The EU provided HUF 26.8 billion (EUR 88 million) for creating new R&D centres in Győr, Kaposvár, Miskolc, Kecskemét and Debrecen, and Hungary funded three consortia in Central Hungary with a total amount of HUF 8 billion (EUR 26 million).

The industry-university cooperation centres launched in 2017 involve the automotive, agricultural, information technology, molecular biology, materials technology and plant cultivation segments, with integrated info-communications, pharmaceutical and energy development objectives.

The scheme providing funding for the centres, which are created by the eight universities and large enterprises with significant domestic and international innovation background and innovative Hungarian medium-sized enterprises, such as Magyar Villamosművek Zrt., Richter Gedeon Zrt., Nokia Solutions and Networks Kft., Servier Zrt., Siemens Zrt., Energotest Kft. and Axial Kft., will give further impetus to R&D activities performed in well-established university-industry partnerships. By participating in the funding programme, consortium members undertook to increase the number of research and development employees and to achieve a predefined number of PhD graduates involved in research, publications, industrial property law procedures and spin-offs from the institutions. The creative and active collaboration has mutual benefits: on one hand, the research centres can learn management practices which enhance productivity, on the other hand, corporate R&D divisions will acquire new dimensions if they can count on the capacity of professional research institutions. As a clear sign of increased excitement, applicants applied for more than twice the amount of funding that was available in the programme.

The EU-financed call for proposals (GINOP 2.3.4) was available exclusively for projects implemented in less developed regions, outside Central Hungary. Nine project proposals with a total value of HUF 56 billion (EUR 183,6 million) requested the NRDI Office to issue an RDI-specific endorsing opinion, and positive opinion was given for a total project value of around HUF 27.5 billion (EUR 90 million). The competent Managing Authority accepted the opinion with reduced budget and awarded funding to five projects in a total amount of HUF 26.8 billion (EUR 88 million).

For projects implemented in Budapest and Pest county, the NRDI Office announced a mirror fundig programme (FIEK_16) for the promotion of similar cooperation with a budget of HUF 8 billion (EUR 26 million), financed from the NRDI Fund Five consortia submitted proposals to this call, out of which three applicants were awarded a total of HUF 8 billion (EUR 26 million) of funding, namely the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the Eötvös Loránd University and the Szent István University, on the basis of the opinion of a panel of experts invited by the NRDI Office. 

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National Research, Development and Innovation Office:

The National Research, Development and Innovation Office, which is responsible for the appropriate, efficient and transparent utilisation of domestic RDI funds, developed a uniform competitive bidding system in 2015 for the coordinated, appropriate and value-creating utilisation of EU development funds provided for RDI purposes and the domestic sources provided from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NRDI Fund). The coordinated calls in the portfolio incentivise scientific research projects, business developments and the implementation of innovative ideas alike. The Office is responsible for providing professional background to RDI projects funded from EU sources – Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme (EDIOP) and Competitive Central-Hungary Operational Programme (CCHOP) – and for preparing the concept of calls for applications from an RDI policy perspective. The total funding available for research, development and innovation until 2020 is HUF 1,200 billion, provided from EU and domestic sources in the framework of calls announced in cooperation with the NRDI Office.