The “Frontline” excellence programme has been announced and offers funding to leading researchers who belong to the forefront of international scientific life based on their performance history of the past ten years and achieved internationally renowned, outstanding scientific results in their field of science. The scheme first announced last year has a similar budget of HUF 3 billion (EUR 9.8 million) in 2018 for projects scheduled to be launched next January.

Hungarian businesses may apply for funding for innovation projects implemented in collaboration with research institutions and German partners in the framework of a HUF 750 million (EUR 2, 5 million) call for proposals introduced on an information day on 17 April 2018 by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The call, which forms part of the international EUREKA programme, is open until 30 May 2018.

In Brussels, József Pálinkás has signed the Declaration of Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence on behalf of Hungary. The Member States wish to cooperate in researching, implementing and regulating artificial intelligence. The Visegrád countries released a separate statement related to the declaration singed by the representatives of several EU countries at the Digital Day on 10 April emphasizing their intention to promote such developments and cooperation with targeted efforts in the future.

For the researcher community working in Hungarian public institutions, it is a key issue to be able to offer competitive salaries to Hungarian researchers from the Horizon 2020 funds won directly from Brussels in an EU-wide competition. It is however difficult because, according to the Horizon 2020 financial regulations, assignment contracts ensuring the competitiveness of researchers’ salaries are not automatically eligible for funding.

Richter Gedeon Nyrt. was awarded the Innovation Grand Prize for the development of cariprazine, a new original active agent, and for the manufacturing and distribution of drugs made out of it. At the award ceremony of the Innovation Grand Prize in the Parliament on 28 March, József Pálinkás, President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office and Chairman of the jury underlined that individual and institutional competitiveness was the key to a nation’s success, therefore he advocated transparent and fair competition in the innovation system.

Around 30 Indian researchers attended the ELI workshop in New Delhi organised by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office in collaboration with the ELI-HU Nonprofit Ltd. and the Embassy of Hungary in Delhi. The event was hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology, an active player in laser research.