Startups, motivating teamwork, fascinating people and events, up-to-date course materials, credits and even scholarship packed in one programme? It is possible: the Hungarian Startup University Program (HSUP), Hungary's first higher education-level startup course (in English!), will be available at MKE in the academic year 2026/2027.

The aim of the program is to transform academic knowledge into practical solutions while enabling students to develop valuable professional skills and gain experience in innovation. In the first semester of the two-semester e-learning course, the focus is on developing an innovative mindset and exploring the world of startups. The second semester focuses on acquiring the practical knowledge and skills needed to establish and successfully build a business.

The course will be available in English in 2026 Autumn.

HSUP is a two-semester e-learning course, where the first semester (2 credits) focuses on innovative thinking and learning about the startup world, while the second semester (4 credits) provides students with practical knowledge on building a company. The materials related to the course are available online and can be completed with interactive exercises. The first semester ends with the students submitting their startup one-pagers.

Those who successfully complete the first semester will have the opportunity, in the second semester, to team up with fellow students from MKE and beyond, and work towards developing a more elaborate business idea, while receiving a general scholarship of HUF 70,000 per month for four months.

In addition, the 15 best performing teams in the second semester will receive a special scholarship of HUF 1 million per team member.

Eligibility for the Student Scholarship

The Student Scholarship is available to students who have active student status and are enrolled in a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctoral programme, provided that they meet the following conditions:

• have entered into a scholarship agreement with the University, and their scholarship status has not been terminated;

• have not previously received a scholarship through the HSUP programme;
• have successfully completed the HSUP Programme Semester 1 course in the first semester of the given academic year and, based on their results, have qualified to continue their work as a member of a project team in Semester 2; and
• have enrolled in the HSUP Programme Semester 2 course and, throughout the semester, work as a member of a project team and comply with the provisions of the HSUP Regulations and Code of Ethics (attached).

Application deadline via Neptun: Friday, September 18, 2026.

Further information is available on the MKE website https://www.mke.hu/hsup/index.php and on the HSUP online platform https://hsup.niu.hu/.

For any professional or programme-related questions, please contact madacsy.istvan@mke.hu (Department of Graphic Design).

HSUP is coordinated by the National Innovation Agency (NIÜ), with funding from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund and the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Project Nr. STARTUP-2026-ÖSZTÖNDÍJ-034