This communique contains the steps taken by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Updated: 06 April, 2020

Dear Student,

We kindly remind you that the Hungarian Government imposed a curfew restriction between March 28 and April 11, which means that you must not leave your place of residence/place of stay, except for work, basic necessities and well-founded reasons* (refer to our notification announced on 27 March at http://www.bme.hu/news/20200406/New_information_on_the_coronavirus?language=en).

We also call your attention that special measures are in effect due to the epidemiological situation, especially in the protocol handling persons with confirmed or suspected infection. Leaving the officially ordered quarantine, confronting official and medical professionals are considered as violation of law.

We emphasize that failure to comply with the special measures, restrictions and – in general – with the Hungarian law shall be considered a violation by the Government, yielding to immediate investigation by the Immigration Office and potentially resulting in expulsion order.

We wish all our citizens protected from such negative consequences as well as from infection, therefore ask you to pay special attention to follow the measures, and cooperate with the authorities.

Please be aware of that the measures in effect taken by BME are announced at https://www.bme.hu/news/20200406/New_information_on_the_coronavirus.

Thank you for your cooperation and we wish you good health!

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

*NOTE:

Recall that well-founded reason for leaving your place of stay are as follow (according to the Government Decree No 71/2020 (III. 27.)):

  - using health-care services, which includes both physical and mental health services (e.g. psychotherapy, physiotherapy),

- individual leisure sports activities, walking in the open air, and in the cities, preferably in green spaces, carried out alone or with the members of the same household, with a minimum distance of 1.5 meters,

- taking care of pets eg. taking them for walks in public spaces, taking them to the vet,

- administration requiring personal appearance, including government, banking, financial, insurance and postal services ONLY if personal appearance is absolutely necessary,

- taking care of vulnerable persons (the sick, the elderly or children), 

- getting married or holding a funeral ceremony in a tight family circle,

- religious activities (except visiting places of public worship).

Extended stay in restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food outlets or any other such catering establishments is forbidden. However, it is allowed to order take-outs in person or with delivery.

Groceries, pharmacies, markets, pet food stores, gas stations, tobacco stores, beauty salons, vehicle repair services and drugstores are allowed to be visited. People over the age of 65 can only visit these places between 9AM and 12PM, but anyone under 65 must not visit these facilities during this time.

In public places (public transport included), please keep a distance of 1,5 meters from everyone.

March 29, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

In order to ensure the success of epidemiological protection activities, as well as to protect the life and health of BME citizens, and in consideration of

– curfew restrictions taken by the Governmental Decree 71/2020. (III. 27.), as well as

– the decision of the National Chief Medical Officer dated 26 March 2020,

the Coordination Committee shall introduce the following measures from March 30, 2020:

1. students, including PhD students, are not allowed to enter BME campuses even if they have employment relationship with BME;
2. persons over the age of 65 are not allowed to enter BME campuses, even if they have an employment relationship with BME.

Coordination Committee

March 29, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

Dear Student,

You have probably heard or read by now that the Hungarian Government is imposing a curfew restriction between March 28 and April 11, which means that you must not leave your place of residence/place of stay, except for work, basic necessities and well-founded reasons, which are the following (according to the Government Decree No 71/2020 (III. 27.)):

- using health-care services, which includes both physical and mental health services (e.g. psychotherapy, physiotherapy),

- individual leisure sports activities, walking in the open air, and in the cities, preferably in green spaces, carried out alone or with the members of the same household, with a minimum distance of 1.5 meters,

- taking care of pets eg. taking them for walks in public spaces, taking them to the vet,

- administration requiring personal appearance, including government, banking, financial, insurance and postal services ONLY if personal appearance is absolutely necessary,

- taking care of vulnerable persons (the sick, the elderly or children),

- getting married or holding a funeral ceremony in a tight family circle,

- religious activities (except visiting places of public worship).

Extended stay in restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food outlets or any other such catering establishments is forbidden. However, it is allowed to order take-outs in person or with delivery.

Groceries, pharmacies, markets, pet food stores, gas stations, tobacco stores, beauty salons, vehicle repair services and drugstores are allowed to be visited. People over the age of 65 can only visit these places between 9AM and 12PM, but anyone under 65 must not visit these facilities during this time.

In public places (public transport included), please keep a distance of 1,5 meters from everyone.

Failure to comply with the above shall be considered a violation by the Government, therefore please pay special attention to follow these measures.

Thank you for your cooperation and we wish you good health!

