This year will remain in my life as the golden milestone (milliarium aureum) of my scientific, academic career: I have not enough words to express my gratitude to God and for my enduring power of not giving up and being a dreamer even after so many years. I started this year by writing, for the third time, a 120-page-long research application – 30–40 days spent in the amazing University Library of Szeged (6–7 hours of writing daily). I was incredibly lucky with colleagues from the library and the university, but also with several scholars from Hungary and abroad who helped me in the application process. At the same time, I was preparing my habilitation lectures (later published as two articles on religious glocalisation in the Danubian provinces). My short visit to Sicily in January was great, but not as inspiring as I expected (constantly raining). I had amazing meetings and gained new friends in Budapest, where I spent most of my weekends this year.
My academic “luck” and year of miracles started in May, when I had the chance to spend two amazing weeks in Belgrade with my dear colleagues from the Archaeological Institute. In June, I visited Vienna with my students. The miraculous letter came on the 1st of July: we won the Lendület (Momentum) research grant, which finally allows us to research the cult of Roman Mithras and its reception history in Central-Eastern Europe. This is the first project focusing on Roman religion at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the first such project at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Szeged. In August, the second miracle happened: I won the Humboldt Research Fellowship for nine months. A few weeks later, the third letter arrived: I was named Young Researcher of the University in 2025. No words, just gratitude. The year had some failures or personal mistakes too: my health was put on second or third position in the busiest periods. Although this year I was lucky to avoid severe flu or infections, my obesity definitely represents an issue now.
Here is my list of gratitude for 2025:
-
happy for my old and new friends whom I have in Budapest, Szeged, Vienna, Rome, Cluj, Sibiu, and many other cities in Europe and beyond. Some of them I wished to visit, but this year was less about moving around
thankful for my brother and his friend who brought me all my academic books in Szeged and I could finally unite my library. Now its a monumental personal library specialised on antiquity, Roman history and religion
-
grateful for my colleagues and friends who helped me with the Lendület application, and thankful to the Academy for awarding me this chance
-
grateful for my colleagues in Mainz, who helped me a lot with the Humboldt application
-
thankful to have the chance to see Sicily, Krakow, Balatonkenese, Vienna and Targu Mures again this year. Krakow was an instant love, probably the most beautiful city in Central-Eastern Europe. Grateful for my Italian colleagues and friends who made the IAHR conference for me so special
-
grateful for my colleagues and co-authors who helped me with my publications this year: an edited book, five studies, five book reviews, and several popularising articles
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése