ISES :: Institute for Social and European Studies Foundation

Mikayil Yusifov, Azerbaijan, MA International Economic Relations 2008

1. Director - NATO International School of Azerbaijan (2008-2010)
2. Lecturer - Khazar University (2009-present)
3. Chairman - International Security Research Center of Azerbaijan (NGO) (2009-present)
4. Director - Euro-Atlantic Center (NATO Information Center) (2010-present)

Can you describe your experience upon graduation in finding your current occupation?
I am pleased and honored to be among the graduates of the Masters programme in International Relations and European Studies jointly organized by ISES and Corvinus University of Budapest. For me, ISES was a unique environment which provided not only immense educational prospects, but also served as a venue for interaction, thus contributing to improvement of one’s academic skills, professional experience and offers a venue to be part of an interesting social group. I also wish to recognize the determined and most sincere effort of ISES staff in organizing of programs and inviting lecturers, to my mind which enabled me to attain greater heights in my current and future positions.

How did your experience in the Masters Programme contribute to your current position?
Contribution was not only limited to knowledge but also sincere communication with the chairs of program, respective lecturers and guests as this created a unique networking opportunity. Besides, being a graduate of this unique programme was without doubt a major source of knowledge and inspiration during my introduction for successful professional career. As a result of the degree obtained, I am now able to lecture at one of the leading universities of Azerbaijan as well as started my first job as an executive director of NATO International School of Azerbaijan in 2008. 

What is your most memorable experience as a Masters student at ISES?
When I think back on my year of experience at ISES, my first and most memorable experiences are with the following: high qualified education, practical skills, effective management and friendly atmosphere, breaking the stereotypes and making the students more responsible. The networking and team spirit of the programme were the main aspects that made our course more interesting, more useful and more concrete for future goals.

What advice would you give to students who are considering studying at ISES?
This programme offered a solid foundation upon which the students could easily build professional skills. Students found this programme very rewarding particularly for those with a basic knowledge of related fields. Moreover, ISES is capable of creating a very friendly and safe environment. This is a place to study, learn, develop and share the knowledge.

Any additional comments:
I wish all the best to prospective students and staff of ISES and wish to be connected to ISES and its activities with all my heart. I am in total belief that ISES will build upon the successful beginning and develop as a respective institution in Europe, not only in Hungary.

Yuliya Klymko-Overchenko, Ukraine, MA International Economic Relations 2007

Please share with us your current occupation and career situation:
Since March 2009 I have been working in Ukraine as the Assistant to Dr. Kalman Mizsei, Political Advisor for the Office of the European Union Special Representative for the Republic of Moldova.

Can you describe your experience upon graduation in finding your current occupation?
After graduation I started my professional career in Kyiv as an intern and later as the Project Manager in the International Renaissance Foundation (Soros Network) funded project "European Space". It aimed at becoming the number one source of information on European integration of Ukraine and NGO projects implementation in this area. I successfully passed  the entry test on EU knowledge and the associated interview. I believe that knowledge obtained during my studies at ISES helped me a lot in getting my first job and further positions.
Studies for ISES-Corvinus Masters Programme gave me strong impetus to study even more. Fortunately Professor ARGENTIERI (John Cabot University, Italy) and Dr. Jody JENSEN recommended me to continue studies in the domain of European integration in the College of Europe. Already in 2008 I effectively completed Masters Programme in Bruges with a grade of excellent on my Master thesis.

How did your experience in the Masters Programme contribute to your current position?
I think that ISES-Corvinus Masters Programme became a corner stone in my professional development. It allowed me to shift my major from Economics into the profile which I became very interested in and keen to learn – European Integration, Democratization in CEE, Civil Society and Politics. It gave me essential knowledge and understanding and formed a solid basis for further advancing in the aforementioned topics. I believe that the Masters Programme particularly increased my understanding of the transition and transformation processes which historically and are currently happening in Eastern Europe and of European integration in general. I believe this factor and familiarity with the Hungarian language and culture have given me additional benefits while competing for the current position I hold.

What is your most memorable experience as a Masters student at ISES?
Now when I think about the past, every day spent in Koszeg, ISES was memorable in a certain way. I think the most outstanding was the day of graduation, when you could see the result of your work, that the efforts taken bore the fruits.Speaking about the academic process, I enjoyed very much the classes, free and open atmosphere, discussions, and the ability for students to speak and pose questions. This was very different from the system I was familiar with. The readers were very good and of course I think we had the best professors  and staff from all across Europe and the US!
We also had lots of fun and joy – celebrating birthdays, various national and public holidays, traveling to nearby countries. Our days were filled with cooperation, partnership, tolerance and learning from each other, considering we had a very diverse group. I particularly liked our regular meetings at the ISES café when Professors and mostly Hungarian officials were coming to speak with us in a very cozy and relaxed atmosphere.

What advice would you give to students who are considering studying at ISES?
If asked whether I would still have chosen to participate in the ISES Masters Programme having been through it my answer without any hesitation would be yes! I strongly recommend this Progarmme especially for students coming from CIS countries and students who are considering specializing in societies in transition. I think it is academically rich and intensive Programme to give you very precise and targeted knowledge.

Any additional comments:
I would like to thank Dr. Miszlivets and Dr. Jody Jensen for being the spiritual center of this programme, professors for teaching and guiding us, my student mates for being a great company to study and live with, lovely Koszeg and amazing Budapest for hosting us! Missing you all and profound thanks!!!

