János Csák, Minister of Culture and Innovation, announced that in 2024, HUF 147 billion will be available for new innovation and research projects from the NRDI Fund.
The NRDI Fund’s 2024 Programme Strategy proposes a total budget of HUF 176.263 billion for the launch and management of calls for proposals, of which HUF 147 billion is for new calls to be launched in 2024.
The NRDI Fund’s 2024 Programme Strategy brings a significant increase in resources compared to last year’s budget of around HUF 80 billion, giving new impetus to the implementation of the John von Neumann Programme. The programmes announced in the Programme Strategy will contribute to the Ministry of Culture and Innovation’s key RDI policy objective of making Hungary one of the top 25 innovator countries in the world and one of the top 10 innovator countries in Europe by 2030.
The 2024 Programme Strategy effectively enhances the innovation support system by addressing and filling gaps in three key areas.
- The corporate innovation programmes are now available to all types of companies, offering public support opportunities for startups, spinoffs and SMEs, as well as large companies. All corporate innovation programmes are expected to cooperate with universities and research institutes, i.e. to achieve association.
- Comprehensive support for a full research career will also be provided through funding from the NRDI Fund. The aim is to support the most talented and outstanding Hungarian academics, from students in the public education system and vocational training to university students, doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers and senior researchers.
- The Programme Strategy will make a major contribution to the internationalisation of the Hungarian research and innovation ecosystem, and to the integration of Hungarian researchers and innovators into international science and innovation networks. The Programme Strategy’s portfolio of calls is complemented by the Governmental Guarantee Fund, which also provides HUF 8 billion through the NRDI Fund to increase the international embeddedness of Hungarian researchers.