More than 80 participants from Hungary and, primarily, Central and Eastern Europe have begun their studies as part of a new offering of Harvard Medical School’s Clinical Science Scholars (CSS) Program at Semmelweis University. The nine-month hybrid postgraduate certificate program focuses on developing knowledge and skills in clinical research.
The fourth cohort of the CSS Program at Semmelweis comprises 84 early-career clinicians, PhD students,
postdoctoral fellows, and residents from Hungary and the wider region. Of the 76 applicants who received scholarships, participants came from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Turkey, with 47 coming from Semmelweis University. The postgraduate certificate program runs from July 2026 to March 2027 and includes two residential workshops, in Budapest and Boston, as well as several online training sessions.
Speaking at the program’s opening workshop in Budapest, Dr. Béla Merkely, Rector of Semmelweis University, noted that many former participants had highlighted the teamwork exercises as among the program’s most valuable learning experiences. “I am convinced that today, outstanding results can only be achieved through knowledge sharing and cooperation that transcends professions as well as national borders,” he added.
Program Directors Dr. Jamie M. Robertson, Faculty Director of the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training and Foundations of Clinical Research postgraduate certificate programs at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Krisztina Fischer, Faculty Director of the Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education Program, opened the workshop by introducing the Harvard Medical School CSS faculty and staff. They provided an overview of the program curriculum and assessment scheme.
The directors emphasized that the program aims to enhance participants’ knowledge and skills in clinical research. This includes writing research proposals and scientific articles, “overcoming the fear of statistics,” developing soft skills with a focus on leadership and teamwork, and building a network of clinical researchers.
The workshop also featured a panel discussion moderated by Krisztina Fischer, with program alumni sharing their experiences and highlighting how completing the program had contributed to their professional development.
Associate Professor Dr. Bánk Fenyves, Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine, said he believed the program would give participants greater confidence in engaging with the international scientific community, which could be particularly valuable for researchers from smaller countries. He shared that the program had also changed the way he approached other research proposals and projects. It equipped him with methodological tools for evaluating promising ideas, even when study designs were inadequate. He also developed skills that he could apply in his everyday work as a leader.
Dr. Zsófia Drobni, a cardiologist at the Department of Cardiology of the Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center, said she benefited most from realizing that she was capable of completing the program. She advised participants to let go of their initial expectations and focus on their original motivation when faced with challenging tasks. She was particularly motivated by the capstone project, which helped her realize that she had acquired the knowledge and skills needed to write research proposals in the future.
Assistant Professor Dr. Bence Tamás Szabó, Deputy Director of the Department of Oral Diagnostics and Vice-Dean for Education at the Faculty of Dentistry (FOK), noted that the program had a significant impact on his teamwork and time-management skills. It helped him delegate tasks, meet deadlines, and provide inspiring feedback. He encouraged participants to be proactive and make themselves visible by asking questions that would benefit their learning and development.
Dr. Márton Kivovics, Head of the Department of Dental Public Health, said he had benefited most from studying clinical epidemiology. In his opinion, the field can be more challenging for surgeons to understand, but he has been applying the skills he acquired in his everyday work ever since. In particular, he now designs retrospective studies to address clinical questions that cannot be answered through clinical trials.
Dr. Tamás Kiss, Assistant Professor at Semmelweis University’s Pediatric Center, regarded the development of soft skills as the most important benefit of the program, enabling participants to adopt a mindset that cannot be learned from textbooks. For him, one of the highlights of the program was gaining a rare insight into how an editorial board operates.
Dr. Judit Csőre, Assistant Professor in the Department of Interventional Radiology at the Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center, highlighted that the program helped her organize and contextualize the knowledge she had already acquired and communicate more effectively within the international scientific community, helping to bridge intergenerational and interdisciplinary gaps.
She also emphasized the value of learning how to identify clinically meaningful questions. Reflecting on the different approaches of structured thinkers and dreamers, she shared her experience that the latter often have a strong sense of identifying the right questions. For them, she noted, acquiring the skills to formulate a hypothesis and conduct the related research in a structured way can be particularly valuable.
