Szabolcs Prónay PhD

Associate professor


Curriculum vitae


[email protected]


Visiting professor at UC Berkeley

University of Szeged



Personal statement


 For my 30th birthday, my friends wrote me a novella entitled ‘Navigare necesse est’, that means 'to sail is necessary' or figuratively: 'you have to do what is necessary'. Little did they know then that 10+ years later, this well-known Latin phrase would sum up my academic ars poetica. 
'Navigare necesse est', which may be true of my research process that has been going on for nearly two decades now, and which most resembles a sailboat wandering at sea, not going straight ahead towards its destination, but taking a circuitous route, influenced by many winds and streams. Thinking back over the past 15 years of research, it is not research topics but researcher names that pops to mind. For me, more attractive than the potential of a research topic has always been the people I can do research with - first my mentors, then my colleagues, and for the last 5 years my PhD students. What I am most proud of in my scientific achievements is not the number of publications (100+), but the fact that I have had the privilege to work with 40+ co-authors on these papers. But, of course, it must be admitted that this diversity has inevitably brought with it a kind of 'wandering at sea', where navigation has been very difficult. 

‘Navigare necesse est’
, which may refer to the research topic I have finally managed to set my sights on, and in three years I have achieved more international success than all my previous research combined: this research is in the area of consumer acceptance of autonomous, or self-driving (dare I say: self-navigating) vehicles

'Navigare necesse est'
- in Roman times this was a metaphor for the fact that we are forced to set sail, not to stay in the comfortable safety of land. I have participated in conferences in 20+ countries from Singapore to Ireland, and I have also spent short-term visiting scholarships in several Western European countries. Yet the Fulbright experience changed everything. My dear colleague Anita Kéri's Fulbright scholarship in California and her enthusiastic reports revealed a new world to me, that ultimately resulted in my greatest academic journey: Fulbright scholarship at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. 

'Navigare necesse est’
- vivere non est necesse' is the full quote, suggesting that instead of comfort and easy living, we often have to take risks and leave the safety of the coast if we want to explore new territories. I trust that my journey will serve as an inspiration to the young captains who may travel with me – let them be my own children or the PhD students I support - who will know without receiving a novel for their birthday: Navigare necesse est. 
Share

Tools
Translate to