Available budget
In the period 2024–2028, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation allocates a combined budget of HUF 19 billion from the NRDI Fund for the programme of the EXCELLENCE projects (EXCELLENCE_24), the ADVANCED projects (ADVANCED_24), the STARTING projects (STARTING_24), and the programme of thematic research projects based on Hungarian–Austrian and Hungarian–Slovenian bilateral cooperation (ANN_24 and SNN_24).
Duration of the projects
Projects shall commence on 1 January 2025, and the maximum project duration is 36 months (SNN_24) and 48 months (ANN_24), depending on the relation.
Amount of funding
According to the call, a maximum of HUF 56 million for a maximum of 48 months can be requested for each Hungarian project in the Hungarian-Austrian relation (ANN_24); a maximum of HUF 42 million for a maximum of 36 months can be requested for each Hungarian project in the Hungarian-Slovenian relation (SNN_24). If the duration of the project is shorter, requested funding should be decreased on a pro rata temporis basis. Apart from remuneration and related taxes payable by the employer, certain tangible costs are also eligible, as well as overhead costs at a flat rate of 20% of the direct project costs. The implementation of ANN and SNN type projects may involve participating researchers, technical staff, and students. They do not have to join the proposal but it is recommended to list the participating researchers in a separate part at the end of the research plan. The earliest date for reporting costs is the project start date specified in the funding agreement.
Submission of applications
The applications have to be submitted in the English language. The request for funding has to be prepared and submitted in the Electronic Proposal Review system (EPR) of the NRDI Office (https://www.otka-palyazat.hu/). The proposal has to be submitted only electronically, none of its parts has to be sent to the NRDI Office on paper.
A proposal can be considered submitted if it is electronically finalized by the principal investigator and approved by the representative of the host institution by the submission deadline defined in the call for proposals. Furthermore, the electronically signed versions of the documents, required to be submitted with electronic signature in the call, have to be submitted through the EPR as well.
An ANN_24 proposal has to be submitted by the Hungarian researcher to the NRDI Office, while the matching proposal has to be submitted by the Austrian partner to the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The proposal can only be supported if the Hungarian proposal is supported by the NRDI Office and the Austrian proposal is supported by the FWF.
Submission and evaluation of the SNN_24 proposals take place according to the so-called Lead Agency principle: if the amount of the research support required by the Hungarian partner exceeds that of the Slovenian partner, the NRDI Office administers the evaluation; if the amount of the research support required by the Slovenian partner exceeds that of the Hungarian partner, the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) administers the evaluation.
The applications submitted to the NRDI Office must describe in the work plan how the proposed research work is distributed between the Hungarian and the foreign parties. The research plan must explain the added value of the international collaboration. In case of the SNN_24 proposals, furthermore, the budget and its justification by the foreign partner have to be attached as well.
Eligible applicants
Principal investigators can apply jointly with the host institution which has to be a Hungarian based
- higher education institution, research centre, research institution, budgetary institution or an institution thereof having legal personality that qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation under Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014;
- business company which has at least two completed business years, maintains double-entry accounting that qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation under Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014;
- non-profit organisation that qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation under Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.
Throughout the entire implementation period the principal investigator shall be employed by the host institution under an employment contract, civil service contract, or other contract aimed at performing work.
One principal investigator can submit only one proposal in this call; parallel EXCELLENCE_24, ADVANCED_24, or STARTING_24 proposal cannot be submitted. Supported K_23, FK_23, PD_23, SNN_23 project and Frontline (KKP) project starting after 31 December 2020 also constitute ground for exclusion.
Eligible objectives and actions
Project proposals can cover discovery research in any fields of science, regardless of thematic priority, if otherwise the application meets the conditions laid down in the call. All activities are eligible that are performed by the participating domestic researcher(s) or research group(s) in order to attain the primary goals set out in the discovery research plan submitted to the NRDI Office.
Customer service contacts:
email: nkfialap@nkfih.gov.hu
phone: +36 (1) 795 9500
Personal appointments (pree-booked only): H-1077 Budapest, Kéthly Anna sq. 1. (2nd floor)
Customer Service hours of operation: Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 12.00 a.m.
To ensure value-based professional evaluation of proposals arriving in large quantities from the fields of discovery and applied research and innovation, to assess professional reports of funded projects and to prepare policy opinions, the NRDI Office intends to expand its expert pool in all fields of expertise.
Professionals who have registered in the database of the NRDI Office can become responsible contributors, as independent peer-reviewers, to the evaluation process in which the professional quality, novelty content and commercialisation perspectives of the proposals as compared to the requested funding should be assessed as core considerations.
The registration process can be initiated through the registration form of the NRDI Office’s website. Registration is continuously open.
Requested data within the expert registration form include:
- personal data, contact details (necessary for contracting review assignments);
- classification of professional skills and competencies and research areas (to get review invitations fine-tuned to your field of expertise);
- topics of the previously reviewed proposals;
- present and past jobs, interest networks (in order to pre-screening of conflicts of interest in a given rview assignment), education, scientific titles, most important publications and intellectual works demonstrating your professional experience;
- language skills.
