The Research Grant Hungary (RGH_24) is a new funding scheme that provides priority support for up to five years to outstanding researchers in the most dynamic creative phase, at the forefront of international science, who are foreign nationals or live and work abroad, and who, as leaders in their field, contribute to Hungary’s development as a regional hub of research, development and innovation by implementing promising research projects. A further objective is to integrate researchers at the forefront of international science in the innovation focal areas defined in the John von Neumann Programme into the innovation ecosystem in Hungary, with the aim of achieving measurable world-class research over the period of the call for proposals. Projects must be implemented in a Hungarian host institution with a compulsory university affiliation.
Under the programme, basic and/or applied research can be carried out in the innovation focal areas defined in the John von Neumann Programme (digital economy and society, healthy living, green transition and circular economy, security and safety), provided that the project proposal complies with the call terms.
The call includes two sub-programmes:
- Short-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_S_24)
- Long-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_L_24)
Total budget
The total budget for the period 2024-2029 is HUF 6 billion, of which HUF 500 million is available for disbursements in 2024.
Duration of the projects
- Short-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_S_24): 5 to 24 months
- Long-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_L_24): 3 to 5 years
The implementation of the funded project must start within 9 months after the decision to funding support, as set out in the funding declaration.
The amount and intensity of funding:
- Short-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_S_24): HUF 50 to 400 million per project
- Long-term Research Grant Hungary (RGH_L_24): HUF 100 to 1000 million per project
In addition to staff allowances and employer’s contributions, certain specific material costs are eligible, and 40% of direct costs can be accounted for as general costs (overheads). The earliest date for reporting costs is the project start date specified in the funding declaration.
Eligible applicants
The principal investigator may apply jointly with the host institution, which must be a state-recognised higher education institution, research centre, research institute, budgetary organ or an institution with legal personality of a budgetary organ based in Hungary, provided that it qualifies as a research and knowledge-dissemination organisations within the meaning of Article 2(83) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.
Requirements for principal investigators:
- The application requires a prior recommendation (policy recommendation) that the research and innovation cooperation between the principal investigator and the host institution can contribute to the objectives of the call and to Hungary’s development as a regional RDI hub. This is initiated by the host institution with the Funder.
- The principal investigator have not been employed as a researcher in Hungary during the 5 years preceding the submission of the proposal.
- After the funding has been awarded, the principal investigator must be employed by the host institution as a civil servant or other employee (at least 0.4 FTE) and must undertake to stay in Hungary during the project implementation period.
Application for a policy recommendation
The application for a policy recommendation must be completed and submitted using the on-line application tool, accessible via https://kfivelemeny.nkfih.gov.hu/, after registration and login, as described in the instructions for completing the application for an RDI policy recommendation.
Submission of proposals
Proposals must be submitted in English. Proposals must be prepared and submitted via the NRDI Office’s Electronic Proposal Management System (EPR) (https://www.otka-palyazat.hu/). Only one proposal can be submitted per sub-programme.
In the case of electronic submission, a proposal is considered to have been submitted if it has been finalised electronically by the principal investigator, approved by the head of the host institution and accompanied in the Proposal Administration and Evaluation System by the electronically signed documents required in section K of the call to be submitted by post/electronic signature.
In the case of submission by post, a proposal is considered to have been submitted if it has been finalised electronically by the applicant, approved by the head of the host institution and the documents required in section K of the call to submitted by post have been sent to the NRDI Office’s customer service address within 7 calendar days of the electronic submission.
The electronic submission of the proposal will be possible from the opening of the online application form until 30 September 2024, 16:00 (CET).
Download document: Research Grant Hungary Programme - Call for poropsals (RGH_24) PDF (530 KB)
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.
The Research Grant Hungary call for proposals, managed by the NRDI Office and launched on 23 May 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation aims primarily to encourage excellent researchers at their most dynamic creative stage, who are at the forefront of international science and who, as leading researchers in their field, contribute to Hungary’s emergence as a research, development and innovation hub of the region by implementing promising research projects. The programme further seeks to attract to Hungary researchers from the leading international scientific communities working in the industries related to the focus area innovation projects.
The Research Council of Hungary assessed the proposals for compliance with the selection criteria of the call for proposals and made a proposal to the minister responsible for science policy coordination on the ones to be fund. The decision on funding was made by the deputy state secretary for innovation, acting as mandated by the minister responsible for science policy coordination, on 21 August 2024 and on 12 December 2024. Pursuant to such decision, 5 outstanding research proposals will be granted a total of HUF 4,324,190,000 in non-refundable funding from the NRDI Fund.
| Project code | Principal investigator | Host institution/ Research organisation |
Project title | Amount of awarded funds (HUF) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150241 | Endrődi Gergely | Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Elméleti Fizikai Tanszék |
Gravitációs hullámok a korai Univerzumból - támogatás egy ERC CoG projekt megvalósításához | 325 000 000 |
| 151351 | Cloetingh Sierd Auke | HUN-REN Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája/ HUN-REN FI - Földfizikai és Űrtudományi Kutatóintézet |
A Föld rendszer dinamikájának többléptékű modellezése és monitorozása, valamint hatása a geoenergiára, a földrajzi veszélyekre és az éghajlatra. | 999 999 000 |
| 151414 | Halldin Christer | HUN-REN Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája/ HUN-REN SE |
Diagnosztikai és terápiás képalkotó eljárások a központi-, a perifériás és az egész testet érintő neuritiszben | 999 267 000 |
| 151464 | Pestell Richard | HUN-REN Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája/ HUN-REN DE |
Új megközelítésű kutatások a Ciklin D1 megcélzására CDKI rezisztens rákban | 999 924 000 |
| 151536 | Nagy András | HUN-REN Természettudományi Kutatóközpont Molekuláris Élettudományi Intézet |
Tumorellenes vakcina 2.0: Immunmoduláció "újracsomagolt" daganatsejtekkel | 1 000 000 000 |
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