The BBU Institute of Foreign Languages and Communication holds a presentation competition for students at the university in April each year. The three language departments of the three faculties take turns organising the competition, which takes place every year at a different faculty in Budapest. The competition is open to presentations in Hungarian as well as foreign languages, and there is also a poster category. Students are divided into sections according to the language of the presentation and the topic.
In recent years, the competition has been increasingly supported by a growing number of corporate partners, partly by participating in juries and partly by offering prizes and special prizes.
Our Operations Research and Decision Analysis team has been organising a modelling memorial competition named after our colleague Mária Felber twice a year (in October and March), at the request of students. The competition involves students developing mathematical models for economic problems. MA students study various methods in their Operations Research course as part of their Decision Analysis training. Students who do well at the course are invited invited to the competition, but others can apply too. The competition was launched seven years ago at our faculty to give students the opportunity to try out the modelling skills they learn in operations research in a broader sense, on more interesting real-world problems. Later, in response to growing interest, the competition was extended to the English language programme and to master’s students as well, with reference to the Decision Analysis course.
The popular competition fosters students' creativity and receptiveness to innovation and usually includes individual and group problem solving. Candidates are given a set of tasks in advance to prepare for the competition.
We consider it very important to broaden students' cultural interest and to this end, in cooperation with the Career Office, we like to organise a cultural and professional competition for students every year within the framework of the Faculty Days, covering the most important issues of culture, history, literature and arts, gastronomy and hospitality, economics, commerce and tourism.
The competitions have always been based on a topical theme:
- Renaissance competition (2008)
- European Capital of Culture (2010)
- Liszt competition (2011)
- London! (2012)
- Wine Aces (2013)
- Brazil (2014)
- Kick the ball yourself! (In connection with the football world cup in Russia - 2018)
The cooking competition Olivier Roellinger, branded by the world-famous French chef, was launched by SeaWeb Europe, FERRANDI Paris, Yvon Bourges Catering School in Dinard and Relais & Châteaux to promote sustainability and the conservation of marine life, fish, and other species. Although the competition had previously only been open to young French and Spanish chefs, in 2016 the organisers extended the semi-finals to Europe for the first time, with 30 countries taking part.
In 2016, Fanni Czompa, a catering and hotel management student at BBU FCHT, was among the top three in the Eastern European finals, and in 2017, Dániel Szűcs, a third-year catering and hotel management student at BBU FCHT, represented Hungary and confidently won the Eastern European section.
Due to the success of the Hungarian contestants, the final of the Eastern European section of the Olivier Roellinger Cooking Competition 2018 took place in the BBU FCHT kitchen and dining hall, with the agreement of the host and the supporting organisations. Participants in the international competition came from Finland, Sweden, Poland, Slovenia, and Serbia. The first place went to the Finnish competitor, while two students from BBU FCHT, Barbara Ramocsai and Norbert Csukás, took second and third place respectively.
Our faculty was again offered the opportunity to organise and run the 2020 competition, but this was prevented by the restrictions resulting from the coronavirus epidemic.
For more than a decade, the Gödöllő Regional Tourism Association has been organising the Dr. László Ketter Traditional Gastronomy Competition and Conference, named after the former head of the Department of Hospitality, a former lecturer of our faculty, every year, at different venues. Our lecturers participate as judges or speakers and our students as competitors, usually finishing in the top three. On several occasions, our team has been awarded the medal of the First Hungarian Order of the White Table, founded by the Olympic champion master confectioner and master chef László Benke. In partnership with the GKRTE, between 2013 and 2018 our Faculty hosted the event, which is very popular among students and members of traditional gastronomic associations from all over the country.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the FCHT in 2019, an unconventional chef and waiter competition was organised with the support of the Pannonian Academy of Gastronomy and the Hungarian Catering Association, which seems to have become the beginning of a tradition.
In the competition, students studying cookery at the invited catering secondary schools had to prepare a three-course meal using pre-determined raw materials and two mandatory ingredients in a set time. The young waiter students, who also competed on an invitation-only basis, set the table, shucked oysters, mixed and served coffee and cocktails, among other tasks. The competitors also had to demonstrate their knowledge in a foreign language and were judged by a panel of renowned judges. Due to its great success, the competition will be organised every two years.
National and international competitions, shows, where our students participate successfully:
The two-day university competition, which is also highly acclaimed by the hotel industry, is hosted every year in Maastricht, the Netherlands. In 2018, over 175 students from 36 universities competed in front of a professional jury of nearly 80 people. The theme of the competition is always related to a challenge in the hotel industry.
Preparations usually start months before the event for BBU students, as teams of 4-5 students have to solve tasks not only on site but also at home. The tasks to be solved are very diverse, and their efficient solution can greatly contribute to achieving a good result, as the jury takes into account, among other things, social media activity and the solving of a task related to the competition theme off site when determining the final ranking. In addition to professional training, leisure and team-building activities are also part of the preparation (e.g.: dinner, hotel visit, making an introductory video). The students of the Faculty have participated in the competition every year since 2017, achieving increasingly better results in this extremely competitive field.
