Eötvös Loránd University (Hungarian: Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, ELTE) is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in Hungary. The 28,000 students at ELTE are organized into eight faculties, and into research institutes located throughout Budapest and on the scenic banks of the Danube. ELTE is affiliated with 5 Nobel laureates, as well as winners of the Wolf Prize, Fulkerson Prize and Abel Prize, the latest of which was Abel Prize winner Endre Szemerédi in 2012.
The predecessor of Eötvös Loránd University was founded in 1635 by cardinal Péter Pázmány as a catholic university for teaching theology and philosophy. In 1770, the University was transferred to Buda, and with the support of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, became the Royal Hungarian University. It was named Royal University of Pest until 1873, then University of Budapest until 1921, when it was renamed Pázmány Péter University after its founder Péter Pázmány. The Faculty of Science started its autonomous life in 1949 when The Faculty of Theology was separated from the university. The university received its current name in 1950, after one of its most well-known physicists, Baron Loránd Eötvös.
