Organizer of the event:
University of Pécs
Faculty of Sciences
| Address: | 7624 Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6. |
| Phone: | +36 72 503 600 |
| Website: | https://www.ttk.pte.hu/ |
Section website address: https://otdk.pte.hu/ttk-szekcio
Section e-mail address: fifoma2025@pte.hu
Date of the event: 22–25 April 2025
| Chair of the Organizing Committee: | Dr. András Trócsányi |
| Associate Professor, Dean | |
| Phone: +36 72 503 600 / 63928 | |
| E-mail: dekan@gamma.ttk.pte.hu |
| Secretary of the Organizing Committee: | Dr. Péter Reményi |
| Associate Professor | |
| TTK Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences | |
| Phone: +36 30 0746473 | |
| E-mail: remko@gamma.ttk.pte.hu | |
| Dr. Éva Máté | |
| Assistant Professor | |
| TTK Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences | |
| Phone: 30/0746342 | |
| E-mail: MAESAET.PTE@pte.hu |
| Student delegate: | Dávid Till |
| University Student | |
| E-mail: david999@gamma.ttk.pte.hu |
| Deputy student delegate: | Dorottya Koczor |
| University Student | |
| E-mail: dodo2001@gamma.ttk.pte.hu |
The National Association for Student Research (OTDT), the OTDT Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee, and the organizing Faculty of Science of the University of Pécs hereby announce the 37th National Student Research Conference for the Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section under the conditions specified in the following call.
The conditions for participation and registration in the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section of the 37th OTDK are set out in the General Call of the 37th OTDK as well as in this Call and its Supplements from the OTDT Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section.
In the 37th OTDK Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section, those TDK papers and authors may participate that meet the detailed requirements outlined in the General Call of the National Association for Student Research and its Supplement 2, and whose TDK papers also satisfy the conditions specified in the Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section’s call and its Supplement 1.
Study circles from cross-border universities and colleges can participate in the 37th OTDK under the same professional conditions as those in Hungary. Details are available in the General Call of the 37th OTDK.
Acceptance of TDK papers with three or more authors is subject to special review by the Section Committee (Supplement 1).
The conference is open to secondary school students in Hungary and across borders who present their research results at conferences of higher education institutions or national high school science student conferences (for details see Supplement 4 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK) and are nominated for the OTDK. A detailed description of the participation of secondary school students is available in the General Call of the 37th OTDK.
For further secondary school students from Hungary and abroad the Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section organizes a High School Student Conference as an additional OTDK program. Those who did not qualify for the National Student Research Conference (OTDK) may participate in the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics High School Student Conference with their application, under the conditions of the student research competition announced by the organizing institution (Section Call, Supplement 2).
Supplement 1 of the Section Call contains the content and format requirements for TDK papers and abstracts, the rules for presenting papers in foreign languages, the regulations for the use of artificial intelligence, and a detailed description of the supplementary documents to be uploaded.
The OTDT Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section Committee assigns the submitted TDK papers to sessions containing at least six papers on similar topics, based on their subject and number. For this categorization, during the registration period, authors of TDK papers are requested to indicate the thematic category to which they believe their work belongs in the OTDT online system. The list of possible themes is provided in Supplement No. 3 of the Section Call. The organizing institution, with the agreement of the Section Committee, reserves the right to redirect submissions with content that does not align with the Section’s field of study to another section of the National Student Research Conference that is more appropriate for the topic.
The final sessions of the 37th (OTDK) will not necessarily match the announced thematic categories. New sessions may be created from these, based on organizational and professional criteria. The final decision on the sessions and the classification of the TDK papers will be made by the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee in collaboration with the Organizing Committee. Students will be informed of this decision via the OTDT online system by 10 February 2025 at the latest.
The method of application and the requirements for submission are detailed in Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK. A TDK paper progresses through four steps to qualify for participation in the OTDK: institutional qualification, TDK paper upload, application, and acceptance of the TDK paper.
The TDK paper upload and section selection must be completed within 30 days after receiving the email 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 relevant section of the 37th OTDK must upload their TDK paper to the OTDT online system by the application deadline. ATTENTION! The upload of a TDK paper does not constitute an application to the 37th OTDK Conference. Registration must be completed during the registration period
between 15 November 2024 and 8 January 2025, 16:00 (CET).
Deadline for finalizing applications: 8 January 2024 (Wednesday), 16:00 (CET)
The exact list of documents to be uploaded during registration is provided in Supplement 1 of the Section Call. After the registration deadline for students, it will no longer be possible for students to upload any documents in the OTDT online system.
