Babes-Bolyai University
Encyclopedia
The Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB—Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai) in Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...

 is an university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. With almost 50,000 students, the university offers 105 specialisations, of which there are 105 in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

, 67 in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, 17 in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, and 5 in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. The university was named after prominent scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...

 scientist Victor Babeș
Victor Babes
Victor Babeș was a Romanian physician, biologist, and one of the earliest bacteriologists. He made early and significant contributions to the study of rabies, leprosy, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases....

 and the Hungarian mathematician
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 János Bolyai
János Bolyai
János Bolyai was a Hungarian mathematician, known for his work in non-Euclidean geometry.Bolyai was born in the Transylvanian town of Kolozsvár , then part of the Habsburg Empire , the son of Zsuzsanna Benkő and the well-known mathematician Farkas Bolyai.-Life:By the age of 13, he had mastered...

.

The Babes-Bolyai University was ranked, as concerning research, as the first in Romania (2002-2011), based on article influence score (Web of Science), by Ad-Astra Association of Romanian Scientists http://www.ad-astra.ro/cartea-alba/institutions.php?all_years=1&, followed by Bucharest University (placed second). Also, in 2011, in the URAP international ranking, Babes-Bolyai University was ranked first in Romania based on top academic indicators; it is followed by Bucharest University http://www.urapcenter.org/2011/country.php?ccode=RO. In the top Quacquarelli Symonds (known from The Times Higher Education Supplement), the University Babeș-Bolyai was placed in 2011 on the position 601+, being thus among best 1000 universities of the world. University of Bucharest is place in 2011 on the same rank. In a recent ranking regarding the impact of universities on professional market (i.e., credibility and attractiveness), Babes-Bolyai University was ranked number 1 University in Romania in 2009 by the German company Kienbaum Management Consultants and Capital magazine. BBU is followed by University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...

 which is the second.

History

In 1581, István Báthory
Stephen V Báthory
Stephen Báthory of Ecsed was a Hungarian commander, 'dapiferorum regalium magister' , judge of the Royal Court and voivod of Transylvania...

, prince of Transylvania, founded a college in Kolozsvár (now: Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...

) which was to be under the control of the Jesuits. This college was later closed down. The Catholics in 1688 established an academy in Kolozsvár under the control of the Jesuits. In 1776, Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

 founded a university in the town.

In 1872, the Hungarian Minister of Education, József Eötvös
József Eötvös
József baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény was a Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Ignacz baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény and Anna von Lilien, who stemmed from an Erbsälzer family of Werl in Germany....

 presented to the Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

 Parliament a project of a new university to be founded either in Pozsony (present Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

) or Kolozsvár. After long debates on financial concern the Hungarian Parliament voted for the latter. Thus, the authorities established a university in Kolozsvár with teaching in Hungarian, except for the Romanian language and literature section. In 1881 the university was renamed Franz Joseph University after the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 Emperor and King of Hungary Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

.

On May 12, 1919, after the Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...

, the Romanian University of Cluj was set up. King Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand was the King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death.-Early life:Born in Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany, the Roman Catholic Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, was a son of Leopold, Prince of...

 proclaimed the university open on February 1, 1920, while its Hungarian section moved to Szeged
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....

.

In 1940, as a result of the Second Vienna Award
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...

, the city was returned to Hungary; the Hungarian university was reinstated there, while the Romanian university was moved to Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...

 and Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...

. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, once the Second Vienna Award
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...

 was abrogated, the Romanian university returned to Cluj and took the name of Babeș. In 1945 the Romanian authorities established a Hungarian university called "Bolyai" in Cluj.

In 1959 communist authorities decided to merge the two universities, the "Babeș" University and the "Bolyai" University under the "Babeș-Bolyai" University name, with Romanian and Hungarian teaching languages. This operation, which deeply undermined the interests of the Hungarian community in Transylvania and led to the suicide of a Hungarian pro-rector and a professor, was orchestrated by Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...

, the former Romanian dictator, and Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu served as President of Romania from 1990 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a Senator for the Social Democratic Party , whose honorary president he remains....

, his successor as president. Later on, under the communist regime, the studies in Hungarian were gradually reduced.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...

 in which ethnic Hungarians had a major role, the Hungarian language education was expanded by increasing the number of specializations in Hungarian. Also specializations taught in German and English have been introduced.

The university is now the most diversified (in terms of specializations) and the most complex higher education institution in Romania.

Academics

The university has 21 faculties and over 1,700 faculty members. The University offers bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees, along with advanced postgraduate studies.

The university is located in an ethnically diverse area and this is very well illustrated in its structure: 19 of the 21 faculties provide a Romanian curriculum; 17 of them provide a Hungarian curriculum; 9 of them provide a German curriculum and 6 of them provide an English curriculum. The Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and the Faculty of Protestant Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 provide courses only in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

. Graduate schools offer the same multilingual structure. The Hungarian and German minorities are also very well represented in the Professors' Council and the University Senate.