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

March 26, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

I. Additional provisions on the organization of study work

The Hungarian Government proclaimed a state of emergency by the Governmental Decree No. 40/2020. (III. 11.) in accordance with paragraph 53 (1) of the Constitutional Law, and further measures were taken by the Governmental Decree 41/2020 (III. 11.). These two decrees – in accordance with the paragraph 53 (3) of the Constitutional Law – are in effect for a period of 15 days, accordingly they shall expire on 27 March 2020.

Paragraph 4 b) of the repealed Decree 41/2020. (III. 11.) prohibits students from entering the university's campuses, therefore, due to its repeal, there will be no legal restrictions from Monday. However, opening of the campuses is still undesirable in the view of the enhanced epidemiological activities.

1. The Coordination Committee states that its measures taken on 11 March, 2020 – particularly Section II./1./a. – are still in effect, and accordingly, students are prohibited to enter the university campuses, even if the referred governmental decree is repealed.
2. From 30 March 2020, BME will continue its education in the form of distance education work order.

II. Modification of the Coordination Committee measures of 9 March 2020

1. Point I.1 of Section I of the measures of 9 March 2020 shall be replaced as follows:

„All BME citizens who have travelled abroad or been in contact with a person who has been infected or quarantined by authorities, shall be self-isolated by home quarantine for a period of two weeks from the date of their return or their last contact with the infected or quarantined person. Direct contact with other persons shall be limited to the necessary minimum, avoiding any contact with communities.”

Coordination Committee

March 26, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

March 22, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

Further provisions on the organization of study work

1. In accordance with the provisions of the Coordination Committee of 16 March 2020, study activities in the distance education work order shall be completed through the use of information systems. In this work order, provisions of the Code of Studies (CoS) may only be applied if they do not conflict with the measures taken by the Coordination Committee for the enhanced epidemiological protection activities.
2. If a measure taken by the Coordination Committee deviates from the provisions of the CoS, or establishes a different code of conduct, the measures shall be followed and, where appropriate, the provisions of the CoS shall be waived.
3. The study activities and the assessments of the learning outcomes shall be organized in such a way that the student can fulfil his / her prescribed study obligations in a scheduled manner.
4. Assessment of learning outcomes, the result of which is not taken into account in determining the subject mark and is only a condition of eligibility for the exam, may be omitted. In this case, all students enrolled in the course are eligible for the exam (all student get signature entry “Signed” for the subject).
5. Formative assessment (e.g. homework) may be used instead of summative assessment (e.g. midterm exam), if the nature, aims and learning outcomes of the subject allow. The students shall be notified of the modifications in advance and a deadline of at least fifteen days shall be set for submitting the formative assessment.
6. In the distance education work order, the provisions of CoS on identity authentication (Section 136 of CoS) do not apply. In the distance education work order, the instructor shall exercise due diligence and thoroughness in verifying student's identity during the assessment of academic performance following the capabilities of the information systems.

Coordination Committee

March 22, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

March 16, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

Provisions concerning the organization of study work and schedule of Spring Semester