If any author of the TDK paper obtained their pre-degree certificate in a master’s or integrated master’s program before January 8, 2025, or will obtain it in the semester of submission, the affected students must provide a declaration based on point 4.2 of Supplement No. 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK. Additionally, according to point 4 of Supplement No. 1 of the Section Call, they must prepare an additional mandatory appendix as part of the TDK paper to assess the differences between the thesis and the TDK paper.
If a student qualifies with multiple TDK papers during the period between the two OTDKs, the relevant rules are provided in Supplement 1 of the Section Call.
Uploading the records of the student research conference and sending them to the OTDT Office according to point 5 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK.
Approval of applications in the OTDT online system. All registrations are automatically approved in the system, so action is only required if the institution/faculty does not wish to delegate a submitted TDK paper to the 37th OTDK.
The summary list containing the approved registrations of TDK papers and authors submitted to the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section must be signed and uploaded to the OTDT online system in accordance with the provisions in Supplement No. 2 of the General Call for the OTDK.
On the summary list, Faculty representatives must declare information about students who have obtained their pre-degree certificates, based on the student’s written declaration at the local qualifying round regarding the substantial differences between their thesis/diploma project and the TDK paper.
Deadline for institutional and faculty TDT Chairs to upload documents to the OTDT online system: 13 January 2025 (Monday) 16:00 (CET). After the deadline it will no longer be possible to upload application documents in the OTDT online system.
We are unable to accept TDK papers that are submitted after the deadline or do not meet the requirements outlined in the Section Call; such applications will be rejected. Individual or independently submitted registrations are invalid.
To emphasize the presentation of original results and facilitate professional discourse, the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee assigns equal weight to the evaluation of the TDK paper, the oral presentation, and the discussion.
Please read carefully the presentation and evaluation criteria in Supplement 4 of the Section Call!
A certificate of recognition will be awarded to all authors and supervisors attended in the OTDK and presented their TDK papers. In addition, a maximum of one third of the papers presented may be awarded one of the first, second and third places per section, taking into account that a maximum of one application per session may be awarded first place. The Section Panel may award a special prize to those papers that do not achieve ranking but are judged by the Session Panel to be worthy of recognition on the basis of their professional merit, and which are judged to be immediately behind the winning applications. The authors of the winning papers and those of the papers receiving the Special Prize of the Session Panel will each receive a certificate for the ranking or the Special Prize of the Session Panel.
The total number of winning TDK papers and TDK papers awarded the Special Prize of the Session Panel may not exceed 50% of the total number of TDK papers presented in a section. Further rules on prizes are set out in Supplement 3 to the General Call.
Participation in the FiFöMa High School Student Conference, organized in parallel with the OTDK Conference, does not count as participation in the OTDK, and therefore their placements and awards do not belong to the session results of the OTDK conference.
The authors of TDK papers that have been awarded first place at the OTDK may apply for the Pro Scientia Gold Medal, provided they meet the additional criteria set out in the call. Details are given in Supplement 5 of the 37th OTDK General Call.
We invite and welcome all interested students and their masters!
Budapest, 9 April, 2024
| Dr. László Sütő | Dr. András Trócsányi |
| Associate Professor | Dean, Associate Professor |
| Chair of the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee | Chair of the Organizing Committee of the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section of the 37th OTDK |
Note: If any interpretational issues arise between the Hungarian call and its English translation, the Hungarian version shall prevail.
The language of the OTDK is Hungarian, as specified in the General Call. Based on the experience gathered by the organizers of the Physics, Earth Sciences, and Mathematics Section over previous years, the ideas that the authors intended to present were much more clearly expressed in TDK papers written in their native language. According to experience, English is preferred in some scientific fields; however, the section committee does not wish to disadvantage students who are not yet proficient in English. In this spirit, we ask Hungarian-speaking applicants to submit TDK papers and presentations in Hungarian.
Non-native Hungarian-speaking authors studying at a higher education institution in Hungary, or Hungarian authors studying abroad in a non-Hungarian language, may participate in the student conference in English at their own discretion, without special justification. For non-native Hungarian-speaking authors, the language of the presentation and discussion may also be English, while for native Hungarian speakers, the language of the presentation and discussion is Hungarian.