Every year, the Gundel Károly Vocational School of the BVHSzC hosts the International Youth Gastronomy Competition, where students of our Faculty representing the University in this team competition, achieve significant success in the professions of chef, pastry chef and waiter. Following the professional evaluation, the most skilful team will take home the competition prize.
Between 2016 and 2018, three culinary workshops were held in Opava, Czech Republic, organised by the University of Silesia, with the participation of 5 countries. Every year, BBU FCHT students are invited to present their national gastronomy using typical traditional dishes.
Between 2011 and 2017, BBU FCHT students were regularly invited to the Saperi e Sapori, a week-long gastronomic event in Florence, involving several European countries. The spectacular gastronomic presentations and gala dinners took place in the famous buildings of Florence, such as Palazzo Vecchio or Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, where the Hungarian specialities offered by the students were always a great success with the guests.
One of the most prestigious cooking competitions in the world, the Bocuse d'Or is held every two years. Named after master chef Paul Bocuse, the finals are held at the end of January every two years at the SIRHA exhibition in Lyon. Every year, students from our faculty traditionally take part in the organisation of the national semi-finals and competitions, helping the competitors and assisting them in the competitions after their professional training, giving them the opportunity to meet our Michelin-starred chefs and the chefs in the media who are seen on the screen every day. In 2016, nearly 40 students from our Faculty had the opportunity to follow the European finals of one of the world's most prestigious cooking competitions up close - they were involved in the running of the prestigious event as waiters and kitchen assistants. BBU students were selected for this challenging job because of their previous work and commitment to the profession. As a result of our excellent performance, our students have since become regular participants in national Bocuse d'Or competitions.
Hospitality students regularly participate as helpers in the NÉBIH Public Catering Chef Competition, which is held every two years during the SIRHA exhibition. Since the first participation in 2016, the students of our Faculty have been helping to run the competition, raising the standard of the event with their usual professionalism. Last time, in addition to waiter helpers, students interested in the chef profession were also given the opportunity to become the third commis (helpers) of the competing teams.
For years, we have been present in various roles at the EuroSkills and WorldSkills competitions known as the European and World Championships of professions: our students as competitors or assistants in national selection competitions, our instructors as coaches and experts, and the Faculty as a professional sponsor.
The achievements of our students and faculty are a source of pride. The winner of the 2017 SkillsHungary in the waiter section was BBU student Viktória Bernadett Svajda, who thus represented Hungary at the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi competition and won a medal of excellence there. The national expert and coach of the chef competitor at the EuroSkills competition held in Budapest in 2018 was Barbara Ramocsai, a student of our Faculty who represented Hungary at the EuroSkills competition in Gothenburg in 2016 - as a first-year student - coached by Dr. Dénes Sándor, lecturer of the Department of Hospitality. For the 2019 WorldSkills Kazan competition, the Hungarian competitor was prepared by our lecturer in cookery, Zoltán Kis, at the faculty's well-equipped kitchenette.
AccorHotels hosts an annual international hotel competition for university students. Each year, an interesting theme is selected, and groups of students have to create a photo montage related to the theme of that year and collect likes. They then qualify for the second round, for which only the top 15 teams are shortlisted. Hotel managers, talent scouts, professors are involved in the selection process. The top five teams go on to the finals. Since 2017, we have had a participating student team every year.
Every year, the Dukenet International Higher Education Network organises the Markstrat, an international online marketing strategy competition at one of its international partner universities. The network has 17 member universities in 16 countries across the European Union, giving students who are fluent in English the opportunity to test their skills in an international competitive environment each year. The game is played in international teams around the world, with around 200,000 players at any one time, which means that it can simulate a real, live, business environment. The competition lasts for 1 week and usually involves students from 10-12 different countries, who compare and integrate their skills, allowing them to get to know each other's cultures, which is crucial for thinking along common European values and breaking down prejudices.
Since 2008, the Dukenet International Higher Education Network has been writing successful European Union applications in various marketing-related research areas as a consortium. The projects usually last 3 years and aim to focus on educational innovation and to involve talented students who are fluent in English.
One project involved students in market research for the largest European multinational sports equipment distributor, and the results were used to redesign the company's marketing communication strategy, which they adopted and implemented. There was also an occasion when we conducted research for a world leader in cross-country skiing, who then used the results.
Most recently, we have been able to involve students in several rounds of content development and testing of an application for a consumer protection programme, which has also resulted in the writing of a scientific paper. In 2019, we presented the content of the article at a scientific conference and the paper won the "best paper" award. A further outcome of the 3-year project is a complex English language course with online and offline textbooks and an app, which is teaches in a fun way and thus meets current challenges in education.