Budget debate between the MTA and the ITM – second meeting of the Scientific Presidential Committee of the Research Network
In December 2018, the second meeting of the Scientific Presidential Committee of the Research Network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, established on 16 November 2018, took place in the building of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology (ITM).
As is widely known, the Scientific Presidential Committee of the Research Network of the MTA (KTEB) was established after a long debate between the MTA and the ITM concerning the management and funding of the Academy’s research network. At the end of September, the Presidium of the Academy decided to create a committee made up of scientists, that is, the Scientific Presidential Committee of the Research Network. Seven members are delegated by the President of the MTA, while the other seven members are delegated by the Minister of the ITM.
At the first KTEB meeting on 16 November 2018, the Academy was represented by Ádám Török, Secretary-General of the MTA, Beáta Mária Barnabás, Deputy Secretary-General of the MTA, Lajos Vékás, Vice-President of the MTA and Co-President of the Committee, Tamás Freund, Vice-President of the MTA, András Kertész, Chair of Section I of Linguistics and Literary Scholarship, all of whom are academicians, and Gábor Prószéky, Doctor of the Academy and Director of the Research Institute for Linguistics. The Ministry for Innovation and Technology was represented by the following scholars: Miklós Maróth, full member of the Academy and Co-President of the Committe; Péter Sótonyi, Doctor of the Academy and Rector; Péter Závodszky, full member of the Academy; Zsolt Fülöp, Doctor of the Academy; András Lánczi, CSc Rector; and Béla Merkely, Doctor of the Academy and Rector. Miklós Kásler, Doctor of the Academy and Minister of Human Capacities, is also a member of KTEB. The meeting was opened with short opening speeches by László Palkovics, Minister for Innovation and Technology, and László Lovász, President of the Academy.
The draft resolutions concerning, among other topics, the 2019 audit of the research network were presented to the committee members by the two Co-Presidents, Lajos Vékás and Miklós Maróth, both academicians. The resolutions, which were accepted unanimously, are available here.
The Committee unanimously recommended that the Minister of the ITM make the budgeted funds for the first quarter of 2019 (that is, the duration of the comprehensive audit) available to the research institutes of the Academy.
The recommendations made by KTEB were also presented to the 190th Extraordinary General Assembly of the MTA. On 16 November 2018, the main legislative body of the Academy supported, by a majority of more than 90 percent, a resolution stating that the General Assembly accepts the report on the work of the Scientific Presidential Committee of the Research Network (KTEB) and supports the recommendations of the committee.
At the same time, the General Assembly requested that the Minister of the ITM make all the budgeted funds for the first quarter of 2019 for the research institutes of the Academy available by the deadlines specified in legislation. The resolutions of the General Assembly are available here.