East-, East Central Europe and Russia-Studies Doctoral Programme

The program has been admitting and teaching Ph.D. students since the formation of the Doctoral School of Historical Sciences (1993). It puts a strong emphasis on the use of the historical-comparative method, which has had a long tradition at the Department of Eastern, Central European, and Russian History. One of the main purposes of the program is to link Hungarian historiography with international research, to focus on the history of Central and Eastern Europe, and to educate doctoral students, who are familiar with the socioeconomic development and cultural traditions of the neighboring countries. This knowledge would enable them to find jobs in several professional fields.

The program has an equal interest in continuing the existing research on the region, which is really rich in heritage, and also in admitting new methods and researching contemporary topics. Since the program's main theoretical basis is stepping out from the framework of traditional, nation-state-centered historiographies,  and it devotes special attention to all possible areas of comparative history writing. Preferred topics of the program are the study of the political and socio-economic development of Eastern Europe in the 18-20th century, the history of multiethnic empires and nation-states, nationalism and the birth of nation-states, state socialism, changes of regimes, the history of Russia and the Soviet Union, Eastern European intellectual history, etc.   

The Department and the Faculty have good contacts with international universities and research centers both in the neighbor countries and also in Western and Eastern academies. The program also functions as a workshop, which strongly encourages and promotes the participation of doctoral students in research work. The Department has initiated and published two book series entitled “Eastern European Studies” (Studia Europae Orientalis) and “Eastern European Monographs”, which has a  total of 13 volumes.

Due to its transnational character, the program strongly encourages the application of international students. 

(Assigned) Head of the Program: 

Professor Dániel Bagi DSc
1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 6–8.  2. floor. 236.
E-mail: bagi.daniel@btk.elte.hu