 Carmen Gabriela Greab, Romania, MA International Economic Relations 2005

Please share with us your current occupation and career situation:
I am currently a teaching assistant and researcher at Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Political Science, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Can you describe your experience upon graduation in finding your current occupation?
After graduation I returned to Romania and looked for a job. I stayed in contact with the faculty where I finished my BA in Political Science. Immediately after returning in Romania I started collaborating with the political science department. First, I collaborated on several projects as a research assistant and after a few month they hired me and I started to teach. The fact that I studied in English for my MA was an advantage as they were just starting an English track of study and they wanted someone who has very good skills of both political science and English. To conclude, I can say that my experience in Hungary for my MA was an advantage and helped me find the job that I wanted in a very short period of time.

How did your experience in the Masters Programme contribute to your current position?
Besides the aspects that I mentioned above – the experience at ISES contributed to my current position as I specialized in International Relations Studies and in my department there was also a need for specialists in this domain. After three years of working in my department I managed, together with my colleagues to initiate a new Masters Programme at our University dealing with International Affairs.

What is your most memorable experience as a Masters student at ISES?
There are several memorable experiences as a Masters student at ISES. First of all I want to mention the location. At first I was a bit surprised with the location because it was in a small, rather touristic city at the borders with Austria and I thought it would be very boring for us. Still, after a while I realized that the location actually helped me in focusing more on the subjects discussed. Moreover, we managed to get to know each other and the teaching staff better – things that helped us and our in class discussions. Second of all, the structure of the meetings and the teachers – coming from different educational systems, backgrounds and teaching styles– brought another element to my experience. Probably the most important aspect of my experience was the fact that we were a very diverse group – coming from different countries and different backgrounds. This was very important because made all the in class discussions extremely interesting. We learned not only from our teachers and books but also from each other.

What advice would you give to students who are considering studying at ISES?
Do not hesitate to choose this programme as it is a great experience that will for sure help you in future. Still, as in any other Masters programme, try to come with a goal or aim for your future so you can benefit from the experience better.

Am Johal, Canada, MA International Economic Relations 2007

What are you doing now?:
I work in the constituency office of an elected official on the east side of Vancouver.  It is a heavily gentrifying neighbourhood so there are alot of social issues there in terms of housing, poverty, drug addiction and civil liberties issues related to policing.  It's very interesting and complicated work.  I love going in to work every day.  I also do some writing and am Chair of the Impact on Communities Coalition, a civil society organization, which acted as a watchdog around the social impacts of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver (www.2010homelessness.ca).

We also started our own 'Vancouver Flying University' here as an experimental project as part of an art collaboration.

Since leaving ISES, I did some economics courses at the University of Bologna.  I have just recently been accepted in to a part-time PhD program in Media and Communication at European Graduate School in Switzerland - I will be focussing on human rights and urbanization.  I'll be spending part of my summers in the hills of Switzerland for the next few years.


How was your experience in the Masters Programme?
I had already been out working before coming back to do my Masters in Hungary.  So for me, it was really about living abroad for a year, to have the relative privilege of being away from my working life, to think about things and the world around me in a new way.  I had time to read, be half way around the world and think through some things about how the world works so I could reflect back on my work in a different way.  At each of those levels, it was a great life experience.  I'm still benefiting from some of the ideas that I was exposed to in that intellectual setting.

It was truly a privilege to be around such wonderful people from different parts of the world.  I learned as much from them as I did from the professors.

What is your most memorable experience as a Masters student at ISES?
I think my first week there.  It was a full day lecture by Elemer Hankiss - he was talking about Camus.  I knew that I had made the right decision to come.  It just felt right.


What advice would you give to students who are considering studying at ISES?
It's a rural setting with a small student body.  There are great benefits to that.  It's an opportunity to engage in rigorous thinking, in both formal and informal settings.  It's also very liberal, open and challenging.  The institution has a sincere commitment to critical thinking and exposes students to diverse viewpoints.

Ferenc Laki, Hungary, MA International Economic Relations 2008

Please share with us your employment history since graduation:
After some months working as a freelance translator, in March 2010 I started to work at the Ministry of Environment and Water in Budapest as a counsellor of external affairs. Due to the restructuring of ministries recently, I continued my work at the Ministry of Rural Development. I am dealing there mostly with my country's obligations towards the EU and the UN based on multilateral environmental agreements and conventions.

How did your experience in the Masters Programme contribute to your current position?
ISES Masters Programme gave me a sound basis for working in an international environment. Its wide spectrum of education topics and interdisciplinary approach of global issues and the professional language experience I have gained during my studies in Kõszeg, prepared me properly to work in national high-level public administration linked with EU institutions and different UN bodies.

What is your most memorable experience as a Masters student at ISES?
It is difficult to pick one memorable moment because there have been so many. My student fellows came from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds. We studied together, worked in teams and spent our free time with each other. We organized trips, language courses and celebrated our fellow students' birthdays together. To become a valued member of a vibrating international student community - that was my most memorable experience. 

What advice would you give to students who are considering studying at ISES?
I would advice them to enroll in the Ises Masters Programme. It gives the participants a unique opportunity to join a course in international relations with main focus on European integration. Coming from countries from all over the world, the students and the lecturers as well bring in their own experiences and different points of view and contribute to forming a diverse and vivid fellowship of open-minded young people. Furthermore, the marvellous small town of Kõszeg is the perfect venue for studies: its peaceful and charming atmosphere is the ideal host for the masters programme.