Zoltán Illés has been Academic Assistant at the Academic Administration Office of the Bruges campus of the College of Europe since July 2023. He is part of the team tasked with creating the academic curriculum for the new Tirana branch of the College.
Zoltán grew up in Hungary and studied in Norway. He graduated with Cum Laude from the University of Rochester in the United States with a BA in Economics and International Relations. He obtained his first master’s degree in International Economic Policy from Sciences Po Paris in France. He has been involved in US-based think tank European Horizons and Hungarian NGO UWC Hungary. He also participated in exchange programs and short-term internships in Russia, Estonia, Belgium, and Hungary.
Immediately prior to joining the Bruges campus as an Academic Assistant, Zoltán was a student on the Natolin campus of the College (Sassoli Promotion, 2022-23), where he studied thanks to the Borisław Geremek European History and Civilization Scholarship. He graduated with the highest average grade within the European History and Civilization major of the European Interdisciplinary Studies master’s program in his year. His thesis titled Economic Policy Debate in Kádár’s Hungary has been recognized by the College as Outstanding Master’s Thesis in the Field of European History and Civilization and with the Martin Sojer Prize for the Best Thesis on a Topic Related to Economics and Finance.
Fields of interest:
International relations theory; International political economy of the Eastern Bloc; Economic history of the Cold War
Recent publications:
“Economic Policy Debate in Kádár’s Hungary”, De Europa – European and Global Studies Journal 5th Special Issue (2023).