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

The MTA research network executives’ opinion concerning the new scientific research financing system put forward by ITM and NKFIH

The leaders of the research centres and independent institutes of MTA’s research network formed a joint opinion concerning the new financing scheme put forward on 17 January 2019 by László Palkovics, Minister of Innovation and Technology, and István Szabó, Vice President of NKFIH, at a meeting and also in the document titled “Thematic Area Excellence Program 2019 – Draft Proposal”. The joint statement, accompanied by a detailed evaluation and a long list of points to be clarified, was sent to the leaders of ITM and NKIFH on 23 January 2019.

The leaders of the MTA research network wish to support the President of the MTA, the Minister of the ITM and the leadership of the NKFIH in making the Hungarian RDI system more effective and in increasing the available monetary resources. The leaders of the most successful research sites together with the President and the leadership of the Academy are to compile a comprehensive plan for the restructuring of the research network based on the results of the ongoing audit of the research network, the ITM’s draft proposal and good foreign models.

The leaders of the MTA research network unanimously agree that the new system introduced in the “Thematic Area Excellence Programme 2019 – Draft Proposal” should be supplemented and further developed and that the corresponding legislative and authoritative background be set up. Therefore, they suggest that the leadership of the NKFIH and the ITM introduce the new system on 1 January 2020 instead of 1 April 2019. At the same time, they consider it necessary that the MTA research centres and independent research institutes be financed according to applicable legislation (i.e. laws regarding the MTA and the national budget) until the new legislative background is set up.

In case the above proposal is declined by the ITM and the NKFIH, the leaders of the MTA research centres and independent research institutes put forward an alternative proposal to modify the Thematic Area Excellence Programme 2019. In 2019, all those institutions for which the laws and the conditions of grants make it possible shall finance all the direct costs of on-going research from their existing support contracts, from money received with grant documents or from other sources (and not from the so-called basic budget).

Each separate legal entity of the MTA research network (i.e. each research centre and independent research institute) should file a claim for the costs not covered by other sources (i.e. the “basic budget” up to this point), including overhead costs, the wages of non-researchers and permanent researchers and the costs of public functions (which are institute- and field-specific).

The provision of these costs which cannot be covered from other sources is an indispensable prerequisite for the successful completion of current research projects, the provision of public services, the maintenance and proper operation of institutions and the securing of new research and development grants.

The members of the Academy’s research network, within the framework of the MTA, remain ready to cooperate in order to create the new RDI system planned by the government so that it complies with international standards and its operation is sustainable and effective.

24 January 2019