2025-12-03 13:52
Körömi Benjámin Márk, staff member of the GAMF Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, received the Pro Scientia Gold Medal.
The 37th National Scientific Student Conference (37th OTDK), the longest-standing, continuous series of scientific events in Hungarian higher education, and also known as "the OTDK of records," concluded with an awards ceremony. Out of the record-breaking more than 5,100 submissions presented by authors from Hungary and abroad across 16 scientific sections in the spring, 51 students received the Pro Scientia, Pro Arte, or Junior Pro Scientia Gold Medal, which recognizes young researchers for excellence. Additionally, 57 educators and researchers were honored with the Master Teacher Gold Medal for their work supporting student scientific activities at the ceremonial session held by the National Council of Student Scientific Associations (OTDT) in the Main Hall of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on November 25, 2025.
The 70-year-old OTDK is the Scientific Engine of Society
The National Scientific Student Conference, the largest series of scientific events in Hungarian higher education, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. A key goal of the National Council of Student Scientific Associations is to support the unique TDK movement and publicize the excellent scientific results achieved by young talents to a wider audience. The 37th OTDK, held in the spring of 2025, broke all previous records: at the national conference, which was more than 15% larger than before, over 5,500 young people presented 5,131 papers, which were selected by scientific juries for the national round from more than 17,000 submissions at 2,475 institutional TDK conferences. The month-and-a-half-long event series was hosted by 10 Hungarian and one cross-border university. The event was made successful by the coordinated work of approximately 20,000 supervisors, reviewers, organizers, and participants. Thanks to the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, which supported the OTDK's digital communication, this year, for the first time, not only the opening and closing ceremonies of the 37th OTDK's 16 sections but also nearly 2,300 scientific presentations were live-streamed, attracting over 87,000 viewers on the OTDK website and YouTube channel. The Pro Scientia Gold Medals were presented during the solemn closing event held in the Main Hall of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, recognizing young people who have achieved outstanding performance, taking into account their entire student career. Out of 360 received applications, a total of 51 young talents received a Gold Medal: 48 students received the Pro Scientia, 2 students the Pro Arte, and one high school student the Junior Pro Scientia Gold Medal. This year, 57 educators and thesis advisors who have played a decisive role in higher education talent management for decades were awarded the Master Teacher Gold Medal. In addition to recognizing the youth and their mentors, the Honoris Causa Pro Scientia Gold Medals, the Máriás Antal Memorial Medals, the OTDT Gold Pins, and the OTDT Communication Award were also presented at this occasion. Greetings were delivered and the awards were presented at the ceremonial session by Tamás Freund, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Annamária Pósánné Rácz, Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education and Adult Learning at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation; Tamás Weiszburg, President of the National Council of Student Scientific Associations; Péter Csányi, CEO of OTP Bank Nyrt.; and Péter Szendrő, Eternal President of the OTDT. Márton Szives, President of the Society of Pro Scientia Gold Medalists, welcomed the new Pro Scientia Gold Medalists. The OTDT presented its 2025 awardees in the book 'Almanac 2025 – Pro Scientia and Master Teacher Gold Medalists,' and the full list is also available on the OTDT website. At the end of the ceremony, Tamás Weiszburg, the outgoing President of the OTDT, officially closed the 37th OTDK. Following this, László Mátyus, the newly appointed President of the OTDT, announced the 38th OTDK and introduced the 11 Hungarian and 2 cross-border universities that will organize the conference in 2027. The TDK movement, which will be 75 next year, thus continues unbroken, now within the unified Carpathian Basin higher education talent management space. The chief patrons of the OTDK are the Minister of Culture and Innovation and the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation through the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, with funding from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. The student scientific association movement is supported by the National Talent Program. Thanks to MÁV Start Zrt. and GYSEV Zrt., for the second time in the history of the OTDKs, participants were able to travel to the Hungarian venues of the various sections free of charge by train this year.
Körömi Benjámin Márk previously won the title of Scientific Ambassador.
Congratulations!
Source: otdk.hu