Hungarian native-speaking students studying in Hungary, as well as Hungarian native-speaking students studying abroad in Hungarian-language programs, may also deviate from the recommended Hungarian language. The Section will accept their TDK papers in English, but the language of presentation and discussion will be Hungarian. In their case, an additional requirement is set out in point 4.5.
a) The conference will be open to TDK papers from the fields of physics, earth sciences and mathematics and their environmental, methodological and technical links, with a scientific interest and prepared for this purpose.
b) The TDK paper reports on the participants’ own scientific research. The TDK paper contains original research results that have been reviewed and accepted by the Section Panel of an institutional student research conference approved by the National Association for Student Research.
c) The students’ research workshops were not part of the curricular tasks. Term papers, field practice reports, master’s or integrated master’s program theses, and diploma projects without additional work may not be presented. Therefore, the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee does not accept TDK papers whose qualification occurred in the semester of obtaining the pre-degree certificate in a master’s or integrated master’s program, and where the scientific research questions of the two papers are not distinct from each other. This does not apply to TDK papers based on theses defended in MA/MSc programs; therefore, they may be presented at student research conferences during MA/MSc studies, qualifying them for the OTDK. In case of doubt, it is recommended to seek the opinion of the Chair of the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee before submitting the TDK paper.
All TDK papers submitted to the OTDK are subject to a plagiarism check, which is evaluated by a three-member special committee set up by the Section Committee, and they review the results of the plagiarism check one by one. We specifically draw the attention of applying students to the fact that plagiarism is not permitted in any form; even one’s own works (other reports, master’s thesis, or thesis written in an integrated master’s program) may not be cited without proper referencing (prohibition of self-plagiarism). TDK papers that are proven to infringe copyright will be excluded from the OTDK by the OTDT, with simultaneous notification to the nominating institution.
d) Submission of a publication submitted before the uploading of the TDK paper without substantial modification is not considered as a student research project, therefore it will not be accepted as TDK paper in the OTDK Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section.
e) The title of the TDK paper uploaded for the OTDK must be the same as the one given at the institutional qualifying student research conference. The content of the two papers may differ in some details, mainly due to changes suggested by the Session Panel of the institutional student research conference, but the scientific questions of the two papers should be the same.
f) A mandatory part of the TDK paper is the “Own Results” supplement, which must be included as an appendix to the TDK paper. In this, the author(s) must present a list-style summary of their own results and completed work in a one-page format.
The TDK paper is a single file consisting of the main document and the required supplementary documents (see points 4.1 and 4.2). TDK papers that exceed the maximum length pf 60 pages cannot be uploaded to the OTDT online system.
F) A mandatory part of the TDK paper is the “Own Results” supplement. In this, the author(s) must present a list-style summary of their own results and completed work in a one-page format.
This should list:
These must be clearly distinguished from results in the literature, from partial results obtained by other members of the research team, correctly reproduced and cited. This appendix is a mandatory part of the uploaded TDK paper, without it, the application will not be accepted.
4.2.1. If any author of the TDK paper obtained their pre-degree certificate in a master’s or integrated master’s program before January 8, 2025, or will obtain it in the semester of submission, the affected students must provide a declaration based on point 4.2 of Supplement No. 2 of the General Call for the 37th OTDK.
4.2.2. As part of the TDK paper, a “Thesis Differences” supplement must be prepared if any author obtained or will obtain a pre-degree certificate in a master’s or integrated master’s program in the semester of qualification (local round). For bachelor’s theses, this supplement is not required.
In this 1-2-page appendix, the participant affected by the pre-degree certificate must present the essential differences between their thesis/diploma project and the TDK paper, including a detailed comparison of the scientific research questions, methods used, and results obtained.
If the Thesis Differences appendix does not clearly establish the distinction between the thesis/diploma project and the TDK paper, the Section Committee and the Organizing Committee may request the submission of the thesis/diploma project after registration but before acceptance of the TDK paper.
The TDK paper is considered an outcome beyond mandatory academic work (which is a basic requirement) if its scientific purpose addresses a different question than the thesis/diploma project. The two research questions must be fundamentally different, with each paper addressing distinct problems.
A bachelor’s thesis written as part of ongoing TDK work within a BA/BSc program and presented at an institutional student research conference within the same BA/BSc program or during a subsequent master’s program — provided it meets the requirements stated in the call and supplements — can be submitted to the 37th OTDK Conference without additional registration requirements.
4.3.1 During the qualification period at institutional/faculty student research conferences, multiple TDK papers may explore the same topic. In cases where successive TDK papers on the same topic are presented at consecutive student research conferences, they must be submitted in the form of an advanced TDK paper. In such cases, the first submitted TDK paper does not need to be submitted to the 37th OTDK; instead, the second qualified paper, the advanced TDK paper, should include a summary of the entire research period.
