About us

Launched in 2013, the Antall József Summer School is a one-week international educational programme focusing on one of the most important regional partnerships in Europe, the Visegrad Cooperation. Through traditional and more interactive forms of education, including lectures, workshops, debates, roundtable discussions, and short trainings, the annually organised event series provides a profound analysis of the Visegrad Cooperation’s history, economy, foreign and security policy, as well as the newest trends that shape societies in this region. The programme allows young scholars to meet decision makers and outstanding experts conducting research in the topics at hand. This year the programme focuses on the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of the cooperation and the Western Balkan region.

Both the Antall József Summer School, and the occasionally organised Autumn Seminar are one-week alternative educational programmes. As talent management is a crucial part of AJKC’s portfolio, the Antall József Summer School is structured in a way that serves this mission. Our aim is to provide opportunity for young and talented experts who are keen to evolve professionally. The fifth anniversary of the AJSS in 2017 gave us a chance to establish the AJSS Alumni Society and launch our AJSS Alumni Leadership Programme and the Alumni Leadership Talks Series. 

The AJSS Alumni Society is a network of participants of previous instalments of AJSS. The majority of our former participants are either successful researchers or faculty members at various universities in Europe or in North America, or they are building their career in public administration, diplomacy, or the private sector. 

The Alumni Leadership Forum is a bi-annually organised event supporting outstanding former participants in their professional career. Our objective with the programme is to address those academically or professionally advanced former participants who have leadership potential and further aspiration to rise. In addition, we aim to develop a hub of talented young experts with high potential, who in their work deal with the Visegrad Cooperation and the broader Central and Eastern European region. During the Alumni Leadership Programme, we give them the opportunity to meet important decision makers, develop their leadership skills, and initiate new projects together.

The Alumni Leadership Talks Series is an event organised every year as part of AJSS, where we invite our former participants to attend AJSS as speakers and lecturers and present their professional achievements.

Operating since 2010, the Antall József Knowledge Centre (AJKC) is a Budapest-based non-governmental organisation with an educational, publishing, and research profile. The Knowledge Centre’s main objectives, in line with the Antall philosophy, are talent management and providing students and young professionals with wide-ranging practical knowledge through various events. The Knowledge Centre is a think tank conducting research in topics such as the Visegrad Cooperation, the future global role of the US, China, and the Middle East, security policy, sustainable development, as well as technological and social innovation.

The whole of AJKC works toward strengthening institutional relations both at the national and international level, developing scholarship and internship programmes, and boosting professional cooperation via international conferences, workshops, and event series. Our institution’s main office is located in Budapest, operating with two international departments—focusing on European and global relations, respectively— and a thematic department—covering areas such as talent management and innovation. In addition, AJKC has a regional office Győr and an office in Brussels, which was established in 2015 to represent the Antall philosophy in the heart of the European Union and promote the values that he stood for at an international level.

The publishing activities of AJKC involve releasing professional publications, research papers on topics related to political and social sciences (with special regard to security policy and international relations), as well as university textbooks.

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European Union relations and the Visegrad Cooperation play a central role in the activities of the Antall József Knowledge Centre, since the very concept of the V4 was established by József Antall, who, in addition to the regional cooperation, also considered European integration as a factor of key importance in the future of Hungary.

In addition to educational events, the European Relations Department also organises professional programmes and conferences for a wide international audience. Events by the Department include workshops, panel discussions, organised for students and experts alike, a summer school and a leadership training. The Department also contributes to the research activity of AJKC. There are two research tracks connected to the Department; the EU research track focuses mainly on topics related to member states and EU institutions, while the Central Europe research track has a special focus on the Central European region and the foreign policies of the V4 countries.

It is a high priority for the European Relations Department to engage in long-term cooperation with relevant foreign institutions that can contribute to the implementation of its international educational programmes, research projects, and publications. The Department works in partnership with the following institutions: the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, the University of Economics and Business in Prague, the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, and The Jan Nowak-Jezioranski College of Eastern Europe, which publishes the bi-monthly magazine, New Eastern Europe. In the course of its activities, the Department closely cooperates with embassies, universities, research institutes, cultural institutes, and ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Justice. 

In the programmes and the research activities of the Department, we are also committed to the neighbouring regions, especially the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership Countries. Our international educational programmes, conferences, and research materials put emphasis on the analysis of these regions too, and we welcome talented young experts from these countries to our events.