You’ve had strong personal ties to MOME since its days as the Hungarian College of Applied Arts. You have known the institution in several different capacities – first as a student, then as a lecturer and Head of Institute, and now as Interim Rector. What does MOME mean to you? 

My earliest memories of the institution date back to 1989, when I began my studies here. I already had a degree in architecture and some professional experience, so I had already developed a clear sense of who I was as an architect. The Budapest University of Technology gave me a strong grounding, but left a significant gap, particularly in terms of artistic development. The Hungarian College of Applied Arts was an environment that really worked for me. I was surrounded by exceptionally talented people, inspired by remarkable teachers, and studied alongside extraordinary fellow students who constantly amazed me. The whole school felt informal, personal and deeply human, filled with creative energy and a genuine drive to make things happen. I felt, in a way, that I had come home. At the time, it represented an opportunity for growth and a sense of professional belonging, and I believe it still does today. 

The world has changed enormously since then, but one thing remains just as important: university autonomy. Why is it essential? 

A university can perform at its best only when it operates autonomously. It needs to be guided by its own internal motivations and values, rather than being pulled in different directions to align with plans or ideas imposed from outside. Autonomy also exists at different levels within a university: the autonomy of its various units, as well as that of its teaching and research staff. Unfortunately, much of this was undermined under the foundation model, whose excessively centralised structure interfered profoundly with the university’s affairs. We have since restored much of this autonomy, and we are continuing to strengthen it both institutionally and in practice. 

One of the cornerstones of this is a well-functioning Senate. How can it continue to play a genuine decision-making role? 

During my time as Interim Rector, we expanded the Senate's powers through a multi-round voting process, ensuring that academic staff and elected – rather than appointed – senators held the majority. Moving forward, we want to give it even greater latitude. Rights, however, also come with responsibilities. Democratic governance is equally about fostering a culture in which decisions are made with due care, self-reflection, and trust, so that they carry genuine legitimacy. When a community reaches decisions through meaningful debate, those decisions are no longer merely administrative acts. They become expressions of shared values and can serve as guiding principles for the University. 

Participation features prominently in your programme. How can the people involved remain motivated over the long term? 

I believe it largely depends on feedback. If people can see that their decisions lead to tangible outcomes, they are far more likely to remain engaged. That requires not only action but also transparency and the free flow of information. We need opportunities to reflect together and say: this is what we decided, this is what happened, and these are the results. 

How can this approach be reflected in day-to-day decision-making? 

I want to involve the different parts of the MOME community with a stake in a particular issue throughout both the discussion and the decision-making process. That doesn't mean I'm incapable of making decisions. It means I believe it is important for decisions to be firmly grounded within the community. Decisions are more readily embraced when they have been developed in collaboration with the relevant professional and University communities. 

It seems this is no longer simply a matter of organisational development, but also of shaping institutional culture. MOME FRONT has been one of the driving forces behind this internal transformation, and over the past year and a half the University has developed a more democratic, dialogue-based way of operating. You clearly place great importance on the values and achievements of this process... 

The past year and a half has brought a number of important issues to the surface, and in many respects the students’ engagement has held up a mirror to the University community. We have taken significant steps towards restoring the University’s autonomy, and these good practices must now be preserved and further developed. I am deeply grateful to the students, including the Student Union, who also played an active role in the rectorial election process by submitting questions, proposals and background materials, and by organising debates to support our collective thinking process. To me, this is a clear sign that MOME is a community that wants to actively shape how the University operates. This also carries considerable responsibility, because participation only works when questions, debate, feedback and decisions each inform the next. 

Another important part of building the University’s culture is creating a more ethical academic environment. The Helyzet van event series, launched during your time as Interim Rector, was also intended to support this goal.  

These are the foundations of a healthy organisational culture: an ethical and safe environment to ensure the relationships between master and student, and between lecturer and student, are based on mutual respect, and where no abuse in any form is tolerated. The aim is to create a University where high-quality professional work, autonomy, trust and a safe working are not treated as separate priorities, but as interconnected elements of the same institutional culture. 

