Local services
The Municipality of Debrecen announces the Békessy Béla Sports Award and the Cívis Talentum Scholarship this year. Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa presented the details at a press conference on March 25, 2025.
Lajos Barcsa highlighted, “These two scholarships clearly demonstrate that Debrecen is a city of talents. Debrecen’s leadership believes that talents shape the future of the city. It believes in young people, which is why it has been launching these two scholarships every year since 2016, thus helping the careers of young people.
The applications for the two scholarships are published simultaneously, but they are aimed at two different goals.
The Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship supports talented young people who make a lasting impact in sports even in their youth and can achieve excellent results later in life, thus enhancing the reputation of the city of Debrecen.
The Civic Talentum scholarship aims to help young people with excellent academic results who achieve outstanding results in national or international educational competitions. The city would like to help them participate in more such contests and achieve better results.
The deputy mayor emphasised that these two scholarships rightly show that performance matters in Debrecen. Those who perform well, whether in sports or education, become worthy of being awarded by the city and supporting their careers with scholarships.
Debrecen focuses on talents, intending to be role models and have as many young people as possible follow their example. These grants, like all scholarships, can, of course, be measured in numbers. In recent years, the city has spent more than HUF 81 million from its resources on the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship alone and more than HUF 21 million on the Cívis Talentum Scholarship. This is already more than HUF 100 million in total.
Lajos Barcsa noted that these scholarship programmes are not occasional, as the city budget has included the amount intended for this purpose in the previous eight years and this year. Information can be found on the city’s website: https://www.debrecen.hu/hu/debreceni/osztondijak-palyazatok.
Information can also be obtained from the Cultural Department at the New City Hall (11 Kálvin Square). The maximum funding available for the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship is HUF 250,000 gross per month. The maximum funding available for the Cívis Talentum Scholarship is HUF 50,000 net per person per month for one year. The city’s 2025 budget includes more than HUF 15 million for announcing the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship this year and HUF 3 million for announcing the Cívis Talentum Scholarship.
As Lajos Barcsa pointed out, “In the case of those recognised with scholarships, the city always rewards the community too, because for these young people to have an outstanding career, the strength of the community behind them is also necessary.”
Two guests participated in the press conference, who have previously received the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship and the Cívis Talentum Scholarship: triathlete Gergő Dobi from DSI Debrecen and 10th-grade student at the Fazekas Mihály Grammar School in Debrecen, Levente Marcell Ráthonyi.
Gergő Dobi received the Békessy Béla Sports Scholarship for the second time last year. He has not heard of similar city scholarships or support programmes for sports purposes from other athletes, which is why he considers it unique. He mainly uses the scholarship for preparation, training camps, and participation in smaller competitions that are not supported by other sources.
Levente Marcell Ráthonyi attends many academic competitions, including national ones, which usually have several rounds. Their finals are often not even held in Debrecen and can mean up to 20-30 annual events. He has to travel a lot to get to each competition. The Cívis Talentum scholarship helped him a lot in covering travel and accommodation costs in the case of multi-day competitions, thus easing the burden on the family.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
