The newly appointed Board of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee (MAB) held its inaugural meeting on July 10. 2025, in a ceremonial event hosted by the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences.
The event was opened with welcome speeches delivered by Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation; Valéria Csépe, the outgoing President; and János Ede Szilágyi, the new President of MAB. Among the invited guests were Veronika Varga-Bajusz, State Secretary for Higher Education, Vocational and Adult Education, and Youth Affairs; Annamária Pósánné Rácz, Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education and Adult Education; and the heads of MAB’s partner organizations.
In his speech, Minister Balázs Hankó emphasized that MAB has played a decisive role in the success of Hungarian higher education over the past five years, gaining significant international recognition. He highlighted that Hungarian universities offer internationally competitive programmes, to which MAB’s quality assurance activities make a substantial contribution.
Valéria Csépe reflected on the 2018-2025 period, noting that both MAB’s organization and its operations underwent renewal during these years. The Committee’s national and international recognition strengthened, and significant progress was made towards more efficient and transparent operations. She particularly acknowledged the professional work of the Secretariat, which has provided a solid foundation for the Committee’s activities.
János Ede Szilágyi thanked Valéria Csépe for her dedicated service, as well as to the outgoing Board, MAB’s colleges, Financial Supervisory Board, the Board of Appeals and Complaints, and the Secretariat for their work. He underlined that the contributions provide a stable professional basis for the new Board to continue its work and further develop the achievements of the previous period.
At the end of the ceremony, Minister Balázs Hankó officially handed over the appointment documents to the new President and members of the Board. This was followed by a presentation of the MAB’s organization and Secretariat by Péter Levente Lakatos, Director General.
After the open part of the inaugural meeting, the Board began its work in a closed session, during which it awarded the title of Honorary President to Valéria Csépe, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the development of MAB both in Hungary and internationally as President over the past years. According to MAB’s work plan, the Board has already made decisions at its first meeting, all of which are publicly available on both www.mab.hu and the DEQAR websites.
