About the programme

Environmental education at the University of Szeged has been internationally acknowledged for decades. The doctoral school carries out activities concerning the environmental aspects of the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, and geography, among others. Due to the interdisciplinary aspects of environmental science, PhD students of the programme have to choose at least one basic course that is not related to their own research topic and a minimum of four courses related to the research topic of the PhD student. Rigorous coursework develops abilities concerning environmental sciences and specific knowledge in the research fields related to the research programme of the Doctoral School.

The major fields are: Environmental Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Conservation Ecology, Environmental Physics, Environmental Geography, Environmental Geology, Environmental Chemistry and Analytics, Environmental Chemical Technology and Material Science, Environmental Engineering.

Sample research areas: Biotechnology as green chemistry, Population and conservation genetics of arthropods, Photoacoustic spectroscopic gas detection, Evaluation of environmental changes by geographical methods, The role of sulphur in petroleum formation and in coalification processes, Adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons derivatives. For more research topics please consult the programme website.

Level of the programme: PhD

Duration of the programme: 4+4 semesters

Registered in: EU

Credits: 240

Application requirements: fully completed online application form with the necessary documents attached; MSc degree and good university marks in the field of any environmental sciences including chemistry, biology, geography, physics and environmental engineering. Certificates of language proficiency in English: at least intermediate level certified by internationally accredited language examination (TELC B2, ECL B2, TOEFL iBT test score of at least 72, or RPDT – 72; Cambridge First Certificate at least “B”; IELTS score of at least 5.5, LanguageCert B2 level) and a recent medical certificate of satisfactory general health status (not older than 1 month). Specific expectations: students having previous scientific work in these fields. We expect students to be interested in one of the themes of the supervisors (members of the Doctoral School of Environmental Sciences) published on the webpage of the Doctoral School. Applicants should contact the relevant professor of the Doctoral School and agree on the given research theme.

Please choose a topic proposal and contact the doctoral school and the supervisor before submitting your application.

Exemption from English language exam certificate: During the application to the programmes of the Faculty of Science and Informatics those applicants are not required to provide the English language exam certificates who are natives of one of the following countries and can officially demonstrate that their academic studies have been conducted in English. For the list of countries click here.

If the medium of instruction was English during the Msc studies, the MSc diploma can be accepted as language exam certificate for the entry requirement. For this purpose a document issued by the university has to be uploaded until the application deadline certifying that the medium of instruction was English during the master studies. If this document is missing or uploaded after deadline, the master degree cannot substitute the language exam certificate and the application will be rejected. In order to submit the dissertation at the end of the doctoral programme, the diplomas obtained outside the European Union must be acknowledged by the Hungarian Equivalence and Information Center (HEIC). The process to obtain this document is the student's responsibilty.

Start of the programme: February & September of each year

Tuition fee: 5000 EUR per semester

Application fee: 35 EUR

Entrance Exam fee: 100 EUR

Scholarship: Scholarships are available to cover the tuition fee (e.g.: Stipendium Hungaricum, for details see the website of Tempus Public Foundation)

For further information contact Prof. Zoltan Konya via e-mail or call +36 62 544 620.

*Academic Records: an official English version OR translation of your full Bachelor’s transcript including an explanation of the grading system, and an official English version OR translation of your Bachelor’s degree.