Meet Margit Nógrádi-Kerekes, a dedicated researcher from Pázmány Péter Catholic University, who had the opportunity to spend a research stay in Slovakia as a CEEPUS Fellow. As part of her scholarship, she conducted her research at the Faculty of Arts at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, focusing on the architectural heritage of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, she was not alone on this academic journey—her husband and their one-and-a-half-year-old son accompanied her, with her family taking turns to support her throughout the stay.

Last February (2024) I spent a month as a PHD researcher in Slovakia as a Ceepus Fellow from Pázmány Péter Catholic University. My research topic was the history of architecture around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of a Hungarian architect couple (Ármin Hegedűs and Henrik Bőhm) who designed important buildings for several settlements in Slovakia, today. This topic was related to the topic Confessional and ethnic interactions in the Habsburg Monarchy, and this is how I was able to join the Faculty of Arts of the Matej Bel University of Banská Bystrica as a researcher.

My one and a half year old son and my husband accompanied me on the fellowship, the latter being replaced by my sisters and parents every week so that they could look after him while I did research in archives, libraries, heritage offices, etc. First, I visited a wonderful art nuovo buiding in Zilina, and then the city archives, where I found some archive photos and materials about the building. The biggest site with the most surviving buildings was Piestany, where I was able to talk to the director of the local museum, the maintainers of the institutions and several competent people, and it was no different in Trencianske Teplice.

After that I was able to visit the archives in Trencín, Nitra and Trnava, and the offices of historical monuments. The Martin State Library and the University Library in Bratislava also had many interesting things to offer, and in Bratislava I was able to research the rich material of the State Archives on the subject. Sometimes the lack of knowledge of the Slovak language caused difficulties, but everyone was very helpful, and the translators on the internet were also very helpful.

I even got a Hungarian guide in the Bratislava library, I was also helped in Hungarian language in the Nitra Archives. My most positive experience was when a kind person from the Bratislava Archives even called a Hungarian friend of him who is researching a similar topic, to see if he could give me any good tips on where else to go and who else to talk to. In summary, I managed to collect many valuable plans, books, archival photos and postcards and historical documentation, which was a great source material for my research and which is not available in Hungary. These have clarified many of my questions about the buildings and the oeuvre of the architect duo.

Fortunately, we had time to explore Slovakia's natural and cultural treasures during the weekends, so for example we visited Selmecbánya, where I had no specific research assignment. I am grateful to Professor Alica Kurhajcová, who supported me as a mentor throughout the whole scholarship, in everything from the smallest things (e.g. shopping) to research assistance, and I also thank all the colleagues I came into contact with at the institutions.

Would you like to come to Slovakia for a research stay through the CEEPUS Programme? The CEEPUS Programme (Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies) is a multilateral international programme supporting the cooperation between higher education institutions from member countries through academic networks. Find out more about how you can embark on a research scholarship stay with CEEPUS!