4.3.2 If a participant enters the 37th OTDK with two or more TDK papers, there must be a substantial difference between the papers. The required difference is the difference in the scientific questions and problems addressed and examined in the TDK paper. In this case, it is necessary to upload the supplementary “TDK-difference” file for both TDK papers. Please upload the document as an “supplementary document” in the OTDT online system under Documents.
In this supplementary file, at least one page in length, the student must detail and justify the differences between the scientific questions and problems examined in each TDK paper, explaining the methodological, investigative, and research differences. This requirement also applies if one or more of the TDK papers submitted by the participant has multiple authors.
The aim of the OTDK movement is to compare the achievements of the most talented students against a common set of scientific standards. This can be difficult with a large student research team and individual participants, as teamwork between really talented students inevitably leads to more results.
Therefore, the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee decided that the acceptance of TDK papers with three or more authors is subject to special review by the Section Committee.
If three or more students work together on a research project, it is recommended that the topic be divided into separate papers, with each paper presenting the partial results of one or two authors as independent TDK papers. It is also important to bear in mind that the most talented students will be at a disadvantage in the Pro Scientia Gold Medal competition if they have three or more entries, as the decision on individual work is a key factor in the selection process.
If the supervisors and their mentored students consider that the research cannot be divided into several independently assessable parts, please send the official record of the qualification competition to the address of the Organizing Committee (fifoma2025@pte.hu) within one week of the institutional competition, together with a request that the Section Committee decide whether to accept the TDK paper. The Section Committee and the Organizing Committee commit to making a decision within one week after receiving the request.
If a TDK paper with three or more authors is accepted, each author should, if distinguishable, separately address in the “Own Results” document – an integral part of the paper to be uploaded during registration – the work they performed and the results they achieved during the research.
If a native Hungarian-speaking student studying in Hungary or a native Hungarian-speaking student studying in a Hungarian-language program abroad chooses to prepare their TDK paper in English, they are required to include a three-page summary in Hungarian as part of the paper. This summary must cover the research problem, the methodology used, and the results obtained.
If the author has consciously used artificial intelligence at any stage in the creation of the TDK paper, please state this in a separate subsection in the chapter on research methods and indicate the type of software in a footnote.
If the AI-generated text is used without a mark (footnote), it is treated as plagiarism.
The use of AI as a co-author in the preparation of an OTDK paper is prohibited.
Only the main text of the abstract needs to be uploaded to the OTDT online system, names of authors and supervisors, institution, etc. are generated by the online system.
The language of the abstract is Hungarian. For applications in a foreign language, upload the TDK paper in the language of the application.
The abstract should be at least 500 and no more than 2500 characters.
Dear Students, dear Colleagues,
Between 22-25 April 2025, the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Pécs will organize the final of the 37th National Student Research Conference Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section (FiFöMa).
In its new strategy, the National Association for Student Research has decided to open up the OTDK system to talent development in high schools. Our aim is to build on the experience of the OTDK movement, which has been operating for almost 70 years, to help talents to be identified and develop as quickly as possible, and to develop talents based on discovery and in line with students’ interests.
Therefore, as the organizers of the OTDK at the Faculty of Science of the University of Pécs, we are organizing a supplementary program called the FiFöMa Student Conference, for which we are announcing the following application for students in grades 10-12:
We welcome
Eligibility Criteria:
Applications can be submitted in subjects that lie in the intersection of physics, geography (natural and social geography), mathematics, mineralogy, astronomy, biology, chemistry, meteorology, cartography or even history. It is important to emphasize that there are no strict boundaries; any phenomenon, formation, or process — potentially linking the above-mentioned scientific fields — can also be explored if it involves the observation, examination, or modelling of past or current environmental and/or social changes occurring on Earth or in the universe.
As applications must be submitted in digital format only, the essay may also use innovative methods (e.g. video embedding, animation, etc.).
We will then prepare your access code for the event’s online system.
Important deadlines:
8 February 2025.
Registering your interest with the necessary details, uploading a parental statement for applicants under 16. (The statement template can be downloaded from our website.)
1 March 2025.
Uploading the application to the event’s online system.
Application categories:
Essay: Maximum of 25 A4 pages (due to the specificities of the disciplines, the maximum length is recommended only) on a topic related to one of the three disciplines. Applicants should present a natural scientific, environmental or social phenomenon or problem they have observed. The focus is on the topicality of the subject, the applicant’s own ideas and creativity, taking into account the professional documentation of the literature used.
Experimental presentation: Experimental modelling and presentation of a selected physical, mathematical or earth science phenomenon in the form of a 2-5-minute video.
The application must be accompanied by a one-page abstract, including a brief description of the natural phenomenon to be presented and the experiment to be carried out, as well as the experimental equipment and materials.
