Course

Credit points

Semester

Theoretical courses
(90-102 credit points)

Compulsory courses for all programmes
(54 credit points)

Macroeconomics

6

1st semester

Basics of Research Methodology

6

1st semester

Theories in Economics

6

1st semester

Introduction to Quantitative Research

6

1st semester

Microeconomics

6

2nd semester

Communication of Science

6

2nd semester

Multivariate (Advanced) Statistics

6

2nd semester

Introduction to Qualitative Research

6

2nd semester

Publication seminar

6

3rd semester

Programme specific compulsory courses
(30 credit points)

Ecological Economics I.

6

3rd semester

Ecology and Planetary Health

6

3rd semester

Ecological Economics II.

6

4th semester

Values of nature in decision making

6

4th semester

Technology and sustainability

6

4th semester

Elective courses*
(6-18 credit points)

Advanced Writing in Social Research

3

6 to 18 credits in the 1-4. semesters

Science with Societal Impact

3

Advanced Qualitative Research

3

Individual research work
(112 credit points)

Research forums

Research forums of the Doctoral School in Economics (each semester)

72

Compulsory in all semesters

Research workshops

Research Workshop in Ecological Economics

40

Compulsory in semesters 5th to 8th

Publishing
(10-60 credit points)

At least 10 credit points by the end of the 8th semesters; all together 60 points for the thesis defence

Teaching
(0-32 credit points)

Optional in semesters 1 to 8

Zoltán Bajmócy, programme coordinator, professor

My aim is to conduct meaningful research that has a positive social impact. My research focuses on socio-technical, environmental and spatial aspects of sustainability transitions. This embraces the examination of local development actions and policies from the aspects of human well-being, social justice and sustainability; and the examination of transformative innovation and technology policies and actions.

Keywords: urban sustainability transition, degrowth, citizen participation, transformative innovation policy, systemic transformation, democratization of technology

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Technology and sustainability
• Introduction to qualitative research

Judit Gébert, assistant professor

My main interest is how to understand human well-being from an economic and philosophical perspective. Currently, I’m working in a participatory action research with a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The aim of the process is the expansion of capabilities – as understood by Amartya Sen – of people living with disabilities, generating transformation on the level of individuals and the community through empowerment.

Keywords: well-being, social justice, feminist economics, qualitative research, capability approach, participation, degrowth

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Introduction to qualitative research

Judit Juhász, research fellow

I have been involved in qualitative research, participatory action research, and university-community engagement initiatives since 2013. I usually work with vulnerable groups and civil organizations in order to understand and promote equality, autonomy, and diversity. My research interests are urban and community (human and non-human) development, urban well-being and biodiversity, and social and multispecies justice.

Keywords: qualitative research, participatory research, urban and community development, human and non-human development, well-being and biodiversity, social and multispecies justice

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Advanced qualitative research

Eszter Kelemen, senior researcher, ESSRG

My core research focus is the multiple values of nature, and how this diversity of values can be integrated into decision making both at the individual and the societal (policy) level. I like working across boundaries of different disciplines and knowledge systems, and experimenting with creative-interactive methods that foster co-production between policy, society, and science. Beside working with local communities, I am also engaged in global and EU-level science-policy interfaces.

Keywords: values of nature, socio-cultural valuation, deliberative valuation, ecosystem services, biodiversity policy, science-policy interactions, transformative governance

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Values of nature in decision making

Alexandra Köves, associate professor

My research has focused partly on sustainability scenarios using participatory research techniques and partly on decisions influencing sustainability transitions. I believe that it is of crucial importance to be able to imagine a different future in order to move both individual and collective behaviour and policy-making towards a Degrowth world. Recently my focus also turned towards the necessary shift from mechanistic worldviews to systems views in economic thinking and for understanding this, I work closely together with experts from other disciplines.

Keywords: Degrowth, futures methods, sustainability transitions, decision science, policy-oriented participatory research, systems-view

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Ecological Economics

György Málovics, programme co-director, professor

I have been working with vulnerable groups (most of all Roma, but also disabled people, environmentalists and related CSOs) during the past 15 years, following cooperative and action orientated research (participatory action research) and educational (service learning) approaches. As a person with a researcher-activist identity, I am interested in contributing to both scientifically and socially significant and impactful knowledge production and social change for social justice and environmental sustainability, following an ecological economic/transformative paradigm. I am also interested in and initiates processes opening up the university for the (local) community, most of all with and for vulnerable communities, in line with the approach of university community engagement.

Keywords: vulnerable/marginalised stakeholders, participatory research, research with social impact, university community engagement

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Introduction to qualitative research
• Science with societal impact
• Publication seminar

Boglárka Méreiné Berki, assistant professor

My focus is on community-based research and related activism. I am particularly interested in the power of human relations (social capital) in the case of communities living in extreme poverty and segregation. Through my educational activities, the topics of sustainable development (primarily sustainable mobility and tourism), sociological aspects, and local economic development are also in the focus of my interest.

Keywords: segregation, stigmatization, local communities, poverty alleviation, participatory action research

Barbara Mihók, research fellow

As an ecologist and a mental health professional by training, I deeply believe that meaningful (re-)connection to our human and other-than-human fellows is the key to well-being, empowerment and development. After the completion of my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, I worked in inter- and transdisciplinary conservation and sustainability research. My main professional interest turned towards nature and human mental well-being and is inspired by participatory action research and inclusive science.

Keywords: planetary health, nature and well-being, environmental justice, inclusion

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Ecology and planetary health

György Pataki, senior researcher

I studied international economics, public policy, ecological and environmental economics, and pursued my doctoral research on corporate greening. I enjoy teaching when it is dialogical, problem- or project-based. I am one of the founders of the Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG), an independent nonprofit research organisation, working on the boundaries of environmental and social sciences. Committed to science-policy dialogues, I contributed to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP). Working for the advancement of the solidarity and social economy, I am a founding member of the Hungarian Coalition of Social Enterprises. My research interest and practice have always been diverse covering a range of sustainability issues, but primarily following action-oriented, co-creative, cooperative, and participatory methodological approaches.

Keywords: biodiversity, co-creation, participation, solidarity

Courses in the PhD Programme:

• Ecological Economics