Recent news articles from Corvinus University of Budapest have highlighted a significant milestone in the institution’s academic landscape: two distinguished professors, Tünde Tátrai and Tamara Keszey, have been awarded the prestigious Doctor of Sciences (DSc) title by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Their achievements provide a practical and insightful look into what it takes to build successful academic careers in Hungary, particularly for women balancing high-level research with complex personal commitments. By examining their paths, aspiring academics and professionals can gain a clearer understanding of modern research methodologies, the integration of artificial intelligence, and the realities of academic progression.
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How Academic Careers Evolve Over Time
The transition from a doctoral student to a senior researcher requires more than just publishing papers; it demands a fundamental shift in professional responsibilities. For Tátrai and Keszey, who began their journeys together in Corvinus’s doctoral programme, the evolution of their roles has been marked by a move from establishing their own research profiles to fostering the next generation of scholars.
Early in their careers, the focus was understandably narrow: building credibility in Hungarian and international academic circles. Today, their responsibilities encompass much broader university and community roles. Tátrai serves as the President of the Professorial Body, while Keszey recently completed a term as Vice-Rector for Research between 2021 and 2024. These leadership positions highlight a crucial reality for those pursuing academic careers—the expectation to contribute to institutional governance and mentorship, shaping the environment for future researchers. This progression demonstrates that long-term academic success relies heavily on institutional service and collaborative leadership, not just individual research output.
Redefining Public Procurement as an Innovation Hub
When considering research fields with high impact, public procurement is rarely the first topic that comes to mind. Often viewed as a purely bureaucratic and administrative function, it is easily overlooked by aspiring economists and decision scientists. However, Tünde Tátrai’s DSc dissertation, which focused on competition and innovation in public procurement, reveals a vastly different reality.
Public procurement is a highly interdisciplinary field with enormous potential for efficiency gains. Far from being a static administrative task, it involves complex intersections of competition law, economic theory, and procedural design. Researchers in this area can directly influence how public funds are spent, particularly during critical periods such as a pandemic or wartime. By analyzing how different countries structure their central procurement organizations, researchers can identify best practices and propose models that make public spending more efficient and transparent.
Global Collaboration and Crisis Management
Hungary’s position as an EU member state provides a unique vantage point for procurement research. By comparing systems in the United States, South America, South Africa, China, and Japan, researchers encounter surprisingly similar structural challenges manifested in different regulatory contexts. This shared problem-solving framework allows Hungarian researchers to act as equal partners on the international stage, collaborating with both developed nations and developing countries eager to reform their own systems. For students considering a focus in this area, the opportunity to contribute to legislative processes—such as writing studies for the European Commission—makes the field highly dynamic and practically relevant.
Explore our related articles for further reading on research developments.
Resolving the Marketing Data Paradox
On the other end of the business spectrum, Tamara Keszey’s research addresses a frustrating paradox in modern marketing: companies have access to more consumer data than ever before, yet over 80% of new products still fail to meet market expectations. Her DSc dissertation focused on customer-based information, investigating why having data does not necessarily equate to understanding the customer.
The Challenge of Tacit Knowledge
The core issue lies in how organizations manage and integrate information. Customer data is frequently trapped in separate organizational silos. Sales teams interact with customers daily, gathering valuable tacit knowledge about individual preferences, hesitations, and emotional responses. However, this nuanced information is difficult to codify and transfer to the marketing department, which typically operates on a higher level of abstraction, focusing on market segments rather than individual interactions.
For marketing professionals and researchers, the challenge is to bridge this gap. Developing a genuine 360-degree view of the customer requires more than just deploying new software; it requires creating organizational cultures and incentive structures that encourage the sharing of tacit knowledge. Academic research in this area provides the frameworks necessary for companies to restructure how information flows between departments, ultimately leading to better product development and customer satisfaction.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Academic Research
No discussion of modern academic careers or business research is complete without addressing the impact of artificial intelligence. Both Tátrai and Keszey acknowledge that AI is dramatically reshaping their respective fields, though its application comes with distinct limitations.
In marketing, AI excels at processing large volumes of data and generating synthetic data for modeling. However, it still struggles to interpret highly contextual, human subtleties—such as a customer’s hesitation or a specific emotional nuance during a service interaction. Furthermore, the rise of virtual influencers, like the AI-generated persona Lil Miquela who has millions of followers, is creating entirely new questions regarding consumer trust and marketing communication.
In public procurement, AI presents an untapped frontier. The immense richness of validated procurement data offers a perfect testing ground for machine learning algorithms designed to stimulate competition and detect inefficiencies. For students in programmes like Business Informatics, this intersection of AI and public policy represents a fertile ground for future research projects that can have a tangible ripple effect on government operations.
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Practical Strategies for Balancing Family and Research
A persistent challenge in academia, particularly for female excellence, is managing the demanding expectations of international publication alongside family life. The experiences of Tátrai and Keszey offer grounded, realistic advice rather than unrealistic ideals. Both professors are mothers of three children, and they approach the topic with pragmatic honesty.
A common misconception is that successful academic women must be “iron ladies” who sacrifice all personal time. Tátrai and Keszey dismiss this notion. Instead, they emphasize extreme efficiency and the critical importance of a strong support system, including partners, family, and institutional flexibility. When time is strictly limited, productivity often increases out of necessity. As one hiring manager noted to Tátrai, mothers of young children are often hired specifically because their constrained time forces them to be highly efficient and avoid wasting time on unproductive tasks.
Building International Networks
When international travel is restricted by family commitments, researchers must find alternative ways to build global networks. Keszey accomplished this through what she terms “guerrilla marketing.” Rather than waiting for international conferences, she directly contacted researchers whose work she admired, proposing collaborations. While many declined, this proactive approach eventually built a robust international network. This strategy is highly actionable for young researchers: do not wait for opportunities to come to you. Use digital communication to reach out to leading scholars, propose specific, mutually beneficial research ideas, and build collaborations from your desk.
Furthermore, integrating family life with academic work can yield unexpected benefits. Bringing older children to academic conferences exposes them to the professional world, teaching them independence and showing them the tangible results of hard work. The university environment itself, constantly refreshed by new students, helps keep academic professionals mentally agile and connected to younger generations.
Looking Ahead: The Next Research Questions
p>The mark of a strong academic career is the constant pursuit of new, unanswered questions. For these two Corvinus scholars, the future holds intriguing possibilities. Keszey is investigating the use of virtual influencers for science communication, exploring how universities can use AI-generated personas to translate complex scientific language into engaging formats for younger audiences. Tátrai is focused on leveraging AI to analyze public procurement data, aiming to stimulate competition and improve the efficiency of public spending.
These forward-looking projects illustrate the dynamic nature of academic careers at Corvinus University. The institution provides an environment where researchers can pivot, integrating new technologies like artificial intelligence into established fields like marketing and public procurement. For aspiring academics in Hungary and internationally, the paths carved by these DSc recipients offer a clear blueprint: combine rigorous methodology with practical application, build international networks proactively, and approach the balancing of career and family with pragmatism and a strong support system.
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