Dr Boglárka Koller, vice-rector for international affairs, and Annamária Kitta, head of the International Office, represented the Ludovika University of Public Service in higher educational fairs in Baku and Tbilisi between 13-15 October 2023.
The events were organised by the Berlin-based Begin Group, established in 1999 and running international student recruitment fairs and tailor-made promotional campaigns worldwide. With 100+ events organised annually, they connect educational institutions worldwide with prospective students from 40+ countries in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Gulf Region, Central Asia, Eurasia and Latin America. Thanks to the system of visitor pre-registration and focused marketing approach, including individual promotional campaigns for every exhibitor, Begin Group provides an excellent platform to meet potential students for education programmes and institutions. As the target region, Eurasia was chosen to be visited because LUPS already has some connections and cooperations, which can be strengthened. In the frame of a Memorandum of Understanding, two Azerbaijani students from ADA University are studying at LUPS this semester. Another two students are here via the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme, and three more students have been admitted on a self-financed basis. These numbers prove that this region has considerable potential for LUPS, and focusing on this region can help the university achieve its internationalisation ambitions.
The three-day-long event started with a high school tour in Baku on 13 October. Begin Group provided the possibility to visit two high schools, the Dunya IB School and the European Azerbaijan School, where LUPS could meet final-year students and introduce the full-degree programmes offered by the Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies and the Faculty of Water Sciences in English.
The following day, the expo took place. Among the exhibitors, one could find Latvian, Lithuanian, French and Finnish universities. Besides LUPS, the University of Pécs, the University of Sopron and the John von Neumann University introduced themselves. The event enabled the LUPS delegation to meet the National Defense University (Azerbaijan) representatives, who expressed their intention to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with LUPS. Uncountable Azerbaijan students visited the stand of the LUPS. 432 of them shared their e-mail address, awaiting further details about the admission process and the university overall. The event in Baku created the opportunity to meet Tamás Torma, the newly appointed Ambassador of Hungary to Azerbaijan. His Excellency and the Deputy Head of Mission promised to promote LUPS and the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme in Azerbaijan.
15 October dawned in Tbilisi. LUPS representatives took place at a higher educational fair in the capital of Georgia, where another Memorandum of Understanding was put in perspective, this time with the Georgian International University (GIU). During this expo, another 266 students shared their contact details as being interested in the Ludovika University of Public Service.
Based on the outputs, LUPS managed to level up in internationalisation.
Text and photos: International Office