Resolution of the Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on the dissolution of the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN)
At its meeting of 24 June 2025, the Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences unanimously adopted the following resolution on the dissolution of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network.
The complex system of research and development can only progress in the right direction with clear objectives, coherent interventions, predictable conditions, the involvement of the research community, the provision of the necessary resources for competitiveness and an innovative economic environment. The planned separation of research centres in the humanities and social sciences from the HUN-REN research network as a whole has already provoked widespread protest. The dismantling of the unified Hungarian basic research network sets a precedent: it could result not only in the disintegration of the research network itself, but also in the destabilisation of the entire Hungarian research system.
The Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences considers the dismantling of the research network to be a mistaken decision. It does not agree with this decision, given that it was taken with unjustified haste, without a specified purpose, and without any explanation of the reasons for or the expected impact of the restructuring, despite the protests of the parties concerned.
The Presidium of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, knowing the position of the heads of the research centres concerned, confirms its readiness to take over the four research centres. The costs of the transformation, the organisational integration and the new operation, including the coverage of salaries, should be covered independently of the maintaining institution, under the same conditions as the research centres that will continue to operate in the HUN-REN network.
The 198th extraordinary General Assembly of the Academy adopted a decision concerning the entire research network, according to which the assets used by the research network were to be transferred into the ownership of the research network itself. In light of the new circumstances, a new decision of the General Assembly is now required in order to proceed with the transfer.