Could the way the University is rebuilding itself from within offer lessons for other institutions as well? Do you think it is important for this knowledge to be shared beyond MOME?  

I believe the lessons and experience gained from this process are valuable not only to MOME, but to the higher education sector as a whole. We also need to become more open in how we present our core activities. It is important that people understand the value of the work taking place at the University, and that we find effective ways for MOME to communicate what it does. 

MOME has been through a great deal of change. What does stabilisation mean to you at this stage? 

I believe our priority now is to develop a deeper understanding of where MOME stands today and to focus on its academic direction and future development. Another major restructuring would not move the University forward. Instead, we need to make the existing structure work, fill it with meaningful content, and see through the processes that have the greatest impact on the quality of education, such as curriculum development. The same applies to our research programmes, our international partnerships, and many other areas of the University's work. 

What are the most pressing issues education needs to address today? One of the major questions for the coming years is how MOME can equip students with the knowledge they need to navigate the crises of our time while still finding joy in the creative process.  

We need to give students the knowledge and tools to make a meaningful contribution to the future. We are facing major challenges in every area: artificial intelligence, innovation, social impact, the climate crisis, sustainability, the housing crisis, social inequality, and the rising cost of living. These issues affect every programme, and each course needs to engage with them in ways that are relevant to its own field. Sustainability, for example, can no longer be ignored in any area of art or design, but it only becomes genuine professional knowledge when it is supported by practical methods and tools that can be clearly defined and, where possible, measured. Students today must find joy in the creative process and the values that motivate them within this environment. That may be more difficult than it once was, but the creative impulse remains just as strong today, as does the desire to experience the positive things in life. 

We often talk about interdisciplinarity in the context of education. How can this be strengthened while ensuring that MOME's professional communities remain strong? 

Interdisciplinarity is important, but it should grow through connections between disciplines, not at their expense. This is an area where we should be more ambitious. Our research labs, for example, are organised around broad thematic areas that bring together different disciplines and professional cultures. I would also like us to think of interdisciplinarity in terms of drawing on expertise that may not exist at MOME but does exist elsewhere. Through collaboration and partnerships with universities in Hungary and abroad, we can bring that knowledge into the University. 

How can MOME build new connections with the creative industries, technology, and research and development? 

It is encouraging that the Hungarian higher education system will once again become part of the European academic landscape, as this will create significant opportunities for research collaboration. Naturally, this also brings higher expectations in terms of quality and performance, and with them stronger competition. At the same time, there are well-established structures and forms of collaboration where MOME already has considerable experience and real potential. Because many fields still lack a sufficiently strong industrial base in Hungary, we need to think carefully about how to compensate for that, and whether we can strengthen our engagement with the international community more extensively and at a higher level.  

The renewed Institutional Development Plan also covers research and development. What other areas does it address, and how can it move into its next phase? 

We see the Institutional Development Plan as MOME’s overarching strategy. At its best, it encompasses the full range of the University’s activities: education, research, incubation and innovation programmes, social engagement, and communications – in other words, MOME’s entire mission and operation. It also provides a framework for the University community to revisit major questions at regular intervals, debate them openly and work through them together. Our task now is to define our medium-term objectives over a horizon of at least four to six years, so that we can see how individual steps fit into a broader strategic context.  

What is the first milestone you have in mind? What would need to happen for you to feel that things were off to a good start? 

My first step will be to initiate discussions with the government. It is equally important to revisit the unfinished Charter – the document adopted by the Senate last year – and reframe it as a unilateral statement of values that sets out our most important values and operating principles as the University’s credo. and continuing to build a safe, ethical university environment remain key priorities for me. I am confident that, as these initiatives take effect, MOME will continue to climb the QS World University Rankings by Subject for Art & Design, where it was ranked among the world's top 150 institutions on its very first appearance.