Chevening Fellows programme in Brighton

I was very much looking forward to participating in the Chevening Fellows programme which offered  me a 3-month study in the field of European Political Economy (EPE) in Brighton at the University of Sussex.

After spending more than two weeks in this programme I got a lot of positive impressions. The first positive thing I realised, was that the programme was perfectly organized. The course providers paid attention to the smallest details, therefore I always felt that they care for me.

We are 11 in the EPE group of 9 different countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia). The group is very nice and we organise a lot of programme together. It is very likely that long term relationships will be created during this programme also in personal and professional aspects. Taking into account that most of my classmates come from the ministries of their countries and everybody deal with the European Union this network will be very useful in our work when we return to our posts after this programme.

The courses have been very interesting so far. They are about the EU from many aspects: on enlargement, EU integration, trade integration, Economic and monetary union, etc. Apart from the courses belonging to the programme, we can participate in other optional courses. One thing that I like very much in the University of Sussex is the relationship between students and lecturers, and the way they communicate during and after the courses. The lecturers do not keep distance from students which allows lively debates in the courses. I find it also very useful that we are discussing actual questions and the approach is rather pragmatic than theoretical.

Moreover, we have the possibility to meet people from the British public administration and think tanks. It opens new dimensions for building networks and enriching our knowledge. This is a very important part of the programme. I look forward to the remaining weeks of this Chevening Fellows programme.

Background information

Márton Szili is our new Chevening Fellow, who attends the European Political Economy course at the University of Sussex in Brighton.

Marton has been working in the Economic Policy Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Finance for more than five years. His is mainly responsible for the interpretation and implementation of EU legislation, moreover he is working on projects concerning the introduction of the euro in Hungary.

This opportunity cleary offers Marton new experiences that can easily be used in his further work in Hungarian administration.