1. After the extraordinary school holiday ordered by the Rector and the spring holiday moved earlier (with a total period of March 12-20, 2020), BME will switch to distance education work order from March 23, 2020 until the Government withdraws the state of emergency or orders other measures.
2. The week starting on March 23 will be considered as Week 6 of the study period.
3. Instructors continue to fulfil their duties in the distance education work order.
4. The Spring Break initially ordered for the period of April 14-17, 2020 by the Rector's Order for the schedule of the academic year 2019/2020 is shifted to the period of March 16-20, 2020, accordingly the period of April 14-17, 2020 is considered as teaching period.
5. In the Spring Semester of the academic year 2019/2020, the education work shall be scheduled as originally scheduled, except for the necessary changes due to extraordinary breaks and the rearrangement of school weeks.
6. Students shall have the opportunity to complete the enrolled subjects and obtain credit for the enrolled subjects. A student may not be called upon to drop an enrolled subject. Subject registration can only be deleted upon explicit request of the student submitted through SAS (Neptun).
7. Taking into account the European situation, Hungarian students taking part in exchange programmes abroad (such as the Erasmus program), may register university subjects without any time limit and extra fees and may attempt to complete them.
8. In the distance education work order
   1. study activities shall be provided using Information Systems, in accordance with the original semester schedule, in order to be continuously followed, processed and received by the students;
   2. mid-term learning outcomes assessments shall be carried out in accordance with the original spring semester assessment schedule, but introducing the modifications resulted by paragraphs 4 and 5; performance assessments cannot be combined or applied in a concentrated manner;
   3. In order to facilitate the continuous progress of students, additional checkpoints, feedback points and diagnostic evaluations provided in the Information System shall be included in the educational program, the results of which may be taken into consideration in the assessment of the academic performance only if the student succeeds with them.
9. Study activities normally requiring personal involvement of the student in the regular work order (e.g. laboratory practices, pedagogical exercises) shall be solved in alternative ways by using Information Systems in the distance learning work order.
10. If implementation of provisions of paragraphs 8 and 9 is not possible due to the nature of the study activity, the educational organizational unit shall provide the student with the opportunity to complete another subject that can be completed in a distance learning work order and the content of which corresponds to the learning outcomes of the degree program. In this case the provisions of paragraph 6 do not apply. After the withdraw of the emergency situation, the student cannot be obliged to complete the subjects replaced by other subjects in the current distance education work order.
11. Provisions of paragraph 10 (subject replacement) may also be implemented by temporarily departing from the program curriculum and exchanging the subject semester of the subjects. In this case, the corresponding subject pre-requisites do not apply.
12. In addition to the opportunities set out in the academic performance assessment schedule, a further free-of-charge opportunity shall be provided for the retake of the mid-term study activities (failed or non-completed study activity or for purpose of improvement of grade), by the tenth day of the examination period. Requirements for limiting the number of repetitions and retakes in the subject requirement do not apply in the current situation.
13. Exams and complex exams shall be announced for the examination period in accordance with the Rector's Order for the schedule of the academic year 2019/2020 as follows:
    1. exams, complex exams shall be conducted using information technology;
    2. the minimum number of exams and complex exams is two per week during the examination period;
    3. in case of combined exams, the oral examination part, including the oral examination part of complex exams, may be dispensed with;
    4. upon the request of a student, additional – deferred – exams may be announced in the two weeks after the examination period without specific permission.
14. The Coordination Committee will provide information on the procedure for conducting admission interviews, admission exams and final exams later.
15. Activities related to doctoral programs and obtaining doctoral degrees – complex exam, defense of thesis – cannot be held until other measures are taken.

Coordination Committee

March 16, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

March 12, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

In the Government Decree 40/2020. (III. 11.) the Government of Hungary declared a state of emergency throughout Hungary. Additional detailed rules are specified in the Government Decree 41/2020. (III. 12.), being effective from March 12, 2020. Based on the government decrees and written instructions from the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the Coordination Committee will enforce the following measures from 4:00 pm on March 12, 2020:

Provisions for dormitories and dormitory residents

1. Hungarian citizen dormitory residents must leave dormitories by the end of the day on March 13, 2020, and return to their homes. International students may continue to stay in dormitories.
2.  According to the order of the Ministry, the Rector can – on the basis of equity – allow a Hungarian citizen dormitory resident to reside in the dormitory from March 14, 2020, only if he or she has no place to return home. Student shall submit the request on staying in dormitory to the central email address covid19info@mail.bme.hu. Irrespective of the submission of the request, the dormitory shall be left.
3. From 12.00am on March 14, 2020, Hungarian students and doctoral students entitled to reside through the special permit, and foreign students may stay in the dormitory. Visitors are not allowed in the dormitory area.
4. Community programs and events are not allowed in the dormitories.

March 12, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

11 March, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

In the Government Decree 40/2020. (III. 11.) the Government of Hungary declared a state of emergency throughout Hungary. On the basis of the Government Decree and the information provided by the responsible Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the Coordination Committee takes the following measures with effect from 19:00 on March 11, 2020:

I. Suspension of educational activities

1. The regular education activities at BME shall be suspended and reorganized for an indefinite period from 12:00 am on March 12, 2020, as follows:

1. March 12-13, 2020 (Thursday and Friday): extraordinary School Holiday ordered by the Rector;
2. March 16-20, 2020: Spring Holiday;
3. starting from March 23, 2020, the teaching activities shall be carried out in an extraordinary working order, using distance learning methods (through advanced technologies, information systems).

2. Due to the emergency situation, the Spring Semester will be extended until August 31, 2020, and certain study activities (e.g. laboratory exercises, exams, final exams) may be completed by this date.

3. The Coordination Committee shall decide later, in consultation with the Ministry, on the schedule of the remainder of the semester.

