The call Funding for Hungarian internship programmes for Hungarian university students studying in the UK (2018-2.1.7-UK_GYAK) aims to enable interns to use the knowledge acquired during their studies abroad at reputable domestic companies and to contribute to their success with their ideas, while gaining hands-on experience of how a company or group operates and getting an insight into domestic labour market opportunities. This way talented young people studying at UK universities can develop stronger professional ties with Hungary and use their experiences to consider building a career in Hungary after graduation as a realistic possibility. The NRDI Office’s call has a total budget of HUF 30 million which can be spent on the employment costs of interns: businesses can apply for up to HUF 1.3 million of funding per intern for up to 3 months of summer internship. The applications will be evaluated in a simplified multistage procedure. The first submission deadline is 31 January 2019.

“In a global world cross-border knowledge transfer is increasingly becoming a priority. Good examples of this flow include Hungarian students who made their way to the most famous British universities. However, from Hungary’s perspective it is fundamentally important that these young researchers return home in the future and apply in Hungary what they have learn abroad. This is why we have to raise their awareness of scientific career opportunities and prospects in Hungary,” said Katalin Sebők, Vice President for Research and Development of the NRDI Office in connection with the reopening of the funding programme.

The call was first announced in March 2017 by the NRDI Office with a budget of HUF 25 million. This summer the programme enabled 24 students to participate in research at domestic businesses and research organisations in fields such as solid state physics, artificial intelligence and robotics programming.