How did CEU become #MyCEU? Meet our PhD alumna Mariann Molnár

December 20, 2018

"A PhD at CEU was exactly what I needed: time, excellent facilities, inspiring courses, the help of committed academics and the friendship of fellow students.. All of these enabled me to pursue my dreams...." (Mariann Molnar, PhD alumna)

"How did CEU become #MyCEU? I first came to the University in 1999 to do a masters course in Environmental Sciences and Policy. It was a great experience, which - after volunteering for a CEU-NGO partnership programme - directly landed me in my first job. 
After years of working in the non-governmental sector and later on as a civil servant in the field of animal welfare, I came to realize that in an increasingly complex world there were specific problems that hindered the farm animal welfare reform-effort. These issues became very important to me, and I soon discovered that if I wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the cause, then I needed to understand the nature and extent of the problem much better. 
A PhD at CEU was exactly what I needed: time, excellent facilities, inspiring courses, the help of committed academics and the friendship of fellow students…All of these enabled me to pursue my dreams: to read, to learn, to go out in the field to find out what was going on, to analyse findings, and to reflect on current technical discourses and scrutinize my own assumptions. It was hard work, but well worth it…a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience. And on this journey CEU became #MyCEU, and I am grateful for it."

Mariann has become the runner-up from 10 PhD students with her presentation below at the first Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition of CEU in June 2018. 


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Mariann Molnár is an alumna of the Central European University Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy (PhD '18)
Photo credit @Péter Lorenz