Available budget

In the period 2025–2029, a combined budget of HUF 40 billion is allocated from the NRDI Fund for the EXCELLENCE research grant program (EXCELLENCE_25), the ADVANCED research grant program (ADVANCED_25), the STARTING research grant program (STARTING_25), the HIGHLIGHT research grant program (HIGHLIGHT_25), and the research grant programs based on Hungarian-Austrian and Hungarian-Slovenian international cooperation (ANN_25, SNN_25).

Duration of the projects

Projects commence on January 1, 2026, and the maximum project duration is 36 months (SNN_25) and 48 months (ANN_25).

Amount of funding

According to the call, a maximum of HUF 68 million for a maximum of 48 months can be requested per project in the Hungarian-Austrian relation (ANN_25) and a maximum of HUF 51 million for a maximum of 36 months in the Hungarian-Slovenian relation (SNN_25). If the duration of the project is shorter than 48 months, 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 the 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 proposal 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. Only one proposal can be submitted per subprogram.

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 section K of the call, have to be submitted through the EPR as well.

The Hungarian researcher has to submit the ANN_25 proposal to the NRDI Office, the international collaborating partner has to submit the matching proposal to the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The proposal can be supported only if the NRDI Office recommends the domestic proposal for funding and the Austrian Research Fund recommends the Austrian matching proposal for funding.

Submission and evaluation of the SNN_25 proposals are based on the so-called Lead Agency principle: if the budget requested by the Hungarian partner is higher than the budget requested by the Slovenian collaborating partner, the NRDI Office administers the evaluation; if the budget requested by the Slovenian partner is higher than the budget requested by the Hungarian collaborating partner, the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) administers the evaluation.

The proposal submitted to the NRDI Office has to contain the description of the division of labour between the Hungarian and the Slovenian partners in the research plan, the description of the added value from the international cooperation also in the research plan, and the Slovenian applicant’s budget and its justification in a separate attachment. If the NRDI Office acts as the Lead Agency, the cooperation proposal submitted to the NRDI Office has to describe the research activity of the Slovenian applicant at the same level of detail as the description of that of the Hungarian applicant.

Eligible applicants

Principal investigators can apply jointly with the host institution which has to be a Hungarian-based legal person:

• higher education institution, research centre, research institution, budgetary institution, an institution thereof having a legal personality that qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organization under Commission Regulation 651/2014/EU Article 2 (83)¹; or
• 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 651/2014/EU Article 2 (83) – the applying host institution declares these criteria to the NRDI Office (the criteria of research and knowledge-dissemination organisations and the suitability to host the research project will be verified with regards to the applying business company); or
• non-profit organisation that qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation under Commission Regulation 651/2014/EU Article 2 (83).

Non-budgetary research institutions can be monitored on the basis of an institutional questionnaire by the NRDI Office.

Throughout the entire implementation period after awarding the grant, the principal investigator shall be employed at least in 50% by the host institution under an employment contract or civil service contract.

A principal investigator can submit only one proposal in only one subprogram of the call. A researcher can be principal investigator in only two NKKP projects, with the exception of the HIGHLIGHT_25 subprogram. The HIGHLIGHT_25 subprogram cannot be carried out along with another NKKP project.

ANN and SNN proposals can be awarded multiple times but the duration of the supported periods cannot overlap.

A principal investigator of a KKP (Research Excellence Program) Frontline project cannot submit another NKKP proposal during the implementation of the KKP.

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 in order to attain the primary goals set out in the discovery research plan submitted to the NRDI Office.

¹ Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty: ‘research and knowledge-dissemination organisation’ means an entity (such as universities or research institutes, technology transfer agencies, innovation intermediaries, research-oriented physical or virtual collaborative entities), irrespective of its legal status (organised under public or private law) or way of financing, whose primary goal is to independently conduct fundamental research, industrial research or experimental development or to widely disseminate the results of such activities by way of teaching, publication or knowledge transfer. Where such entity also pursues economic activities the financing, the costs and the revenues of those economic activities must be accounted for separately. Undertakings that can exert a decisive influence upon such an entity, in the quality of, for example, shareholders or members, may not enjoy preferential access to the results generated by it (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32014R0651).