Surfing the Internet, the "wanderer" can also take part in a "time-journey." Travellers often examine the past so that the future may become more visible for them. Therefore, first, let us have a glance at the past of our university. The University of Miskolc can look back on a 270-year-old history. Its predecessor, the first institution of higher education in the field of technology in the world, the Academy of Mining of Selmecbánya, represented special knowledge and worth. Its heritage and relics have an influence on our university life up to the present day. I am convinced that the most important aspect of the development of the University of Miskolc has been stability. The basis for the ability of unending renewal is provided by our traditions and the life-work of our renowned professors and predecessors.

The University of Miskolc has a new management from July 2006. The next four years of the Rectorate (2006-2010) and the subsequent development strategy for the foreseeable decade have to be the organic pursuance of the development process maintained so far - retaining up-to-date elements in it pointing ahead, and giving up the ones that have had their day. There is a need for renewal in a number of areas. It is expected from the leaders of our university by the new Higher Education Act, the transformed industrial and economic environment, and last but not least, by our university students, whose aim is to live and study in a modern setting of education and research characterised by dynamic growth and the opening up of perspectives.

The role of the universities in preserving, enriching and imparting knowledge has currently been completed with the responsibility for a flexible reaction to economic demands and a direct participation in the development of economy. University students being educated within the Bologna System can join an up-to-date system which is adapted to the demands of the labour market. On our home page, one can get acquainted with what trainings the different faculties offer, and can read about student life at our university. Our campus is situated in a unique natural environment: from the academic buildings, through the student hostels, the library, the restaurant and the canteen to the modern workshop hall, the Dudujka Valley surrounds everything. Our university is the biggest higher educational institution of Northern Hungary, which is a scientific centre of great importance from both a regional and a national viewpoint.

As the Rector of the University of Miskolc, I intend to serve the University of Miskolc, which provides meaning and space for my vocation, according to the best of my ability. I wish to create a balance between the traditional academic approach and the one which considers external university relationships to be of special value. I would like to draw the university and the city of Miskolc near to each other. I aspire to establish such international relationships that are reasonably manageable, mutually useful and up-to-date. I wish to make use of all public forums to popularise the values of our university.

I believe that today's motto, according to which "the University of Miskolc is a competitive member of the European higher education region," is a reality that we all work hard to achieve.

Vivat Academia!

prof. Dr Gyula Patkó