2025 COMPS QUESTIONS

GENERAL INFORMATION

• The Comprehensive Exam (hereinafter COMPS) shall be completed at the end of the fourth active semester as a closure of the training phase.
• Application for the COMPS is mandatory: if a student does not apply for COMPS at the end of his/her fourth active semester, his/her student status will be terminated.
• Students can apply for COMPS provided they have fulfilled a minimum 80 per cent of the prescribed 120 credits of the pre-COMPS period.
• Application for COMPS should be submitted via the Doctoral Program’s website (szeeds.sze.hu)
• The COMPS consists of two parts:

1. The first part is a written exam which must be taken a day before the oral part. A list of questions is available on the Doctoral Program’s website.
2. The second part is an oral interview. Students will prove their research progress and their readiness to pursue research with a clear prospect of success.

• The Examination Committee will assess the applicants’ readiness level and judge the likelihood of successful research. In its evaluation, the Committee considers the written portion of the comprehensive exam and the committee members’ evaluations of the interviews.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COMPS

• Highest preference is given to (i) a published full conference paper or (ii) a published journal paper. (A clear exposition of a Literature Review or the Research Problem with adjoining Research Questions.)
• Next preference level is a draft conference paper or draft journal paper with completed full text ready for submission.
• The minimal acceptance level is an “extended abstract” of 1.5 – 2 pages.

Extended abstract definition:

An abstract of 200 words is envisaged to assert in a clear and captivating (attention-capturing) statement the author’s route from the knowledge gap in the literature to the newly added knowledge as their research contribution. An extended abstract of 1400 words, in addition to the above statement, attests the process during which the author acquired the new knowledge. Thus, the requirements for an extended abstract include the depiction of (i) the problem scope, (ii) the gap in the literature, (iii) the purpose of the quest, (iv) the research design / data collection and analysis, (v) the overview of the main results, (vi) the originality of the finding(s) and arguments and (vii) the limitations of the research.

• In each above category, students are expected to defend their research results.
• Evaluation of the COMPS is presented in two qualifications: satisfactory or fail.
• The result of the exam shall be announced at the end of the last exam day.
• The oral part of the exam cannot be retaken.

APPLICATION AND PAYMENT:

Application for enrolled students and for external Hungarian applicants to SzEEDS^M COMPS on https://szeeds.sze.hu/ website from May 1^st, 2024.

Application for external applicants from abroad for entrance in the SzEEDS^M Doctoral Program with COMPS on https://admission.sze.hu/ from February 5th, 2024.

For SZEEDSM enrolled students, there is no exam fee.

For external applicants, the fee of the COMPS exam is 32,500 HUF, based on the University’s Compensation and Allowance Regulations, to be transferred to the following account number:

Bank Account number: 10300002-10801842-00014908

IBAN: HU76 10300002-10801842-00014908
Name of Bank: MKB Bank Nyrt.
Beneficiary: Széchenyi István Egyetem

In the notice please include the following two pieces of information:

1. Applicant’s name, 

2. DRKELD002T.

The bank transfer certificate must be attached to the application.

In case of any questions please contact: szeeds@sze.hu