The Academy has handed over its manifesto to the ITM

The MTA stands by its resolutions passed during the 191st General Assembly: the research network should remain within the Academy, only the management structure should be altered in order to suit the government's aims better. It is for this reason that the Academy decided to share its observations through a manifesto, which was handed over to representatives of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology on 30 May 2019.

The manifesto lists each and every provision of the draft drawn up earlier by the Strategic and Professional Committee (jointly established by the MTA and the ITM) that the government’s law amendment contradicts. The MTA requests that these provisions come into force.

Speaking of the regulation of the research network of the MTA, among others, the Academy requests that legislation should reinstate the possibility for being a full-time researcher and ensure the basic budget for the network. The Academy declares that these changes take effect as of 1 January 2020.

The Academy's manifesto declares that provisions affecting the institution’s property and real estate are unacceptable and are in violation of the Hungarian constitution. The MTA will, to the extent necessary, ensure the rights of their present institutes to use the Academy's properties through individual private contracts.

The manifesto has a separate section regarding points of the law amendment that concern the Academy's public body in relation to the restructuring process. Furthermore, it also contains a section on planned changes that do not serve the declared objectives of the law amendment. Among others, the MTA requests that the list of financial bodies listed within the Academy Law remain as they were.

The Academy's manifesto stands in unison with the 29 May resolution made by the leaders of the research network, and with the suggestions of the departments, academicians and researchers who are constantly sending their letters of support to the Secretariat of the Academy.

The same principal ideas were drafted by the most excellent young researchers of the MTA, i.e. the leaders of the Lendület (Momentum) research groups, who published an open letter addressed to the prime minister on 30 May. They appealed to Mr. Orbán and the Hungarian government not to support this "ad hoc amendment, which lacks professional support and is in its present form, extremely harmful ". The letter was signed by more than 100 research group leaders.

30 May 2019