The National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) has been a key government institution in the Hungarian innovation ecosystem since 2015. As the central office under the minister responsible for science policy coordination, it is the largest public funding body in the field of RDI, focusing the expertise of more than 200 employees on strengthening Hungary’s competitiveness by stimulating research and innovation.

The NRDI Office primarily supports innovative enterprises in creating higher added value through a system of competitive RDI funding schemes financed by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NRDI Fund), universities and other research institutions in expanding their RDI capacities, in achieving research results that are useful for society and the economy, and - on the basis of excellence - researchers and research communities in their research that is important for the country and can be evaluated internationally.

The priority areas of the NRDI Office’s funding activities are: supporting innovation activities and market exploitation of results by market players; connecting actors in the RDI ecosystem by encouraging professional cooperation; ensuring the long-term supply of researchers; and promoting the integration of domestic researchers into the international scientific community. In order to ensure the efficient, transparent and effective use of the NRDI Fund’s resources, the NRDI Office operates a multi-stage proposal evaluation system with the participation of experts and professional bodies from academia and business. It controls and monitors the proper and regular use of funding, evaluates the professional results of projects and measures their social, economic and intellectual impact.

In addition to its tasks related to the funding system, the NRDI Office supports the Government’s RDI policy objectives through a range of instruments. It contributes to the elaboration and implementation of RDI strategies, the development of the innovation ecosystem, the dissemination of an innovation-oriented mindset, and participates in the professional tasks of RDI-focused international and European integration collaborations.