Two Additional Online Summer Schools: Law and Technology and Hungarian Cultural Heritage

Recently, two online summer schools have started within the framework of the Summer School program at the University of Pécs, organized by the International Centre.

Law and Technology is a two-week virtual summer program designed for students in the European Digital UniverCity (EDUC) alliance. The 25 participants study at the Italian, French, German and Czech EDUC member universities as well as the University of Pécs, which is also a member of the alliance. The academic program is facilitated by the Faculty of Law. The course gives an innovative perspective on the legal aspects and current issues of technological development. Topics include data protection law and the complexities of regulating artificial intelligence. A total of 17 lecturers are involved in the academic program, with guest lecturers from Hungary, the Czech Republic and France, in addition to lecturers from the Faculty of Law. One of the main objectives of the EDUC alliance is to provide member university students with a growing number of opportunities to attend jointly organized short-term courses.

This is the third year that the summer course Hungarian Cultural Heritage is being supported by the Tempus Public Foundation. 50 students from 25 universities in 11 countries are participating in the program. The academic program is for Turkish, Russian, Albanian, French, German, Ukrainian, Greek, Polish, Slovenian, Chinese and Austrian students, and it is organized by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Education and Regional Development. Participants learn about Hungary's history, culture, folk music and gastronomy, and they take part in a virtual museum visit. The program also includes an online cooking show, where students learn how to prepare goulash soup. The success of this online summer course is demonstrated by the fact that the number of students applying for the program has increased severalfold this year.

In addition to the classes, summer university students also take part in an online city tour. In the evenings, Hungarian mentor students organize social activities for them online and ensure that, although they do not physically meet each other, they form real student communities. In this spirit, the Intercultural Evening (where students present their own culture, food, costumes, music), the Quiz Night, the Music Night, and the Games Night take place during both courses.

The Pécs Summer School program was launched in 2016 by the then Directorate of Foreign Affairs with the aim of increasing the number of summer schools held at the University of Pécs every year. The main objective was to create the so-called "Summer Trimester" with an increasing number of international summer university programs in different subject areas. The academic programs are provided by different faculties of the university, while the overall organization of the summer programs is carried out by the International Centre. The growing number of summer school programs has made PTE a market leader in this field among other domestic higher education institutions.

In the last five years, 30 summer universities have been organized by the International Centre. A total of 800 participants from 70 countries and 4 continents have participated in these summer schools, and 200 lecturers have been involved in teaching the courses.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, this summer six courses are being organized online as part of the Pécs Summer School program.