An international community on campus 

The M8 programme began recently with the Erasmus Welcome & MOME M8 Tutor Kick-off event, where Deputy Interim Rector Balázs Püspök welcomed Erasmus scholarship students together with the Hungarian tutors participating in the MOME M8 International Tutor Programme. The first opportunity for participants to get to know one another concluded with the M8 tutor–student pairs’ first shared events. Students continued the day with a campus tour, visits to home spaces, or a shared lunch, laying the groundwork for both professional and community connections. 

The MOME M8 International Tutor Programme aims to integrate international students into campus life. This spring semester, nearly seventy BA and MA students from twenty-three countries and using eight languages to communicate with each other are taking part. The programme remains highly popular, with the staff of the Student Services and Alumni Office, which organises the initiative, selecting this year’s pairs from an applicant pool twice the number of available places. 

Tutors also value the programme for the opportunity to meet people from different cultural backgrounds and build both professional and personal connections. Pairs study at the same level, and ideally, in the same programme, so the support provided can be more personalised, covering both academic matters and everyday university life. “The most exciting thing about the tutor programme is suddenly finding yourself part of a much larger and more diverse community – meeting people from different cultures, encountering new ways of thinking, and making new friends,” one participant said. 

Alumni experience supporting early careers 

Running alongside it, the MOME Alumni Mentor Programme follows similar principles, supporting students as they begin their professional careers. This spring semester, forty-two alumni mentors and student mentees are working together, drawing on the personal experience of graduates active across different areas of the creative industries. Students gain direct insight into the opportunities that open up after graduation, ask questions about their own career paths, and connect with networks across the Hungarian and international creative scene. For mentors, the process is equally rewarding: the ideas and questions of the younger generation open up new perspectives within their own professional practice. 

The university regularly organises joint professional events and roundtable discussions for participants to share their experiences, reflect on the lessons learned in recent months, and plan their professional goals for the coming semester together. The most recent MOME Alumni Mentor Programme Roundtable took place on 18 February, where participants reviewed the experiences of the autumn mentoring period. Participants also shared experiences from the mentoring process and discussed the milestones that have shaped their careers and ways of thinking. The conversation also allowed them to define shared goals for the spring semester. The mentor programme currently includes students from the Art and Design Management MA, Fashion and Textile Design MA, Architecture MA, and Graphic Design MA, working together with their alumni mentors. 

Mutually inspiring connections 

Feedback from both students and alumni shows that the programmes foster mutually inspiring connections: mentees gain insight into the everyday work of practitioners in the field, while mentors draw fresh perspectives from the questions and projects of the younger generation. 

“After every conversation I felt more motivated – it gave me a huge boost,” one participant said. Another student highlighted how important it was to meet someone working in the industry who welcomed their questions openly. “I was able to gain insight into the life of a practising professional who spoke openly about both the rewarding and the difficult sides of the work.” 

One mentor noted that the conversations also prompted reflection on their own role within the field, while another summed up the experience this way: “I’m really glad we were paired together. My mentee brought so much motivation to the programme that it was inspiring for me as well, so we both got a lot out of the experience.” 

More information about the programme: 

MOME | MOME M8 International Tutor Programme 

MOME | Alumni Mentor Programme 

MOME | Student Services and Alumni Office