Organizer of the event:
University of Szeged
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Address: 6722 Szeged, Egyetem u. 2.
Phone: +36 (62) 546-357
Website: https://arts.u-szeged.hu/
Date of the event: 15-17 April 2025
| Chair of the Organizing Committee: | Prof. Dr. Zsófia Szilágyi DSc
Professor |
| Institute of Hungarian Language and Literature | |
| Department of Hungarian Literature | |
| Phone: | |
| E-mail: szilagyi.zsofia@hung.u-szeged.hu | |
| Secretary of the Organizing Committee: | Dr. Vivien Apjok |
| Assistant Professor | |
| Institute of Social Sciences | |
| Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology | |
| Phone: | |
| E-mail: apjok.vivien@szte.hu | |
| Student delegate: | Csenge Keresztény |
| PhD student | |
| E-mail: kereszteny.csenge@szte.hu | |
| Deputy student delegate: | Réka Vojnics-Rogics |
| PhD student | |
| E-mail: vojnics-rogics.reka@szte.hu |
The National Association for Student Research (OTDT), the Humanities Section Committee of the OTDT and the organizing University of Szeged hereby announce the Human Sciences Section of the 37th National Student Research Conference (OTDK) under the conditions of the following call.
The conditions for participation and registration in the Human Sciences Section of the 37th OTDK are set out in the General Call of the 37th OTDK and in this Call of the OTDT Human Sciences Committee.
All presenters who wish to participate in the 37th National Student Research Conference – in the case of multi-author papers, each author – must meet the criteria listed in the General Call of the 37th Conference and specified in Supplement 2 of said Call.
Study circles from universities and colleges outside Hungary can participate in the 37th OTDK under the same conditions as those in Hungary. For details, see the General Call of the 37th OTDK.
The conference is also open to secondary school students in Hungary and across the borders who present their research results at conferences of higher education institutions or national high school student research conferences (for details see Supplement 4 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK) and are nominated for the 37th OTDK. A detailed description of the participation of secondary school students is available in the General Call of the 37th OTDK.
An undergraduate BA or BSc thesis which is produced in the course of continuous student research (TDK) activity can be registered for the 37th OTDK, on condition that it meets the eligibility criteria specified in the Call and its Supplements, and has been presented and qualified for the OTDK at a student research conference either during the author’s (or authors’) BA/BSc or their subsequent MA/MSc training.
The TDK paper must be an original academic essay based on independent research conducted by the applicants during their undergraduate studies, with which they qualify for the 37th OTDK at the institutional student research conference during their undergraduate years.
The language of the OTDK is Hungarian, as specified in the General Call. In foreign language sessions, oral presentations may be delivered in Hungarian or in the designated foreign language for that session; however, the organizers of the Humanities Section reserve the right to specify the language of presentations for each session. The intention to give a presentation in a foreign language must be indicated in the course of the online registration for the OTDK.
All TDK papers submitted to the 37th OTDK will be subject to a plagiarism check. The resultant plagiarism reports will be assessed by a special committee of three, set up by the Humanities Section Committee. Please be warned that at the OTDK no form of plagiarism is allowed, including – but not limited to – auto-citations without proper referencing (i.e. self-plagiarism). TDK papers that are proven to infringe copyright will be disqualified from the 37th OTDK by the OTDT. The nominating institution will be notified about the plagiarism case immediately.
The explosive advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) systems may lead to significant changes in academic research, including activities within the student research community. The Humanities Section expects AI systems to be used in a responsible, ethical, and transparent manner. Even when using AI-generated texts, the applicant remains responsible for any inaccuracies in the TDK paper, as well as for the correctness of the content and conclusions, and the factual accuracy of the text. The submitted TDK paper can only be accepted as the applicant’s own work if its substantive content is genuinely and clearly the result of independent effort. The applicant must document in the TDK paper, according to the standards of the relevant academic field, the purpose and method of AI-based system usage and specify precisely which parts of the content derive from such sources. The Humanities Section Committee will treat the misuse of AI systems in the same manner as plagiarism, applying necessary and reasonable methods and procedures to verify independent work.
The evaluation criteria for TDK papers and presentations are specified in Supplement 1 of the Section Call.
Further content and formatting requirements for the TDK papers and abstracts, as well as the rules for presenting foreign-language TDK papers, are included in Supplement 2 of the Section Call.
During registration, students must indicate the session in which they wish to present their TDK paper. The Humanities Section Committee will make the final decision regarding the session assignment of each TDK paper.
