Press Releases

Budapest, January 15, 2003

The popular lecture series of the University of All Knowledge resumes in 2003. On January 20, Miklós Zrínyi will deliver the opening lecture of the second semester on the materials of the 21st century, intelligent materials which understand information received from the computer and change their properties according to the instructions. A small ceremony will precede the lecture of the chemist: György Simó, chief officer of Axelero, will present one-year ADSL subscriptions to the five students drawn from the 700 who completed without error all the tests of the first semester.

The lectures of the second semester will be arranged in thematic groups. In the "Material and energy" block Miklós Zrínyi will be followed on January 27 by Gyula Bencze who will attempt to disperse our fears about nuclear energy. On February 3, László Somlyódy will speak about water, on February 10, Zsolt Bor will give a lecture on the "omnipotent ray", the laser. Then several lectures will discuss European Union questions. First, Lajos Vékás will speak about the practice and theory of legislation on February 17. A week later Péter Horn will examine the problems of the agrarian economy. Audiences can also hear lectures on the integration, the common history and the notion of the nation. The spring semester will include lectures on nature, medicine and the weather, as well as on the decisive questions of theology or art history. The last lecturer in this semester will be László Lovász on June 30 who will give his audience a glimpse into the world of mathematical symbols.

Matáv, the founder of the lecture series, last December requested TÁRKI to conduct an opinion research on the reception of the University of All Knowledge. The survey based on a representative sample revealed that one quarter of the Hungarian society (that is about two and a half million citizens) have heard about the lecture series and every fifth person regularly followed them and saw on average three lectures. There are more than average graduate, white collar and Budapest citizens among those who are familiar with the lectures. The respondents spoke very positively both about the initiative and the interesting and easy-to-follow nature of the lectures. From among the lecturers, the most respondents remembered Szilveszter E. Vizi, József Hámori and Iván Almár, but the lectures on genetics and space research were also memorable for them. The respondents would, in future, welcome lectures on medicine, health, archeology and astronomy, but there was also measurable interest in biology, ecology and information technology questions.

This year, too, interested audiences can follow the lectures of the University of All Knowledge on mtv, m2 and Duna Television, hear them on Petőfi Radio, read them in the papers Népszabadság, Magyar Hírlap and Magyar Nemzet. The www.mindentudas.hu home page will also be renewed: the more lively and colorful site enriched with a news column and book suggestion will focus more on the inter-active nature of the University of All Knowledge.