Micro-teaching: formulating and presenting an innovative teaching idea on a public education topic in one of the three scientific fields in the form of a 2-5-minute video. In this case, the application should also include a lesson plan of at least one page, in which the student presents the steps of the teaching process for the topic, the tools and methods used, and, in the case of using ICT tools, the URL link.
Animation: The applicant should present a scientific or environmental phenomenon or problem in the form of a 2-5-minute self-created computer animation. The submitted application should include the completed animation, which presents the given phenomenon in a freely chosen format (text, audio, drawing, film, accompanying description).
Each application can have a maximum of two participants! In this case, please register both authors on the event website.
Evaluation and presentation:
TDK papers in essay form will be assessed in advance by a professional Section Panel. Afterwards, in the conference’s sessions for high school students, participants will give a 10-minute online presentation of their main findings. The presentation will be followed by a 5-10-minute professional discussion. After summing up the written and oral results, the Section Panel ranks the applications. The results will be announced at the official award ceremony.
Applications submitted in the form of experimental demonstrations, microteaching, and animations will be evaluated and ranked by a professional Section Panel in advance. The results will be announced at the official award ceremony. The video submissions will be shown to all OTDK participants during the event and the 3 most voted works will win a valuable prize based on audience votes.
Participation in the FiFöMa High School Student Conference, organized in parallel with the OTDK Conference, does not count as participation in the OTDK, and therefore their placements and awards do not belong to the section results of the OTDK conference.
Why it is worth applying:
We hope that the applicants will find it an interesting challenge to participate in the long tradition of TDK activity! During the conference, we will provide students and their teachers access to all professional forums and leisure programs, as well as to our online programs specifically organized for them. Successful participation in the competition will provide valuable extra points for students in future higher education applications (e.g. the New National Excellence Program). The closer relationships established between high schools and higher education institutions in this way can help support the dedicated talent development efforts of high school teachers in the long term.
For more information, please contact the organizer of the high school section at the email address fifoma2025@pte.hu or on the event website: https://otdk.pte.hu/ttk-szekcio
Pécs, 11 March 2024.
Sincerely:
Dr. Péter Reményi Dr. Tibor Lenner
OTDK Secretary of the Organizing Committee FiFöMa Vice-President of the Organizing Committee for High School Education
| PHYSICS | EARTH SCIENCES |
| Materials science | Earth and geographic applications of environmental science |
| Astrophysics | Applied earth sciences |
| Nuclear physics | Archaeometry |
| Particle physics, field theories | Mineralogy |
| Biophysics | Physical geology, sedimentology |
| Astronomy | Earth science issues in engineering applications |
| History of physics | Geophysics |
| Classic physical problems | Geoinformatics |
| Physics of complex systems | Geomorphology |
| Environmental physics | Hydrogeology, hydrogeography |
| Quantum optics | Karst research |
| Modern quantum physics problems | Professional investigation of environmentally sound practices |
| Laser physics | Igneous and metamorphic petrology |
| Nanostructures | Renewable energy resources |
| High-energy nuclear physics | Meteorology, climatology |
| Optics | Paleontology |
| Plasma physics | Planetology |
| Reactor physics | Geoarchaeology |
| Statistical physics | Geoheritage |
| Solid state physics | Landscape geography |
| Interesting physics problems, new solving methods | Remote sensing |
| MATHEMATICS | Cartography |
| Algebra | Nature conservation |
| Applied mathematics | History of science |
| Analysis | HUMAN GEOGRAPHY |
| Theoretical computer science | General human geography |
| Geometry and topology | Economic geography |
| Set theory and logic | Environment and society |
| Combinatorics | Population geography |
| History of mathematics | Political geography |
| Operations research | Social geography |
| Number theory | Rural and urban geography |
| Statistics | Geographical aspects of regional and urban development |
| Probability | Historical geography |
| Interesting mathematical problems, novel solution methods | History of geography |
| Tourism geography | |
| Human geographical aspects of sustainability | |
| Interesting issues in geography and earth sciences, novel methods |
To emphasize the presentation of original results and facilitate professional discourse, the Physics, Earth Sciences and Mathematics Section Committee assigns equal weight to the evaluation of the TDK paper, the oral presentation, and the discussion.
Therefore, at the OTDK Conference, the time allocated for presenting the TDK paper consists of 15 minutes for the presentation and 15 minutes for professional discussion. The presentation must prominently incorporate the work completed by the student and highlight their original results. These elements also play a significant role in the discussion following the presentation.
Evaluation of the TDK paper