Professionals once registered in the database of experts may be invited by the NRDI Office to review submitted proposals, to assess professional reports of funded projects and to contribute to policy opinions.
Each proposal is reviewed by several independent experts at the same time. Experts selected from the database to review proposals, to assess professional reports and facilitate expert opinions will be contracted by the NRDI Office on a case-by-case basis. When concluding such a contract experts must declare that the review assignment is not obstructed by any conflict of interest whatsoever. Depending on the competition type, written expert reviews must be prepared in 15-28 work days and submitted electronically via the online review portal of the NRDI Office.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information contact at phone +36 1 795 9500 or email at szakerto_regisztracio@nkfih.gov.hu
The NRDI Fund’s Programme Strategy 2024 supports the implementation of the John von Neumann Programme, which focuses on connecting universities, research institutions and the economy. The priority objective of the Programme Strategy 2024 is to contribute to improving the Hungarian performance in the areas of human resources (number of researchers, number of PhD students, number of STEM students in higher education), number and share of innovator enterprises (number and share of SMEs implementing product and/or process innovation) and intellectual property (IP) (patents, trademarks, designs).
The table below shows the calls planned and launched under the NRDI Fund for the period 2021-2024 and their amounts, broken down by year.
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||
NRDI budget (Bn HUF) |
189,844 | 89,838 | 63,779 | 176,263* | ||||
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2021) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2022) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2023) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
Name of the scheme/ Call for proposal (2024) |
Budget (Bn HUF) |
|
Innovation Sub-fund 2021-2024 |
Support for market-driven RDI projects Support for market-driven RDI projects 2020-1.1.2-PIACI KFI |
59,06 | Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas 2023-1.1.1-PIACI_FÓKUSZ |
30,149 | SME Focal Area Innovation Programme SME Focal Area Innovation Programme 2024-1.1.1-KKV_FÓKUSZ |
50,00 | ||
Fast track programme Fast track 2020-1.1.5-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
3,00 | Fast track programme Fast track 2021-1.1.4-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
12,85 | Fast track programme Fast Track 2023-1.1.2-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
2,00 | Spin-off Programme: bringing research results to market Fast track 2023-1.1.2-GYORSÍTÓSÁV |
7,00 | |
Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,40 | Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,40 | Intellectual property Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,50 | Industrial property tender Support of activities fostering the domestic and international protection of intellectual property with the aim of facilitating the utilisation of such intellectual property 2020-1.1.3-IPARJOG, 2021-1.1.1-IPARJOG |
0,50 | |
International programmes Support for participation in the ECSEL joint EU initiative 2019-2.1.3-NEMZ_ECSEL; Support for participation in joint EU initiatives 2019-2.1.2-NEMZ; Funding for Hungarian Summer Internship programmes for hungarian university students studying in the UK, Germany or Austria 2020-1.2.1-GYAK; Support for Hungarian participation in EIT KIC 2021-1.2.1-EIT-KIC; Support to bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperations 2021-1.2.4-TÉT; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Russian cooperation 2021-1.2.5-TÉT-IPARI-RU; Call for proposals: Support of Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international ERA-NET COFUND and EJP COFUND programmes 2019-2.1.7-ERA-NET; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2020-1.2.3-EUREKA; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call 2021-1.2.2-EU_KKV; Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Moroccan cooperation 2021-1.2.6-TÉT-IPARI-MA |
3,50 | International programmes Call for proposals: Support of Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international ERA-NET COFUND and EJP COFUND programmes 2019-2.1.7-ERA-NET; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2022-1.2.4-EUREKA; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call 2021-1.2.2-EU_KKV; Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian-Turkish cooperation 2022-1.2.6-TÉT-IPARI-TR; Support for summer internships for Hungarian students studying abroad 2022-1.2.3-GYAK; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Uzbek cooperation 2022-1.2.2-TÉT-IPARI-UZ; Support for Hungarian participation in the applied research and development programme in Hungarian–Korean cooperation 2022-1.2.5-TÉT-IPARI-KR |
6,00 | International programmes Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; Support to bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperations; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2022-1.2.4-EUREKA; Support for participation in the Horizon Europe Key Digital Technologies (KDT) partnership 2022-1.2.8-KDT; EUROSTARS: Support for Hungarian participation in the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs 2022-1.2.7-EUROSTARS; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international calls for proposals of ERA-NET COFUND, EJPCOFUND and other multilateral programmes 2023-1.2.1-ERA-NET; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in the joint international calls for proposals of European Partnerships in Horizon Europe 2023-1.2.2-HE_PARTNERSÉG; Call for project proposals implemented in bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperation 2023-1.2.4-TÉT |
