When we walk into a shop, we hardly even notice how helpfully the door opens for us – since the spread of photocells, this has become an everyday occurrence. We have also grown used to controlling everything with remote controls, which operate using infrared light. But what would the world be like if similar light-controlled “remote switches” could be built into cells? At the University of Pécs, Hungarian researchers are studying light-activated molecular switches as part of the HU-rizon Programme. The international research project, funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office), is led by Dr. András Szilárd Lukács.

The 2020 pandemic is still vivid in all our memories. Since then, we have been closely following news about viruses and epidemics, as science warns that in today’s globalised world, new epidemics can emerge very quickly. At the University of Pécs, Hungarian researchers are working together with the finest international partners under the HU-rizon Programme to reduce the likelihood of such events.

“This year, in the third call of the HU-rizon Programme, we are once again providing a funding amount of HUF 8 billion for research proposals”, the Minister of Culture and Innovation announced at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday.

Respiratory diseases make everyday life difficult in countless ways and affect a large number of people in Hungary. How can artificial intelligence help these patients, and how could a tool developed by an international research team led from Pécs revolutionize the future of healthcare?

Budapest, 16 March 2026 – The National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) is reopening its popular call, which provides Hungarian businesses, research organisations, and individuals with non-refundable funding of up to HUF 7.5 million for activities related to the protection of their intellectual property.

The Horizon Europe NCP Coordination Office is being established. Let us unpack these three words: who the NCPs are, why coordination among them is needed, and how the establishment of an office represents a step forward. We discussed these questions with the coordinator of the Hungarian Horizon Europe National Contact Point (NCP) network, Dóra Fekete Pivarcsiné, and the Head of the Department for International Cooperation, Dr Borbála Schenk.

Did you know that the Horizon Europe National Contact Point (NCP) team of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) is actively involved in 10 international projects which, in cooperation with NCP networks from other countries, contribute to providing comprehensive information and support to Hungarian applicants, as well as to facilitating international partner search?

The number of Horizon Europe partnerships co-funded by the EU in which Hungarian organisations can participate is steadily increasing. The National Research, Development and Innovation Office will provide the domestic funding for participation through a system similar to the previous one but with much greater flexibility. In its already approved 2026 call portfolio, the Office has allocated approximately HUF 2.7 billion for this purpose.

On 26 November 2025, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office held the opening event of the Research Programme under the Second Swiss–Hungarian Cooperation Programme.

The Department for International Cooperation of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) organised the 5th Research Management Professional Day, this time in cooperation with the National University of Public Service.

The objectives of the Hu-rizon Programme and the successful project proposals of the research groups at the Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research, Development and Innovation (IKIKK) of the University of Szeged (SZTE) were presented on 25 September at the first stop of the nationwide roadshow organised by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office), held at the University of Szeged.

Artificial intelligence has become an inseparable part of our daily lives. These days many people turn not to another person but to a chatbot for answers, and instead of digging through the internet or drafting texts themselves, they hand the job over to a large language model. But what actually happens inside the “brain” of artificial intelligence when it replies to us? This topic is the subject of numerous international research projects. In Hungary, it is also a key focus area of the NRDI Office’s HU-rizon Programme.

Humanity has always observed and studied its surroundings. Today, we have access to methods that, just a few years ago, would have belonged to the realm of science fiction. We can now explore previously undetectable spectrums of the world using tools and techniques that were once completely unknown. Thanks to the HU-rizon Programme, initiated and funded by Hungary to support international research collaborations, there are two environmental research projects currently underway at the University of Szeged that take our ability to detect environmental hazards to the next level.

According to the 2025 programme strategy of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NRDI Fund), this year HUF 40 billion is available in the National Research Excellence Programme (NKKP) to support leading researchers and research projects. This is more than double the amount allocated a year earlier. In the first and second decision rounds of the NKKP Excellence sub-programme, an excellence-based research funding scheme, the Research Council of Hungary (KKT) awarded HUF 700 million to five outstanding researchers.

The groundbreaking research result of Pharmacoidea Kft., based in Szeged – a new diagnostic procedure for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease from blood – has been shortlisted at the Reuters Events Pharma Awards in the category “Most Valuable Scientific Breakthrough/Discovery”. Pharmacoidea’s outstanding research has been supported in several projects by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund and continues to receive support.

Research into modern, effective medicines for psychiatric and gynaecological diseases, advancing renewable fuel production, and developing an AI-based system that enhances national security by predicting geopolitical crises – these and similar products and services, significantly improving people’s wellbeing and sense of security, will be created from the nearly HUF 15 billion funding framework announced at the end of last year by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) for the large enterprise sector.

Health is something we truly appreciate when we don’t have it. When we are well, we don’t even think about it; we take it for granted. But fortunately, there are those who make con-siderable efforts to identify – and solve – health problems affecting society. A good example in Hungary is the HU-rizon Programme of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) that promotes international research collaborations between leading Hungarian research institutions, focusing not only on healthy living but also on the challenges of digitalisation and the green transition.

Budapest, 05 September 2025 - In the coming days, two corporate innovation calls for proposals will be launched, with a total value of HUF 182 billion under EDIOP Plus, said the Deputy State Secretary for Innovation of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) at a press conference in Budapest on Friday.