Faculty

Lajos Bálint graduated in Social Policy in 2000 and in Sociology in 2001 at the University of Pécs. He defended his PhD thesis in 2009, titled The Development of Regional Mortality Differences in Hungary, 1980–2006. Between 2000 and 2010, he worked at the Central Statistical Office in Pécs. Since 2011, he has been a research fellow at the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute in Budapest, and since 2007 he has been a senior research fellow. He is a member of the editorial boards of the journals Területi Statisztika and Demográfia. He has substantial experience in quantitative methods, including life table analysis, multivariate statistics, multilevel modelling, and spatial analysis.

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Viktor Berger obtained his PhD in Sociology in 2016 at Eötvös Loránd University. He is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Pécs. He was editor of the Hungarian sociological journal Replika from 2009 to 2020. His research interests include the phenomenology of the online world, sociological theories of space, and the history of sociological thought.

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Adrienn Bognár is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Pécs. She graduated as a sociologist and obtained her PhD at the University of Pécs, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She also holds an MBA in marketing and a degree in bibliotherapy. Her research interests include political socialisation, youth sociology, climate anxiety, and quantitative and qualitative methods.

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Eszter Bucher graduated as a geography teacher in 2002 and as a sociologist in 2003. In 2011, she obtained her PhD at the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences. Her research areas include non-profit organisations, social innovation, and women in disadvantaged settlements.

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Dávid Erát obtained a BA and MA in Sociology. He earned his PhD from the Doctoral School of Demography and Sociology, where he completed the demography programme. His main areas of research interest are quantitative methods, romantic relationships, and partnership dissolution. Dávid Erát acts as the programme coordinator for the Data Analytics Track in the Master in Sociology programme.

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Katalin Füzér holds degrees in Sociology — MA from ELTE, Budapest; habilitation from the University of Debrecen — and Political Science — PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. After studying and conducting research at Beloit College, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Pennsylvania, Freie Universität Berlin, and the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt am Main, she joined the faculty of the Department of Sociology, University of Pécs, in 2001. Her research on trust, social capital, and digital inequalities investigates micro-, meso-, and macro-level social processes and inequalities in several domains, including innovation and development policies.

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Tamás Ragadics is a sociologist and religion teacher. He is an assistant professor at the University of Pécs, Department of Sociology. His research interests include the problems and challenges related to the social transformation of rural areas.

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Zsolt Spéder is a sociologist and demographer. He leads the Programme in Demography at the Doctoral School of Demography and Sociology.

His areas of research interest are family formation and fertility, attitudes and values towards the family, social inequalities and poverty, and international comparisons. Previously, Zsolt Spéder taught at Corvinus University of Budapest and conducted research at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, the Stockholm University Linnaeus Center on Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe, the Social Science Center Berlin (WZB), and Collegium Budapest – Institute for Advanced Study. Currently, he is Professor at the University of Pécs, Department of Sociology; Head of the Doctoral School of Demography and Sociology at the University of Pécs; Chief Scientific Advisor at the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, where he formerly served as Director until his resignation in 2023; and Honorary President of the European Association for Population Studies Council.

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Kyra Tomay has been working at the Department of Sociology of the University of Pécs since 2017, and has been Associate Professor since 2024. She is also Head of the Local Society Research Centre. She earned both her MA degree in Sociology and her PhD from Eötvös Loránd University. After completing her studies, she taught urban sociology and research methods at ELTE University in Budapest. Between 2008 and 2012, she worked as a planner-analyst at the Spatial Planning and Evaluation Directorate of VÁTI, a governmental policy background institution. Her main research interests include urban and rural sociology, socio-spatial mobility, migration, and social inequalities. She is a member of the editorial boards of the journals Területi Statisztika and Szociológiai Szemle, and serves as President of the Space–Settlement–Society Section of the Hungarian Sociological Association.

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Bence Völgyi serves as an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Pécs, Department of Sociology. He earned his bachelor's degree in Social Studies and his master's degree in Sociology, both from the University of Pécs, Hungary. Following his graduation, he gained experience as a research assistant and worked as a publication and research support assistant. He actively participates in higher education social media marketing, as well as in innovation and enterprise development. His doctoral research focuses on the digital divide in Europe. His academic interests include digital inequalities, subcultural studies, urban and rural sociology, and the sociology of art.

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