John von Neumann University (JvNU) is one of the youngest and most dynamically developing institutions in Hungarian higher education, emerging at the intersection of tradition and innovation in Kecskemét which is a major regional hub in the central area of Hungary between the Danube and the Tisza rivers. Although the university got its current structure in 2016, the roots of higher education in Kecskemét stretch back more than six decades: the foundation was laid in 1964 with the establishment of the GAMF Technical College, which has since become one of Hungary’s defining centers of engineering education, characterized by strong laboratory capacities and extensive industrial partnerships.
The present three-faculty university structure was established in 2016, when the engineering and horticultural disciplines were organized into faculties, and a new Faculty of Economics and Business was created as a greenfield development. The establishment of business education was not a matter of institutional continuity but of economic necessity: the region’s rapidly expanding automotive, supplier, logistics, agricultural and service sectors required new managerial and economic competences to complement the existing engineering and horticultural knowledge bases. This three-pillar model has since defined the university’s academic architecture.
Today, JvNU educates more than five thousand students, including nearly five hundred international students, primarily from across Asia. The growth of English-taught programmes, the expansion of international partnerships, and increasing mobility opportunities demonstrate that the university is not only of regional significance but is developing into an internationally connected academic institution.
In recent years, JvNU has embarked on a pronounced market-oriented transformation. Alongside its traditional strengths in engineering, new areas such as electromobility, intelligent vehicle systems and hydrogen technologies have emerged, supported by industrial cooperation and international research projects. The university also operates several knowledge centers that bring together academic, industrial and research competences; among the most recent is the Artificial Intelligence Knowledge Center, signaling that digital technologies and AI are becoming core components of the university’s strategic and research profile.
Modernization has taken place not only in content but also in physical infrastructure. Through large-scale campus development, Kecskemét now boasts one of the most modern and aesthetically distinctive university campuses in Hungary, equipped with advanced laboratories, technology spaces and architectural environments that support both learning and community life.
Kecskemét has become one of the fastest-growing industrial and supplier centers in Hungary, complemented by logistics, digital, agribusiness and knowledge-intensive service sectors. This ecosystem not only strengthens the relevance of the university’s programmes but creates a mutually reinforcing relationship between the region and the institution: industry provides demand, cooperation and innovation fields, while the university provides talent, research capacity and technological transfer. Internationalisation, industrial partnerships, dual training and research cooperation together form a model in which higher education operates in close alignment with the structure and needs of the real economy.