Babeș-Bolyai University has more than 45,000 students. The structure of the student body is composed out of 3,000 Ph.D. students, 500 international students, 4,300 secondary education teachers, and 38,000 undergraduate.
Here is the list of the faculties, along with the languages in which their courses are taught—(RO-Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

, HU-Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, DE-German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

,FR-French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, EN-English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

).

The status of Hungarian "part" of the university

The Hungarian academic community at the University has a partial autonomy that was gradually increased in the last several years. However, in the opinion of the Council of the Hungarian section, those members are appointed by the Hungarian speaking teaching staff desires a granted, a more institutionalized form of decision making, taking into consideration the a long university tradition of the Hungarian community and generalized demands of Hungarians in Romania for cultural and educational autonomy. Decision-making is based on majority vote, therefore Hungarian representatives in minority can always be silenced by this procedure.
Hungarian Language is used in academical communication, as a teaching language, but also used in public relations, tutorials, in some written posters and communications, but the legends, inscriptions, classroom labels are only in Romanian, so the image and the feeling is not of a real multilingual university.
In Hungarian section are enrolled near 7200 students in 67 BA programmes, so the university is the most important institution that educate members of Hungarian minority in Transylvania. Establishment of Hungarian faculties was impeded several times, albeit asked by more than 80% of the Hungarian professors. Last time, on 22 February 2006, the University Senate neglected the demand of 149 Hungarian professors. Moreover, there are no Hungarian inscriptions, the Hungarian language cannot be used as a language of formal communication within the University.

In November 2006, dr. Péter HANTZ and dr. Lehel KOVÁCS, both lecturers at the Babeș-Bolyai University, were sacked by the university after a series of actions taken for, what they call, the language equality, started in October 2005. They were campaigning for the re-establishment of the Bolyai University by splitting the Babes-Bolyai University in two independent institutions, in spite of the threats of the Universitry management.
On 22 November 2006, the University organized an exhibition in the European Parliament, where they tried to give the impression that there are multilingual signs at the University. In the same day, dr. Péter Hantz put up signs like "Information" and "No smoking" in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

 alongside those ones in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

. Hantz and Kovács acted upon a decree permitting the use of multilingual signs, which had been decreed by the university but never put in practice, and official claims that the university is a multicultural institution with three working languages (Romanian, German and Hungarian). On 27 November 2006, the Senate voted for exclusion of the two lecturers, with 72 for and 9 against (from 2 Romanian and 7 Hungarian members) votes. The Hungarian academic community is convinced that the exclusion was not a disciplinary action, but the vote was not ethnic based.In spite of various protests, the resignation out of solidarity by several Hungarian-speaking university staff, and a call by 24 Hungarian MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

s for the reinstatement of the lecturers in the weeks after the incident, the lecturers remained unemployed. The parties in the Hungarian Parliament asked the university to reinstate the two professors and respect the rights of the Hungarian minority. The presidents of the five parties represented in the Hungarian parliament signed a statement that read as follows:Istvan Hiller
István Hiller
Dr. István Hiller is a Hungarian politician and former chairman of the governing Hungarian Socialist Party between 16 October 2004 and 24 February 2007, succeeding László Kovács, succeeded by Ferenc Gyurcsány...

, Education Minister of Hungary, also wrote to his Romanian counterpart Mihail Hărdău, asking for his help on the issue. The case has also been put forward in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

. Göran Lindblad
Göran Lindblad
Lars Göran Axel Lindblad is a Swedish politician and member of the Moderate Party. He served as a member of the Swedish parliament 1997–2010, representing the constituency of Gothenburg. He served as a replacement member of parliament 1993–1997, and again since 2010...

, from the Swedish European People’s Party, along with 24 signatories from 19 European countries, presented a motion for a resolution on the alleged breaching of the 1994 Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed on February 1995 by 22 member States of the Council of Europe ....

 by the Romanian Government.

Campus

The main campus is located in the city of Cluj-Napoca. The university buildings are spread across the city. The university has several student housing areas, most notable being Haşdeu with more than 20 dormitories buildings. The Lucian Blaga University Library
Central University Library of Cluj-Napoca
The Lucian Blaga Central University Library of Cluj-Napoca serves Babeş-Bolyai University in Romania.-History:The library was founded in 1872, at the same time as the University of Cluj...

 is located in the city centre. The university also has several colleges located in 18 cities spread across Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

.

See also

  • Balkan Universities Network
    Balkan Universities Network
    The Balkan Universities Network or BUN in its present form was created after the end of the SFR Yugoslavia, the founding of new universities, and the implementation of the Bologna Process in Balkan Universities...

  • Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy
    Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy
    Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy is the continuation of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, which was founded in 1919 at Cluj, as a part of the University of Cluj. The faculty has over 9,000 national and international students, as well as over 850 teachers and...

  • List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)

External links

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