Political Capital’s Summer University – Inspiring the next generation of thinkers since 2019

Why we launched the Summer University

Political Capital is committed to engaging young people. In addition to our internship program, we offer a structured, semi-formal framework designed to promote knowledge transfer, critical thinking, questioning, and open dialogue. Equally important for us is ensuring that our research and analyses reach the younger generation; their feedback plays a vital role in refining our research tools. With these goals in mind, we launched our Summer University in 2019 and – apart from the pandemic years – have organized it annually ever since.

What the program offers

Our three-day Summer University gives motivated university students hands-on experience, direct contact with leading experts, and practical skills that support their future careers. The event brings together renowned academics, policymakers, politicians, diplomats, journalists, and professionals for interactive discussions. Most sessions follow a world café format, encouraging small-group dialogue, active participation, and genuine exchange between students and speakers – an approach we have found equally inspiring for both sides.

Participation and structure

Participation is competitive and limited to 30–35 students to ensure an informal and highly interactive atmosphere. Over the course of five annual editions, more than 150 young people have joined the program. Political Capital’s own staff contributes to the sessions, and to safeguard the openness of discussions, panels are not streamed or recorded; only photos are shared on our social media platforms.

Participants come from a broad range of universities and disciplines. Roughly one-third of the participating Hungarian students study abroad, including at the universities of Maastricht, Vienna, Groningen, Leuven, Milan, Sussex, and Oxford, while many others join from towns across Hungary. Their fields of study span security policy, international relations, psychology, sociology, political science, law, economics, communications and media.

Atmosphere and evening programs

Beyond the intensive daytime program – panels, workshops, and world café sessions – the evening events, such as pub talks and pub quizzes, offer additional opportunities for socializing and networking. Each year, the Summer University provides an ideal platform for sharing the results of our work and fostering meaningful dialogue with the next generation.

Our speakers

In recent years, a wide range of well-known figures have joined us, including journalists Dániel Ács (444.hu, 2024), Rebeka Bánszegi and Zsolt Kerner (24.hu, 2024), Márton Gulyás (Partizán, 2023), Viktória Serdült (HVG, 2024), and Blanka Zöldi (Lakmusz, 2024); experts such as Péter Felcsuti (economist, 2023), Krisztián Nyáry (writer and literary historian, 2019), Krisztián Orbán (public intellectual, 2025), and Bálint Ruff (political consultant, 2023); ambassadors including Paul Fox (British Ambassador to Budapest, 2022), Julia Gross (German Ambassador to Budapest, 2023), and Jonathan Lacôte (French Ambassador to Budapest, 2025); politicians such as Balázs Orbán (Political Director of the Prime Minister, 2025), Ferenc Gyurcsány (former Prime Minister, 2019), Gergely Őrsi (Mayor of Budapest's 2nd District, 2024), and András Rózsa (Mayor of the 14th District, 2024); and senior public servants including Tibor Benkő (former Minister of Defense, 2024), Balázs Molnár (Deputy State Secretary for European Policy, 2024), and Márton Ugrósdy (Deputy State Secretary, 2023).