Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge (SDSK)

http://www.titnet.hu/

 

The Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge is the oldest adult education organization in Hungary. It was founded in 1841 by the most outstanding scholars of the time, who believed that the dissemination of knowledge for all the people was indispensable for the progress of the nation.

This task is the most important even today and this has helped the Society to survive different political and social changes in the past 165 years. At present the Society consists of 39 regional and professional Associations which are wholly autonomous and constitute a Federation. The representatives of the Associations form the General Assembly, which is the highest body of the Society and which elects the president and the Executive Committee and defines the main trends in the activity of the Society.

 

President of Society for the Dissemination Knowledge is Professor  Szilveszter E. Vizi (member of Advisory Board, see later), an internationally recognized physician, neuroscientist, pharmacologist and university professor who served as President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 2002 and 2008.

The deputy presidents are Professor Andras Falus and Professor László Tőkéczki.

The Bureau of the Federation of the Association has a Director  and a small office that coordinates the activities of the Associations. The main tasks of the Bureau are to provide the Association with important pieces of information and to represent them on national and international level. Director is Mrs. Eszter Piróth.

The association has got more than ten thousand members, who deal with educational and professional dissemination of knowledge and organize programmes in the field of adult education. They provide the intellectual background for the small staff, who run the administrative part of the activity. The association has got a national network system, with the necessary infrastructure and is well equipped. It also has got a library with more than 30.000 volumes in the field of adult education.

 

The activities of the Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge can be classified within five groups: Dissemination of knowledge; Adult education; Accredited trainings; Language courses, exams; Cooperation with non-profit organizations.

 

The main fields of activity of the Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge are as follows:

  • dissemination of modern skills and knowledge which, as part of the universal culture and knowledge, can be part of creating a society on the basis of knowledge;
  • running institutes dealing with disseminating knowledge;
  • organization of courses of public interest in all branches of natural and social sciences like biology, astronomy or history and literature;
  • organization of conferences, exhibitions and professional visits;
  • organization of Summer University Courses, combining study programmes and holidays;
  • taking part in the work of the European organization of dissemination of knowledge (EUSCEA);
  • cooperating with adult education centres;
  • organizing trainings, which provide certificates accepted in the EU member states;
  • further training of experts in the field of culture (e-learning, e-learning marketing, e-Europe, informational society for everybody, etc.);
  • publishing magazines and journals in the fields of natural sciences and social sciences;
  • publication of educational and information materials;
  • organization of programmes for handicapped social groups;
  • promotion of talented young people;
  • organization and promotion of folk high schools in the provinces;
  • organization of programmes like the cultivation of good Hungarian language, protection of the environment, safeguarding of public health;
  • teaching foreign languages, this society has the oldest network of language teaching, the association is the unique representative of the TELC (The European Language Certificates) exam system in Hungary, which belongs to WBT (Weiterbilgungsystem gmb.H. in Frankfurt, Germany);
  • organization of vocational trainings and retraining.

 

The member institutions of the Society for Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge organized the following programs in the period of 2009-2011:

  • Scientific presentations:
    • social sciences: 3966 events, 90 552 participants
    • natural sciences: 7071 events, 77 700 participants
  • Open Universities: 510 events, 18 060 participants
  • Summer Universities: 12 events, 822 participants
  • Conferences: 318 conferences,  48 774 participants
  • Books, leaflets published: 8000 copies
  • Publishing science magazines (Reality, Life and science, Life in Nature): 1 856 299 copies
  • Program leaflets published: 150 000 copies
  • Organizing national events: 864 events; 86 100 participants
  • Clubs: 90 clubs, 4033 participants
  • Study groups, academic competitions: 1743 events, 807 000 participants
  • Exhibitions: 198 exhibitions, 33 618 visitors
  • Camps for children: 168 camps, 4050 participants
  • Language courses, NTR professional and language courses: 660 courses, 13 128 participants
  • Candidates on langue examinations: 83 500 participants
  • Visitors of the astronomical institutions: 3 400 events, 148 000 visitors

Between 2009-2011, as much as 1 414 837 participants took part on the events, trainings and programs of SDSK. EDUVITAL NET might reach a large public population in Hungary in the similar magnitude order.

 

 

The board of Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge expressed his enthusiastic willingness to support and incorporate the EDUVITAL NET, providing all personal, administrative and organizational tools. The decision was unanimously confirmed  by the General Assembly of Societyof the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge.