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The 16th cycle of the Alumni Mentoring Programme has been launched as part of the SZTE Centenary celebrations. In addition to launching the current cycle, the celebration event was another opportunity to meet our old mentors and mentees and to thank our mentors for their voluntary work. The awards were presented by the Rector and Chancellor of the University of Szeged and the Rector's Delegate for Alumni Affairs. The Alumni Mentoring Programme has reached a milestone. We are entering a new phase with innovative solutions and fresh ideas: an Alumni Mentor Club has been established and new forms of mentoring have been developed. The Alumni Professional Networking provides a new forum for mentors and university representatives to find new collaborations and connections.

Since its launch in 2014, the Alumni Mentoring Programme has been developing step by step. More than 500 successful mentoring sessions, 639 alumni currently open for mentoring, and the recent international recognition ("Exceptional Dedication to Mentoring and Professional Guidance" award) are proof of the success of the 15 cycles.of this unique alumni mentoring programme in Hungary. 

Currently, the cooperation is managed on uniszegedalumni.com, where students can contact mentors easy and ask them questions in the form of flashmentoring, or establish a long-term mentoring cooperation through the Alumni Mentoring Programme. The Alumni Mentor Programme is a unique programme in Hungary where students who have graduated from the University of Szeged share their professional knowledge and experience with students who are preparing for a similar field of work, are interested in the same subject and are students of the University of Szeged. The connection between the mentor and the mentoring student is different than a normal internship bacause during the program there is no need day-to-day interaction, the communication is much more flexible. Students may develop a more realistic picture of their future work and employers ' aspects and they will have a better start working in the labour market.The success of the programme is based on the informal and flexible framework and on the selfless support of the participating mentors, who provide tireless support to the students.

The centenary year of 2021 could be a milestone in the history of the Alumni Mentoring Programme as we continue to build on it with a new focus. The Alumni Mentor Club, a grassroots initiative, is a structured level of professional networking that provides a framework for supporting each other, a forum for professional networking among mentors and a platform for new collaborations and connections. One of the aims of the Alumni Mentor Club is to maintain the quality of the mentoring programme, which is guaranteed by the participation of the award winners and the all-time mentors, as Erika Seres, Dr. Attila Harangozó and Marianna Némethné Pálfy main foundationa of the Alumni Mentor Club.

For mentoring undergarduate students at the Alumni Mentor Program Opening Ceremony our mentors were awarded in three categories, thanking them for their dedication and support for the programme and for the students they applied for.

Master Mentor title is awarded to mentors who have been available for at least 10 cycles or have successfully mentored several students during this time:

• László Gyarmati - SZTE TIK Director
• Mariann Némethné Pálfy - Pick Szeged Zrt. - Bonafarm Group, Production Director
• Dr. Vilmos Kovács - European Cert. Ltd., Sales Director
• Zsolt Bessenyei - Pick Szeged Zrt. - Bonafarm Group, HR Manager
• Dr. Erzsébet Palotai - Palotai Law Office - Attorney at Law

Excellent mentors who have been available to students for 5 cycles:

• István Nagy - Webstrategy GmbH - Technical Lead
• Dr. János Prorok - ELKH-SZTE Research Group on Circulatory Pharmacology, Research Biologist
• Dr. József Sóki - SZTE - SZAOK, Institute of Clinical Microbiology Diagnostics, Biologist
• Péter Paluska - Lufthansa Systems Hungária Kft., Senior Data Engineer
• Dániel Csiszár - Szegedi Rubin Ltd,, Head of Section

Mentored students who have participated in the programme at least 4 times, or have been involved in the programme with a particular activity, or are mentoring high school students in the AMUP programme.

• Bertold Varga
• Anett Kalmár
• Dr. Botond Nagy
• Szimonetta Tóth
• Viktória Kruchió
• Liliána Kormos
• Gréta Újvári

Once again, we thank our mentors for their dedication and helpfulness to the programme and the students involved.