participants will learn about the conditions and risks associated with successful succession, as well as the role of sustainability, responsible leadership and innovation in the long-term survival of family businesses.
Also held in English, the interactive session The Workplace of 2035: Will Your Future Job Even Exist? will explore how artificial intelligence, digital transformation, sustainability and demographic change are reshaping the future of work. Participants will also discuss the human skills that will remain essential in a world increasingly shaped by technology.
METU Salon: What Is Freedom For?
On Saturday, 26 September, METU Salon will return to the Rózsa Street campus of the Faculty of Art and Creative Industries. The annual event brings together art, literature, music and the social sciences around a central question that is particularly relevant to our communities.
In previous years, participants were invited to consider what is enough and what constitutes a good enough life. In 2026, METU Salon will focus on a new question: What Is Freedom For?
The afternoon will begin with film screenings and creative workshops offering an insight into the work of METU’s Animation and Media Design, Fashion and Textile, Film and Television, Graphic Design, and Architecture and Design departments.
The programme will continue with a presentation and reading of poet Kamilla Vida’s book Demographic Peak, followed by a discussion moderated by Ferenc Kőszeghy, Assistant Lecturer at METU.
Later in the evening, Zsolt K. Horváth, Lóránt Kicsák, Ferenc Kőszeghy and Kamilla Vida will discuss the social, cultural and philosophical meanings of freedom. The roundtable will be moderated by Zsuzsanna Pörczi, Head of METU’s Institute of Art and Design Theory. The evening will conclude with a concert by the Platon Karataev Duo.
Detailed programme and registration:
