Preliminary talks end between MTA and ITM delegations

MTA’s Strategic Committee met the representatives of ITM at 10 a.m. on 12 April 2019, which was followed by a meeting between the Committee for Legal, Operational and Financial issues and the ITM at 3 p.m. These meetings ended the preparatory talks before a decision is to be made.

As described in a short Facebook post on 2 April, the task of the MTA’s delegations was to prepare a proposal package on how to operate and manage the MTA’s research network in a way that ensures the freedom of scientific research and the conditions for research in the long run. Another fundamental aim is to restore trust as soon as possible.

Both MTA committees negotiated in line with the resolutions passed by the extraordinary General Assembly in December 2018 and those of the 26 February 2019 presidential meeting. At the Presidium’s meeting on 21 March, the executives of the MTA, the Presidium and the leaders of the research network stated that according to the MTA’s constitution, only the General Assembly can make the final decision on behalf of the Academy concerning the future of the Academy.

In the course of negotiations with the ITM, the two committees relied on the opinion of the Presidium, the leaders of research institutes, the leaders of the Lendület (Momentum) research groups, and the Academy’s workers’ community, while also taking opinions from other members of the scientific community into account.

As a result of these negotiations, the strategic committees of the MTA and the ITM completed a package of proposals on 12 April.

The Presidium is to pass a statement on this document package at their next meeting on 16 April. Following this, each scientific department will formulate their opinion for the debate at the General Assembly. The leaders of the MTA will listen to the opinion of their scientific community, including the researchers and other employees. Only after these discussions will the proposal package be judged by the main legislative body of the MTA, the General Assembly, on 6 May.

After their meeting on 16 April, the MTA will send a detailed letter to all its members (including external and honorary members), non-academician representatives, researchers and other employees about the proposal package and the resolution of the Presidium.