The Csányi Foundation, the Hungarian Association for Local History (HSZ), the Central Statistical Office (KSH) and the Hungarian Statistical Society (MST) announced a joint statistics competition to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Dr. László Buday, a statistician and university professor born in Pécs.
The 2025 competition proved, with record participation, that statistics is an inspiring and vibrant field of science for the younger generation as well. The aim of the initiative is to promote statistical thinking and awareness among young people and to draw attention to the role of statistics in everyday life.
This year, nearly 80 entries were received, far exceeding previous years. The award ceremony took place on October 31, 2025, in the ceremonial hall of the Hungarian National Museum, as part of a conference hosted by the Hungarian National Association.
This year, there were three categories: short story writer, presentation creator, and infographics.
In the presentation and infographic categories, applicants could submit works related to settlement statistics, while in the short story category, the organizers were looking for works inspired by the history of statistics. Topics included population and demographic data, education and health statistics, and data analysis related to place of residence. The event featured scientific presentations, a presentation of the projects of supported students in Pécs, an award ceremony, and a wreath-laying ceremony at Buday’s grave.
The conference was opened by Dr. habil. Gábor Zsigmond, Director General of the Hungarian National Museum, followed by Béla Debreczeni-Droppán, President of the Hungarian National Association, Dr. Miklós Radoszáv, Chief Operating Officer of the Csányi Foundation, Boglárka Csicsely, Communications Director of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, and Balázs Horváth, Secretary General of the MST, gave welcoming speeches.
This was followed by presentations of statistical research on sustainability and environmental protection by the supporters of Group 3 from Pécs.
After the presentation of the student projects, participants listened to three academic lectures:
Gábor Demeter (senior research fellow at ELTE): “Peripheries in historical Hungary as reflected in statistical data (1720–1910)”
Balázs Horváth, (Secretary General of MST): “Károly Keleti’s decade of struggles (1867–1876) – successes and failures at the beginning of official statistics in Hungary”
Viktor Jáger, (Head of Department at KSH): “Innovation at the HCSO – experimental statistics and machine learning”
Before lunch, the competition entries were presented and the results announced, with the winners receiving a Dr. László Buday commemorative medal, a certificate of recognition and a gift package in recognition of their work.
Results of the 3rd Buday competition:
Short story writer:
László Levente Tóth (ELTE) – Where have those days gone?
Liliána Remeczki (University of Miskolc) – Love engraved on a poster
Réka Adél Kasoly (Pannon University) – At what price do we change the world?
Special prize: Gergő Fekete (Óbuda University) – The Lyricism of Numbers
Presentation creator:
Dorka Hanna Szabó (Leőwey Klára High School, Pécs) – Small Numbers, Big Opportunities?
Olivér Sashegyi (Szeged SZC Kőrösy József Technical College of Economics/Csányi Foundation) – Population and demography in Szeged
Milán Vajda (Táncsics Mihály High School, Kaposvár/Csányi Foundation) – More students, less attention?
Special prize: Zora Tari (Mikepércsi Hunyadi János Elementary School) – Mikepércs
Infographics:
László Tamás Kaposvári (University of Miskolc, Mikoviny Sámuel Doctoral Program in Earth Sciences) – Number of passenger cars – public transportation
Anna Takács (Corvinus) – Apartment prices in Budapest
Zsombor István Barkóczy (BME/Csányi Foundation) – From socialism to the global economy in Pécs
Special prize: Dorottya Tatár (Corvinus) – Primary school education in Budapest
In the afternoon, representatives of the organizations laid wreaths at the grave of Dr. László Buday in the Fiumei Road Cemetery on the 100th anniversary of his death, thus paying tribute to the work of the statistician and writer, who set an example in combining science and local history.
All in all, it was a meaningful and eventful day. We would like to thank the organizers for once again providing students with an opportunity to creatively showcase their statistical thinking!
András Gál, mentor