The fundamental rules for the establishment of sessions are included in the General Call of the 37th OTDK. Based on the topics and the number of submitted TDK papers, the Humanities Section Committee may merge sessions or create additional ones. An independent session may only be established if at least 6 TDK papers from a minimum of two institutions are submitted for the topic, with the additional condition that at least 5 of the 6–15 papers assigned to the session are presented at the 37th OTDK. If the number of TDK papers to be presented in a given session is fewer than 5, the session may be merged with another session at the discretion of the Chair of the Humanities Section Committee. With all due respect and gratitude, the Humanities Section Committee reserves the right to redirect papers which do not pertain to the academic fields of the Humanities Section to a more relevant section of the 37th OTDK.
The final decision on the sessions and session assignments will be made by the Humanities Section Committee. Students will be informed of their decision via the OTDT online system by 28 March 2025 at the latest.
4.1.1. Pre-registration of TDK papers
After the institutional student research conference and within 30 days of the email specified in point 4 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK, student researchers are to upload their TDK paper in PDF format in the OTDT online system and select their preferred OTDK section. Participants who qualify for the 37th OTDK at an institutional/faculty student research conference held within 30 days before the registration deadline for the Humanities Section of the 37th OTDK, must upload their TDK paper to the OTDT online system by the registration deadline of the Humanities Section, even if that allows them less than 30 days for submitting their TDK papers.
ATTENTION! Please note that uploading a TDK paper does not automatically entail registration for the 37th OTDK. Registration must be completed within the registration period – see the steps below.
4.1.2. Registration
Registration period: 15 November 2024 – 15 January 2024 (Wednesday), 16:00 (CET)
Registration deadline: 15 January 2025 (Wednesday), 16:00 (CET)
Students’ tasks during the registration period:
Your registration sheet will be accepted exclusively as a PDF document, whether it is
a) a document authenticated with the Identification-Based Document Authentication function (AVDH, at https://magyarorszag.hu/avdh) of the Client Gate or with any other qualified electronic signature service of high security
OR
b) a scanned signed print-out.
After the students’ registration deadline, i.e. 15 January 2025 (Wednesday), 16:00 (CET) – it will no longer be possible for students to upload documents in the OTDT online system.
Please, upload the documents of the student research conference and send them to the OTDT Office. For details, see point 3 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK.
Your register will be accepted exclusively as a PDF document, whether it is
a) a document authenticated with the Identification-Based Document Authentication function (AVDH, at https://magyarorszag.hu/avdh) of the Client Gate or with any other enhanced security qualified electronic signature service
OR
b) a scanned signed print-out.
Deadline for institutional/faculty TDT Chairs to upload documents to the OTDT online system: 20 January 2025 (Monday) 16:00 (CET). After the deadline it will no longer be possible for TDT chairs to upload documents in the OTDT online system.
Unless a student is registered for the OTDK by their institution, their registration will be invalid!
In order to present their papers at the 37th OTDK, authors must comply with all the registration rules listed above and their registration must be accepted by both the OTDT Office and the host institution of the Humanities Section. The OTDT Office, the Humanities Section Committee and the host institution assess registrations together and students will be notified about their decision to accept or reject them electronically through the OTDT online system. The TDT Chairs/Referents of the sending institutions can track the registrations through the OTDT online system, including acceptance, rejection or a call submit missing documents.
TDK papers will be double-blind reviewed. The purpose of the reviews is to examine the independent research results achieved by the student and to provide feedback in the form of points and comments academically reflecting on the contents of the paper. Review criteria were established by the OTDT Humanities Section Committee and are included in Supplement 1 of the Call.
A certificate of participation in the OTDK will be awarded to all authors and supervisors of each paper presented. In addition, a maximum of one third of the papers presented may be awarded one of the first, second and third places per session, taking into account that a maximum of one paper per session may be awarded first place. The Section Panel may award a special prize to those papers that do not achieve ranking but score high, following close right behind the winners, and thus are judged by the Session Panel to be worthy of recognition on the basis of their academic merit. All authors achieving ranking or receiving a special prize will be awarded a certificate each.
The total number of papers ranked and awarded a special prize may not exceed 50% of the total number of papers presented in the section. For further rules on prizes, see Supplement 3 of the General Call.
Following the conference, the first-place winners of each session in each section – if they meet the additional criteria outlined in the call – may apply for the Pro Scientia Gold Medal. Institutions may also nominate their consistently outstanding instructors in talent development for the OTDK Gold Medal. Details of this are provided in Supplement 5 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK.
The registration and conference fees for the 37th OTDK will be decided at a later stage, subject to the availability of funding.
All motivated students and their supervisors are warmly invited to join the event!
