DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED.

Donations can be sent to the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (Preferable)
or the Hungarian Relief Agency (as an alternative
since disbursements would be made in the Fall of 2009).

Each one is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization and thus get tax credit for your donation.

MAKE CHECK OUT TO YOUR SELECTED FOUNDATION
-  BUT  -
Your Donation should be marked "MVH Transfo."

Ms. Emese Latkóczy
Hungarian Human Rights Foundation
PO Box J, Gracie Station
New York, N.Y 10028

Ms. Emese Blankenship
Hungarian Relief Agency
PO Box 161174
Rocky River, OH 44116-1174

About the University

SAPIENTIA - HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSYLVANIA

FACULTY OF TECHNICAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES

Marosvásárhely/Târgu-Mures Campus

2001 - The Beginnings

The Sapienta - Hungarian University of Transylvania, established in 2001, is a private, independent and non-denominational institution based in four cities in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was established to serve the educational needs of Romania's approximately two million ethnic Hungarians. It is open to qualified students of any nationality who meet admissions requirements.

The university was established and is funded by the Sapientia Foundation. The latter, in turn, was founded by the four Hungarian historical churches of Transylvania: the Roman Catholic, the Calvinist Reformed, the Unitarian and the Lutheran Churches.

The University has 3 faculties: the Faculty of Science in Csíkszereda,the Faculty of Science and Arts in Kolozsvár and the Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences in Marosvásárhely.

Information released in 2003

NOTE: The information below was released  in a flyer in the Fall of 2003 when the university was requesting funds to build the main campus. The main building was completed and classes started in the summer of 2005. This information is supplied also as background reference for those interested in knowing how the university became a reality.

About the City

Marosvásárhely is located in central Transylvania in a picturesque landscape. River Maros crosses the city which is surrounded by peaceful slopes covered by oak and beech trees. Its 175,000 inhabitants are mainly Hungarians and Romanians, however, smaller Roma, German and Jewish communities also contribute to the ethnic build-up. The city is the industrial and cultural centre of Maros region, and also the administrative capital of the county.

Its history is dated back over 600 years. Marosvásárhely may not be called a typical medieval town, yet, it displays a number of architectural masterpieces. The oldest building is the Gothic style Reformed Church situated in the Citadel, built in the 15th century during the reign of Hunyadi János. The Citadella with its proud bastions and high walls is the only medieval castle which survived intact the change of times.

Many scientists and politicians lived and worked here, including the world-famous mathematicians (Bolyai father and son).

The city has two theatres ,a philharmonic orchestra, and a number of museums, public libraries and art galleries.

There are 3 state universities here, the Medical and pharmaceutical University, the Drama School, the "Petru Maior" University and the "Dimitrie Cantemir" Private University of Environmental Studies..

Our University joined the academic life of the city in 2001.

About the Faculty

The Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences of the Marosvásárhely started its activity in the Education Center of the local Roman Catholic Parish using 3,500 sqm teaching and office space.

Our departments grew steadily rendering the space insufficient for adequate teaching conditions beginning with the academic year 2003/2004. Therefore, rooms were rented elsewhere, especially for the labs.

At the moment there are some 594 students studying in 3 years and 7 specialities: computer sciences (software engineering), mechatronics, industrial IT, automation, horticulture, social pedagogy and communications - public relations.

Our University is unique in Romania also because it is the only private higher education institution offering technical education.

Education and research

The University is a modern institution of higher education and research.

With its committed teaching staff, brand new infrastructure and widespread professional and academic networks, the university will help ensure Transylvania's contributive participation in the international academic, scientific and business communities.

The main research areas at our University are: health and drug abuse, gradient nano-crystal TiAIN multilayers, iterative methods for solving non-linear operator equations, designing optimal structure adapting - parallel mechanic systems, and universal bevel-wheel profile measuring instruments.

Financial Resources

In 2000, and again for 2001 and 2002, the Hungarian Parliament voted to provide US $7 million annually to the Sapientia Foundation, to be used as seed money for the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania.

These vital start-up funds have allowed us to purchase and renovate several buildings and set up the minimum administrative infrastructure needed to launch our first and second academic years.

About half of the students receive full tuition scholarships, while the rest pay tuition of US $200 per year.

Equipment & facilities

The four locations of our University are interconnected by a telephone and data transfer network - 2 Mbyte optical fibre ensures our access to the internet.

Each of our 4 computer labs is equipped with 11-13 PCs.

The University of Twente, The Netherlands provided us with various electronic and electro-technical devices, including a microwave measurement lab.

In addition, several institutions in Hungary also support us, for instance, the Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences donated us one of their electron microscope.

The library including some 13,000 volumes of specialist literature is steadily expanding.

A wide range of equipment (overhead and video projectors, laptops) is available to support the lectures.

Our department offers mainly technical studies, which require rather costly lab equipment.

