Foreign Students
Information and useful tips for incoming exchange students
International Coordinator (in charge of Erasmus)
International Office / Külügyi iroda
Hungarian University of Fine Arts / Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem
1062 Budapest
Andrássy út 69-71. (main building)
e-mail: foreign@mke.hu
phone: (+ 36 1) 478 0980
fax: (+36 1) 478 0981
Suggested courses
Mapping the local
Public site class
Site specific interventions in public space.
Information and useful tips for incoming exchange students
When you first arrive to Budapest, it is better to just buy individual tickets for public transport because once you have your Hungarian student ID (issued by the University upon registration), you can by a monthly student pass (approx. 1500 HUF) for a fraction of the cost of the regular adult monthly pass. In the long run, if you use public transport daily, you are better off with a monthly pass. For public transport information (ticket prices, rules and regulations, etc) you can access this web site (in English): http://www.bkv.hu/english/home/
Travelling from the airport to the city centre:
If you are flying, you can approach the city centre from the airport in a number of ways. You may want to take advantage of the reasonably priced Airport Minibus service which takes you to whatever location you specify and usually does not require more than a half an hour wait at the airport after you place your order at the minibus service desk. Here is the website for the airport: www.bud.hu. (It is accessible in English. For the Airport Minibus information, check the services link.) Alternatively you may choose public transportation, bus no 93 can take you from in front of the airport to the Köbánya-Kispest underground metro terminus. From there you can take the blue metro to Deák tér in the city centre (where the three metro lines converge).
Travelling from the international bus terminal to the city centre:
From the Népliget international bus station you can get to the city centre by getting on the metro (blue) at the Népliget metro station and going in the Újpest-Központ direction. To get to the buildings of the University, you must switch to the yellow metro line at the Deák tér stop and take the yellow underground going in the direction of Mexikói út. Or, if you want to get to the dormitory, you have to switch to the red line at the
Registering at the International Office of the University
Upon arrival please come to the main building (69 Andrássy út, yellow metro line, Vörösmarty stop). The International Office is on the ground floor of the building. You will be stopped at reception, they will call our office, someone from the International Office will come out to greet you and escort you to the international office. Please make sure that you have a colour passport photo with you and approximately 500 HUF so that we can immediately have an ID card made for you (important for buying a public transport pass as well as entering and using the facilities of the University). In addition you will receive a magnetic entrance card to the buildings which you will need to have access to. Very importantly, this entrance card will have to be returned to the International Office before you leave the country. The Office will only issue an official letter stating that you studied here once we have the entrance card back from you. If you lose the entrance card, you have to pay 2000 HUF for a replacement. As part of the registration procedure at the International Office, you will be asked to fill out a registration form and we will try to answer whatever questions you have. All incoming exchange students are now required to send their portfolio to the University prior to arrival so that when you arrive we will already have a place in a class for you. Upon registration, we will give you back your portfolio and instruct you as to which professor you need to find and where.
The office hours of the International Office are 11.00-14.00 Mon-Thurs. Should you have any questions, problems or comments while you are here, we will be happy to assist you during these hours. (In exceptional cases, if you cannot come within this timeframe, please call the office beforehand to set up an appointment.)
Accommodation:
Unless you have made arrangements prior to arrival (for example a swap has been arranged with your exchange partner) we can assist you in finding accommodation here at the International Office. We will have an up-to-date list of apartments, which can be rented by one or more students. If you want temporary accommodation until you can find an apartment, we can book a room for you at the dormitory for 1400 HUF/night. It is very important that you let us know well ahead of time that you need dormitory placement. You need to specify your exact date of arrival and for how long you wish to lodge at the dormitory, so a reservation can be made for you. Otherwise, there is a risk that when you arrive there will be no rooms available.
Dormitory:
The dormitory of the University is located at 1087 Budapest, Stróbl Alajos u. 3/a. It can be approached from the city centre (ex: Deák tér) by taking the red line to Népstadion. After leaving the metro station, turn right onto Kerepesi út then (after about 30 m) left onto Százados út, then right onto Stróbl Alajos utca. Number 3/a is located at the end of the street, it is a five-storey building with a green fifth floor. It should not take more than 10 minutes for you to walk from the metro stop to the dormitory building. Your name and date of arrival will have been given to reception, they will be expecting you. They usually ask that you pay the predetermined number of days in advance as one sum to avoid the daily hassle of the payment process. In other words, if I have reserved a room for you for a week, then they usually prefer that you pay for that week at once, instead of paying the daily fee ever day. If you find that you need to stay longer at the dorm than what was initially arranged, there is always that option pending room availability (it is always possible that your room will have been reserved for someone else so that you cannot stay past the agreed period). For this reason, the sooner you inform the dorm that you want to stay longer, the better.
Facilities:
With your entrance card you will be able to access the buildings where you have your classes and using your Hungarian student ID you can access facilities such as the library of the University (found in the main bldg). In the library, you can use the internet as well. We also have a student computer at the International Office which can be used on a first-come-first-serve basis, but only during office hours. The painting, sculpting and intermedia departments are located outside the main building at Epreskert (Mullbery Gardens). To get to Epreskert (address: 1063 Budapest, Kmety György u. 26-28) you have to take the yellow line to the Bajza utca stop (only 2 stops from the main building, a 10-15 minute walk). As you come up from the underground station you must cross Andrássy út and continue walking straight into Bajza utca. You turn right onto Kmety utca, the main entrance to Epreskert is on the corner of Bajza utca and Kmety utca.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact Zsófia Rudnay at ""> . We look forward to welcoming you here at the University of Fine Arts in Budapest.