Defending a PhD thesis and the background to the event

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the publication is to present the process of the establishment and the beginnings of the operation of the Doctoral School of Law Enforcement at the Faculty of Law Enforcement of the University of Public Service and to briefly introduce the author of the first defended thesis and its content.
Methodology: By analysing the documents of the Police College and the University of Public Service and the decisions of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee, the author describes the system of tasks and the work of two decades during which it became possible to establish an academic discipline and the associated doctoral school. He also presents the essence of the relevant Senate decisions and the Rector’s and the Dean’s initiatives.
Findings: The main milestones on the way to the public disputation of the first PhD thesis include the recognition of Police Science as a discipline. Also, it was necessary to establish a university faculty with a similar profile and launch its training programme, followed by the establishment of the Doctoral School and commencing the training there, steps which are described in detail in this publication.
Value: The nearly twenty-year process discussed in the paper is unique in Hungarian law enforcement higher education. There was no university-level training or academic preparation in law enforcement in Hungary before. For those interested in this discipline, a new opportunity opened up to carry out research work and to be able to achieve such a high professional standard.