In order to procure these devices and instruments absolutely necessary to ensure high quality training of our students we would like to obtain support and donations from various sources.

Plans & needs

Unfortunately, Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences of the Marosvásárhely does not own at the moment the buildings where they functions, and the premises that had been rented do not provide sufficient space, either. In order to overcome these problems, the building of a modern university campus planned. As a first step in achieving that aim, a 66-acre lot has been purchased just outside the city of Marosvásárhely, and the construction started in summer of 2003.

We strongly hope that generous supporters will be identified to help us accomplish our aim, and build the campus.

For the survival of the Hungarian community in Transylvania, education in the mother tongue is extremely important at all levels, a fact that becomes more evident whit the increased interest of young high school graduates for the specialties of the faculty. Therefore, the campus is planned to hold 3,000 students on the short term, the expansion depending on financial possibilities.

We also wish to extend our labs, improve their equipment, and possibly open new ones.

If you would like to help the Sapientia - Hungarian University of Transylvania fulfill its aims, or wish to obtain further information, please contact us.

Financial assistance, in-kind contribution or professional assistance are all welcome

UPDATE FOR 2008

Achievements realized from 2003-08

The initial aim in 2003 was to build a campus for the Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences in Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely, whose complete infrastructure would meet the needs of 3,000 students. The campus was conceived as a configuration including 3 buildings for lecture halls, laboratories, a research center and offices for faculty and staff.

At the present time, only building A has been realized, ensuring educational space for only 860 students. The funding supported by the Hungarian Government was sufficient for only 1 building (building A, see the picture at the top of this page). Under these circumstances, the educational offerings were of necessity limited to only 7 specializations. Accordingly, any new specializations can not be added at the present time.

We would like to mention that the Romanian Government did not supply any financial aid to finish the campus. Furthermore, we do not expect any funding from this source, either now or in the future.

After 2007, the financial support accorded by the Hungarian Government decreased by approximately 25%. Thus, we now need to generate our own funding in order to ensure the functioning of the university.

Despite the difficulty in obtaining financial resources, certain achievements were nevertheless realized, in particular those regarding the endowment of the laboratories. At present, the Faculty has 34 laboratories. Because of limited space, several (between 4-5) disciplines are grouped in the same laboratory.

The acquisition of laboratory equipment was completed with the generous help of, in particular, the Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel, the George Kellner Foundation, and the Hungarian Relief Agency. This help produced a Wi-Fi system for the campus of Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely, a 3D CNC milling machine for educational purposes, the Automation Studio software, an educational laboratory kit for robotics, and several measuring instruments.

The educational results were demonstrated for the first time during the summer of 2005. At that time, our students specializing in Informatics and Social Pedagogy successfully passed graduation exams organized by accredited universities. In subsequent academic years, including the year 2008, students from specializations in Mechatronics, Computer Science, Automatics, Communications, and Public Relations also passed graduation exams, obtaining excellent results. Based on the results of the graduation exams, we have concluded that the students of our University are among the best in Romania.

The educational program also includes training for research, evidenced by findings presented at scientific conferences. Some of our students have achieved remarkable accomplishments at international conferences, and also as participants in international competitions.

The professional evolution of our teaching staff is also a positive result in the academic life of our Faculty. Between 2003-2008, 9 junior faculty members earned and were awarded their Ph.D. degree, and 12 Lecturers were promoted to Associate Professor.

Aims for the future

When we reflect on the achievements which have resulted from the educational and research activity of our University, we can conclude that these achievements have far exceeded the main objective of Transylvanian Hungarian ethnics, which is to maintain their language and cultural values. Therefore, in view of our infrastructure and as well as of our educational and scientific life, our aim is to fortify the present-day working environment of our faculty and students.

Regarding the completion of the infrastructure, we must begin by constructing a student residence that will house 240 students. After that, we would like to construct the 2nd of the 3 buildings envisioned in the initial project of the campus.

The first steps regarding the student residence have already been completed - the plans and building permit have been obtained. We should mention that the existence of a student residence is a requirement in order to obtain the accreditation of the Faculty.

Another very important task is to acquire a low-noise transformer which will provide clean power. This is necessary in order to keep the laboratory equipment in good and safe operating condition. [Please refer to the section below, on funding requests, for more information about the transformer.]

After completion of the accreditation process for the Faculty, another very important task will be to create the premises for higher level research work.

After completing the accreditation process for the Faculty, a very important task is to create the premises for a higher level research work

Contact .

Sapientia - Hungarian University of Transylvania
Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences
Marosvásárhely / Târgu-Mures Campus

Mailbox:: 540485 Târgu-Mures, Op. 9, Cp.4  Romania

Tel. : 011-40-265-208 170

Fax : 011-40-265-206 211

E-mail: hollanda@ms.sapientia.ro

Web: www.ms.sapientia.ro