Budapest, 9 April 2024
| Prof. Dr. László Pete | Prof. Dr. Zsófia Szilágyi |
| Chair of the OTDK Humanities Section Committee | Chair of the Organizing Committee of the OTDK Humanities Section |
Note: If any interpretational issues arise between the Hungarian call and its English translation, the Hungarian version shall prevail.
EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THE TDK PAPER AND ITS ORAL PRESENTATION
I. Evaluation of the research paper
| Originality, novelty, and significance of the topic, novelty of issues and/or approach | 5 points |
| New research results. To what extent has its objective been achieved? | 5 points |
| Familiarity with secondary sources on the topic, citations, referencing | 5 points |
| Soundness of the author’s own arguments and conclusions | 5 points |
| Structure, coherence and logic of the TDK paper | 5 points |
| Style, language proficiency, and formal features (including editing and proofreading) | 5 points |
| Total: | 30 points |
II. Evaluation of the oral presentation
| Presenter’s academic competence, academic content of the presentation | 20 points |
| Delivery of presentation (time management, visual aids, presentation skills, etc.) | 10 points |
| Responses to the reviewers’ questions and comments, debating skills | 10 points |
| Total: | 40 points |
A total of 100 points can be awarded for the TDK paper (30 points from each of the two reviewers and an additional 40 points for the oral presentation). Only those TDK papers that receive at least 35 points from the two reviewers combined may proceed to the 37th OTDK.
If there is a difference of 13 points or more between the scores given by the two academic reviewers, a third reviewer must be appointed. In this case, the final score of the paper will be the sum of the two closest scores.
On 31 March 2025, the organizers of the Humanities Section will make the reviews available to each author in the OTDT online system. The identities of the reviewers will also be disclosed to the authors of the TDK papers. Any reviews received later than the above date will become accessible for the authors upon receipt.
The organizers of the Humanities Section will strive to have the written evaluations ready ten days before the conference at the latest, but in case of any delay, the TDK paper in question will not be excluded from the 37th OTDK.
TDK papers may also be submitted in the working language of the research.
The time-frame for oral presentations includes 20 minutes for the talk, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
Local student research conferences are warmly advised to apply the above criteria in their evaluation.
The TDK papers submitted to and accepted for the 37th OTDK must be presented in person and orally in the individual sessions, following the preliminary written evaluation.
The language of the OTDK is Hungarian.
Students enrolled in Hungarian-language programs must submit their TDK papers in Hungarian and present them in Hungarian. An exception is made for students in foreign language programs, who may choose to use the working language of their respective programs.
Non-Hungarian native speakers with student status at Hungarian higher education institutions may submit their TDK papers and deliver their presentations in English, or, if applicable (for foreign language programs), in the working language of their respective programs.
Students studying in higher education institutions abroad, in programs where the teaching language is other than Hungarian, may submit their TDK papers in English or – if they are majoring in a foreign language – in the teaching language of their program. They may present their papers in English, Hungarian, or the language in which the TDK paper was submitted. Students must indicate the language in which they intend to present in the comments section of the OTDT online system during registration.
The TDK paper and its abstract must be submitted in the same language.
General requirements
The TDK paper must be uploaded to the OTDT online system within 30 days of its acceptance at the institutional TDK conference, as specified in point 4 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK. Participants who will be eligible to submit a TDK paper at a student research conference held within 30 days before the application deadline for the Humanities Section of the 37th OTDK must upload their TDK papers to the OTDT online system by the application deadline.
All TDK papers must include the closing date of the research (month, year).
TDK papers that do not meet the minimum or exceed the maximum length specified by the Humanities Section must not be uploaded to the OTDT online system.
The TDK paper must be uploaded in PDF format. The maximum file size is 10 megabytes. Supplementary documents may also be uploaded, which do not count towards the maximum page count. The supplementary documents must be uploaded as a single file in the OTDT online system, with a maximum file size of 10 megabytes.
General formal requirements
Font: Times New Roman
Font size: 12 pt
Line spacing: 1.5
Margins: 2.5 cm
Section-specific requirements
The length of the TDK paper must be between a minimum of 40,000 and a maximum of 90,000 characters (including spaces), which includes (foot)notes, the table of contents, and the bibliography, but excludes supplements. The supplements can be uploaded as supplementary documents to the OTDT online system, following the instructions above.
Only the body the text must be uploaded to the OTDT online system, all other data (name(s) of the (co-)author(s), affiliation, name and position of the supervisor(s), etc.) are generated by the OTDT online system.
The length of the abstract is minimum 500 and maximum 2500 characters.
These are included in Supplement 1 of the Humanities Section Call.