Study History of Ideas in Europe

This PhD program prepares students to earn their doctorate by building expertise in current research methodology, participating in academic conferences, and developing teaching experience in higher education. The Doctoral School of History offers international students a choice of fifteen doctoral programs, described below.

The Ancient History program is grounded in the study of epigraphical sources, supporting research across social, military, economic, and religious history, with particular emphasis on social history through its growing corpus of inscriptions; a further course of research examines organizations above the level of the city-state, such as confederacies and federal states, alongside Greek and Latin epigraphy and ancient historiography. It suits students with a background in history, Latin, or ancient Greek who are interested in ancient Greek or Roman history and able to analyze sources in Latin or ancient Greek, conducting individual research in fields such as epigraphy, papyrology, social history, or historiography; courses are offered in English, German, or French, and the program cooperates with partner institutions in Austria, Germany, Romania, and Croatia.

The Archaeology program offers doctoral study across a wide range of fields, including prehistoric, Roman, and classical archaeology, the archaeology of the migration period and early Middle Ages, medieval archaeology, and archaeometry. Over the program's four years, students attend lectures and seminars and regularly present on their research progress, supported by a library collection focused on the archaeology of the Carpathian Basin.

The Assyriology and Hebrew-Judaic Studies program prepares candidates for academic careers in research and teaching, familiarizing them with current research methodology as they complete an individual dissertation project under faculty supervision. Its Assyriology strand centers on the history, cultural history, art, and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia, the age and ideology of empires, Sumerian and Akkadian linguistics and philology, and the interpretation of literary and historical texts, while its Hebrew and Jewish studies strand covers the Hebrew Bible and Judaism through historical, philological, literary, and linguistic methods, with particular expertise in biblical studies, Hellenistic Judaism, religions in late antiquity, Jewish-Christian relations, Talmudic and midrashic literature, rabbinic thought and Jewish law, Hungarian Jewish history and culture after the eighteenth century, Yiddish cultural history, and Jewish sociolinguistics.

The Atelier - Interdisciplinary History program is an eight-semester course preparing students to write and defend a doctoral thesis, founded in the spirit of the French Annales School and characterized by an interdisciplinary approach, careful methodology, and scientific criticism in historical research. Doctoral seminars are organized around the themes of historiography, culture, and social space, complemented by tutorial seminars for English- and French-speaking students, regular lectures from visiting scholars, conferences, and study days; a long-standing partnership with an institution in France enables co-supervised study between Budapest and Paris, and program faculty take part in academic networks across four continents.

The Medieval and Early Modern World History program covers European and, in part, world history from late Antiquity to the eighteenth century. Its medieval strand welcomes proposals on late antique, early medieval, and medieval topics in political and social history, the history of political thought, and the history of Christianity and hagiography, while its early modern strand spans the Renaissance through the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the social and political history of the period, European colonialism, and Hungary's position within the Habsburg Empire.

The Modern and Contemporary World History program emphasizes the international context of historical events, including in courses on individual countries, with topics ranging from the French Revolution to the present; it extends beyond a Europe-centered approach to include the history of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and, more recently, Central and South America. Applicants are expected to have a solid knowledge of history and to speak and understand at least two foreign languages, one at an intermediate level and one advanced, and staff and students take part in events hosted by several affiliated Hungarian research institutes.

Additional doctoral programs are offered in Cultural History, Auxiliary Sciences of History, Early Modern Hungarian History, East-, East Central Europe and Russian Studies, Economic and Social History, Egyptology, European Ethnology, Medieval Hungarian History, and Modern Hungarian History.

Graduates go on to work in research institutes, universities, museums, diplomacy, and the press and media.

Applicants must hold a master's diploma with at least a "good" qualification. A letter of acceptance from a future supervisor is required, and applications are considered only for research topics offered by the doctoral school's supervisors.

English proficiency must reach B2 level in both speaking and writing, demonstrated through one of a specific set of accepted exams: TOEFL PBT (516-554), TOEFL iBT or iBT Home Edition (66-82), IELTS (6.0), CEFR (B2), or Duolingo (85). A prior Bachelor's or Master's diploma earned entirely in English is accepted as proof instead; native English speakers must instead present a B2-level or higher exam in another language.

Required documents include an application form, the master's degree certificate, an academic CV, a research work plan of 3 to 5 pages, two letters of recommendation, a language certificate, a letter of acceptance from the future supervisor, and, if available, a list of publications. Admission includes an oral interview, held in person or online, covering the applicant's prior university achievements, research plan, and scientific competence in their field of interest, with final rankings based on a combined evaluation of academic excellence and interview results.