6,10 | International programmes HU-rizon Programme 2024-1.2.3-HU-RIZONT; Call for project proposals implemented in bilateral science and technology (S&T) cooperation 2024-1.2.5-TÉT; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in joint international calls for proposals of ERA-NET COFUND, EJP COFUND and other multilateral programmes 2024-1.2.2-ERA_NET; Call for proposals to support Hungarian organisations successfully participating in the joint international calls for proposals of European Partnerships in Horizon Europe 2024-1.2.1-HE_PARTNERSÉG; Support for Hungarian participation in the EUREKA programme 2024-1.2.6-EUREKA; Support for participation in the Horizon Europe Key Digital Technologies (KDT) partnership 2024-1.2.4-KDT; EUROSTARS: Support for Hungarian participation in the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs; Call for proposals to foster Hungarian participation in the Horizon Europe programme and other joint programmes of the European Union 2021-1.2.3-EU_KP; Horizon Europe Accelerator booster call (EU_KKV); Support for active participation in international professional organisations for researchers and research managers (Networking+); Booster call for the Teaming of Excellence 2025 call; International cooperation in preparation. |
17,155 | |
Announced under international programmes. (Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI) |
Announced under international programmes. | Announced under international programmes. | Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures Support for the use of international and national research infrastructures 2021-4.1.2-NEMZ_KI; |
0,10 | ||||
Large Company Focus Area Innovation Programme (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
15,00 | |||||||
Innovation Venture Capital Programme (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
9,50 | |||||||
Development of applied research and innovation services (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
2,50 | |||||||
Investment in the future Fund Investment in the future 2020-1.1.6-JÖVŐ |
7,00 | |||||||
Development of an applied research network Participation in the National Network of Applied Research Institutes 2021-1.1.2-AKH |
1,63 | |||||||
University Innovation Ecosystema University Innovation Ecosystema 2019-1.2.1-EGYETEMI ÖKO |
2,46 | |||||||
KKV Start programme KKV Start Innovation 2020-1.1.1-KKV START |
12,00 | |||||||
Centres of excellence Establishing and developing centres of excellence 2022-1.1.1-KK |
20,60 | |||||||
Startup Programme Startup Programme 2022-1.1.2-STARTUP |
4,06 | |||||||
Incubator Support Scheme STARTUP FACTORY 2023 2023-1.1.3-STARTUP |
5,75 | |||||||
Research Sub-fund 2021-2024 |
Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_21, FK_21, K_21, ANN_21, SNN_21 |
12,90 | Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_22, FK_22, K_22, ANN_22, SNN_22 |
13,50 | Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") Postdoctoral and Young researchers’ excellence programme and Call for thematic research projects ("OTKA") PD_23, FK_23, K_23, SNN_23 |
13,50 | Excellence-based research funding Call for EXCELLENCE research proposals EXCELLENCE_24 Call for ADVANCED research proposals ADVANCED_24 Call for STARTING research proposals STARTING_24 Call for proposals for research projects based on Hungarian-Austrian and Hungarian-Slovenian cooperation ANN_24, SNN_24 |
19,00 |
Forefront – Research Excellence Programme Forefront – Research Excellence Programme KKP_21 |
3,00 | Forefront – Research Excellence Programme Forefront – Research Excellence Programme KKP_22 |
3,00 | |||||
New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-21-1, ÚNKP-21-2, ÚNKP-21-3, ÚNKP-21-4, ÚNKP-21-5, ÚNKP-21-6 |
4,00 | New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-22-1, ÚNKP-22-2, ÚNKP-22-3, ÚNKP-22-4, ÚNKP-22-5, ÚNKP-22-6 |
0,828 | New National Excellence Programme ÚNKP-23-1, ÚNKP-23-2, ÚNKP-23-3, ÚNKP-23-4, ÚNKP-23-5, ÚNKP-23-6 |
0,710 | University Research Scholarship Programme (scholarships announced by higher education institutions) |
10,00 | |
Cooperative Doctoral Programme Cooperative Doctoral Programme KDP-2021 |
4,894 | Cooperative Doctoral Programme Cooperative Doctoral Programme KDP-2023 |
5,070 | |||||
Patronage Programme Science Patronage Programme MEC_21 |
1,00 | Science Patronage Programme Science Patronage Programme MEC_24 |
1,00 | |||||
Research Grant Hungary Research Grant Hungary RGH_S_24, RGH_L_24 |
6,00 | |||||||
Pension - matching fund (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
0,244 | |||||||
Own contribution - matching fund (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
0,264 | |||||||
Proof of Concept: development potential assessment (Call for proposal will be announced later) |
3,00 | |||||||
Thematic Excellence Programme (National-Health-Defence) Thematic Excellence Programme 2021 TKP2021 (The budget includes the HUF 1 billion budget of the National Defence Subprogramme of the Cooperative Doctoral Programme (NDPCP-2021), which is closely linked to the National Defence, National Security Subprogramme of the 2021 Thematic Excellence Programme.) |
75,00 | |||||||
Building the Selye János Student Lab network Building the Selye János Student Lab network 2022-3.1.1-DIÁKLABOR |
2,00 | |||||||
National Laboratories Sub-fund 2022 |
National Laboratories Establishment and complex development of the National Laboratories 2022-2.1.1-NL |
26,60 |
* The total budget of the 2024 Programme Strategy.