English

MTA Presidium: research network should remain under the supervision of the Academy

The MTA’s internationally recognized excellent research network modernized in 2012 and excelling in basic (fundamental) research should remain under the supervision of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the overwhelming majority of its management should be recruited from the scientific community. These were the chief guidelines that were enunciated by the Presidium of the Academy regarding future negotiations on the future of the research network. The Presidium did not modify the resolutions adopted during their 12 February meeting and requests the ITM to provide written guidelines for the restructuring of the research network.

In memoriam Horst Haselsteiner

Horst Haselsteiner was a historian of Central and Southeastern Europe and the Habsburg Monarchy – both of which concerned his fate and his research interests.

Statements of support

During the last couple of days, a myriad of letters from individuals and institutions were sent to the Secretariat of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Below is a list of these, which we will keep updating continuously.

The Academy Research Staff grassroots movement have launched their own web page

The ADF (HASF in English) is a civil initiative of the researchers from the research institute network at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA or HAS). The Hungarian government is introducing a new system of research financing, in a way which in itself contradicts the appropriate manners of policy making, and which, after implementation, will have disastrous effects on the autonomy of scientific research and scholarship in the entire country as well as our work and life altogether.

Where would we be without honey bees?

The vast majority of flowering plants cannot reproduce without pollination. This task is left mainly to honey bees when it comes to domesticated plants. But what would happen if honey bees disappeared or in other words what does a pollinating community need to survive with the assistance of wild insects only? The answer to this is provided by Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki, a researcher from the MTA Centre for Ecological Research.

Nano structure of male Polyommatus Icarus butterflies reveals their origin

Péter László Biró and his research fellows have been examining museum specimens thanks to a new non-destructive technique, therefore no new living specimens need be caught in order to conduct similar research. The study was produced by the MTA Centre for Energy Research in collaboration with the Hungarian Natural History Museum and was recently published in Nature Scientific Reports.

Statement of the leaders of the research network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

On 24 January 2019, the statement below was compiled by the leaders of the Academy’s research network, which employs nearly five-thousand people. The executives express their opinion concerning the new scientific research financing system put forward by the ITM and the NKFIH.

On the benefit of the humanities

The planned restructuring of the Academy’s research network has objectives which are, apart from a few exceptions, not applicable to the humanities and social sciences. Although it is a fact that these fields do not provide as many patents and results directly aiding innovation as the natural sciences, their contribution is fundamental to the economic development and international prestige of our country and to the self-knowledge and culture of our society.