We are happy to welcome you to the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics. On this page you find a lot of useful information, including the schedule of the coming days. Please study this material carefully.
You are cordially invited to our
academic orientation session
held in our school building,
on September 7th (Monday)
street address: Bethlen Gábor tér 2, Room 102 (LOOK FOR THE SIGNS), and to the
Please note that your participation in the orientation session is absolutely necessary!
During the academic orientation session we cover all
basic information regarding your academic life during the
next semester, while at the Welcome Party you will have a chance to
meet your professors for the first time and discuss details of the forthcoming classes, or simply ask questions.
As the room may change the last minute, please look for the signs inside the Bethlen tér building
Courses will start in the same building on September 7th (Monday) morning at 10:15, i.e. right after the orientation.
The (brief) calendar of the semester is as follows:
Pre semester important dates
| August 17th (Mo), | 8:00 am | Hungarian language course starts, Babilon language school. |
| August 18th (Tue), | 2:30 pm | Pre-orientation for those who are already in Budapest, BSM (Bethlen Gábor tér 2.) |
| August 20th (Wed), | National Holiday. No classes, most stores closed. | |
| August 29th (Sat), | Pre-registration data is due (see above) | |
| September 1th (Tue), | 5:30pm | River Cruise on the Danube (details will follow) |
| September 4th (Fri), | Hungarian language course ends. | |
| September 4th (Fri), | Noon | Make-up Pre-orientation I.: downtown walk for those who do not participate in the language course. |
| September 4th (Fri), | 1:30pm | Make-up Pre-orientation II.: at BSM (Bethlen Gabor Square 2) |
| September 5th (Sat), | 11am | Living in Budapest ("hands-on city experience tour"; details will be provided later) |
Fall 2015 Opening Program
| September 7 (Mo), | 8:15 AM | Academic orientation, Bethlen Gábor tér 2. |
| September 7 (Mo), | 10:15 AM | Classes begin, Bethlen Gábor tér 2. |
| September 7 (Mo), | 4:30 PM | Welcome Party, Bethlen Gábor tér 2. |
Academic Calendar
| First day of classes | September 7 (Mo) |
| Registration deadline | September 24 (Th) Noon |
| Feedback session | September 24 (Th) 4 pm |
| Last day of classes | December 11 (Fr) |
| Final exams | December 14-16 (Mo-We) |
| Transcripts (drafts) handed out | December 17 (Th) |
| Official holidays (no classes): |
October 23 (Fri), November 26 (Th, Thanksgiving) |
| Local math competition: | November 21 (Sa) |
| Putnam competition: | December 5 (Sa) |
Comments:
1. October 23rd Friday is a holiday resulting in a long weekend for October 23-25.
2. The Friday (Nov 27th) following Thanksgiving Thursday is NOT off.
Notes on Course Offerings
We have the recently usual high number of students this semester (about 75 students are expected), so we will offer all the "customary" courses, with the popular ones, such as introductory combinatorics in two different, parallel versions if needed, and several further optional math courses as a reading course. The usual history course, Hungarian language courses (elementary, and intermediate), a course on Hungarian culture, and two other non-math courses, a Mathematical Philosophy as well as a course on film analysis will also be offered.
While 90% of our course offers are fixed, we also have some brand new or sporadically offered courses each semester. This Fall these include Lie groups and Cryptography. For advanced students there will be two courses (advanced combinatorics and intro dynamical systems) cross listed with ELTE University and one (intro algebraic geometry) with the CEU, offered on their campuses
In addition, there is a great opportunity to take courses offered by the "Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education" program -- as these will provide you with a uniquely Hungarian experience. This separate program offers courses that are based on the high reputation of Hungarian mathematics teaching and nurturing talented high school students. See their course offerings here. (Note however that you should check with your home institution to see how their courses fit in with your major and other rules.)
We also mention here that there are courses given
by the Budapest branch of McDaniel College (earlier known as Western
Maryland College), which you may wish to attend (without credit). These
courses are held in the same building where we have the BSM classes but we
cannot take care of scheduling conflicts; you will be able to audit
these courses only if you do not have a BSM course at the same time.
Again, these courses do not come with a BSM credit, unless special
arrangements are made. In case you wish to attend any of them (even
without credits), please contact
or Dezsô Miklós or Ágnes Szilárd, the Hungarian directors of the
program. If you need a credit for those courses, you need (and will get)
the permission of the local McDaniel office, but you should also check
with your home institution if they accept them.
Please note
that you may not be able to take some of these courses due to the limit
on the number of students in a class (since McDaniel College naturally
will admit their own students first).
More details on course offerings as well as a full course list with descriptions will be posted by August 22nd.