II. Provisions concerning students

1. During the period of suspension of regular education activity, i.e. from 12:00 AM, 12 March 2020

1. students, excluding PhD students, are prohibited to enter the university;
2. Hungarian citizens or dormitory residents having permanent residence in Hungary must leave the dormitory without delay (not later than by 15 March 2020) and return to their place of residence;
3. foreign dormitory residents not having permanent residence in Hungary may remain in the dormitory, if their return to their permanent residence (home) is not possible.

2. In the light of the emergency, the Government will temporarily amend certain higher education laws, including those on reclassification.

3. The student can deal with any case related to his / her studies only electronically.

III. Provisions concerning university staff

1. Employees (irrespective of their employment status) are required to fulfil their duties according to the regular working order, may enter the university, but must comply with the restrictions provided by the previous measures taken on the epidemiological protection activities.

2. During the Extraordinary Holiday – March 12-22, 2020 – instructors shall develop distance learning methods to carry out their educational activities.

3. Fulfilment of duties related to the operation of BME (operation, finance, IT, HR and other services, typically the responsibilities of the Chancellery) remain unchanged, and the restrictions do not apply to personnel carrying out these activities. The same applies to organizations providing services to the institution within the university, and to companies and their employees.

March 11, 2020 Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

March 10, 2020

Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection

The Coordination Committee, taking into account the enhanced epidemiological protection measures announced on 9 March, has taken the following additional measures:

I.    Establishment and use of central information email address

BME has created the e-mail address covid19info@mail.bme.hu for information flow on the coronavirus (COVID-19). Using this address, any BME citizen may inquire information or submit notification.

II.    Informing students and surveying the concerned student population

1. A specific questionnaire called ‘088 COVID-19’ is created in Neptun, on the basis of the obligation ordered by the Ministry in relation to the enhanced epidemiological protection activities, in order to survey the concerned student population, to comply with the reporting obligation to the Ministry and to comprehensively collect and manage data. The questionnaire ‘088 COVID-19’ contains the compulsory data requested by the Ministry, as well as other data related to the student’s studies. This questionnaire shall be used for declaring if a student is possibly affected by the coronavirus infection, for stating the reason for the absence from study activities and the information requested by the Ministry. BME informs the Ministry on the basis of the student's questionnaire (by forwarding the student's data). The Ministry may order further epidemiological measures for the students concerned. Failure to submit this request results in that absence from study activities and performance evaluation will result in the consequences given in the CoS.

2. The Coordination Committee urges instructors, teaching staff, and colleagues of the Central Academic Office that in case of any student inquiry in relation to the enhanced epidemiological protection activities

a)    to call students' attention to the information and measures published on the website www.bme.hu;

b)    to forward all relevant e-mails to the central e-mail address covid19info@mail.bme.hu;

c)    if the request is made verbally (personally or by phone), to advise the student to write his / her request or question to the central e-mail address.

3. The Coordination Committee urges the staff of the Central Academic Office, the Dean's Offices, managements of educational activities and all personnel responsible for the organization of education and study administration, to cancel personal consulting hours, and change to contact via phone or e-mail.

III.    Measures concerning university staff

1.    According to the Ministry’s order, employees of BME

a)    are prohibited to travel abroad on official missions;

b)    at BME campuses cannot accept visitors from the affected countries

2.    In order to ensure the uniform implementation of the Measures of 9 March 2020 (hereinafter: Measures), provisions contained therein shall be understood as follows

a)    as for Section I.1., I.2. and I.3. of the Measures, concerned person is a person who has been to or has returned from the affected regions listed in the actual, constantly updated  information document of the National Public Health Center, or a person who has been in close contact  with a person officially confirmed by authorities to be infected or has been officially isolated by the authorities. The concerned person shall immediately report his/her involvement to the employer (the person exercising the employer’s rights); and the concerned person must comply with the provisions for epidemiological isolation;

b)    as for Section I.5. of Measures, "person belonging to high risk group" means any person who is at increased risk because of his or her age or health status.Persons belonging to high risk group shall inform their involvement to the employer, and shall refrain from entering BME campuses;

c)    as for Section I.6. of Measures, "person indirectly concerned" means a person who is living in a household with a personbelonging to high risk group. An indirectly concerned person may request remote work from his/her employer;

d)    study activities (e.g. lectures) are not considered as mass events, even if exceeding 50 persons, and shall be conducted in accordance with the timetable and, where appropriate, realized using advanced technology.

March 10, 2020 – Further measures in relation to enhanced epidemiological protection