The aim of the HU-rizont programme is to facilitate and strengthen the international collaboration of outstanding Hungarian researchers,’ Balázs Hankó, State Secretary for Higher Education, Innovation, Vocational Training, and Adult Education at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) explained on public news television M1 and on public Kossuth radio on Tuesday.
Speaking about the dispute between the Hungarian government and the European Commission, the state secretary deemed it unacceptable that Brussels seeks to exclude Hungarian rectors and professors from university boards of trustees. ‘It is evident that this is a deliberate decision in Brussels, as they want to negotiate the European higher education package during the Hungarian presidency, which aims to allow a body in Brussels to decide which European universities can issue diplomas and what training period is required,’ Hankó stressed. He added:
Brussels aims to take over the authority over national higher education, which is unacceptable.
Hence, the HU-rizont programme was launched, enabling excellent Hungarian universities to conduct research in collaboration with leading international universities according to criteria that serve the interests of the Hungarian economy and society.
‘It is not a good direction for Brussels to exclude our researchers and young people from international programmes and research collaborations. But if Europe closes, we open to the world,’ the state secretary remarked. He recalled that the HU-rizont programme was created to provide excellent Hungarian researchers with cooperation opportunities with leading foreign universities that promote Hungarian creativity and knowledge in the areas of healthy living, digitalization, and green transition.
A total of 8 billion forints are available for the HU-rizont application this year. During the application process, not only the research costs of Hungarian universities are covered, but also the research costs of foreign universities are supported, Balázs Hankó emphasized. Among the goals to be achieved, he mentioned that
by 2030, Hungary should become one of the most innovative countries in Europe.
Balázs Hankó was also a guest on public radio Kossuth, where he spoke about the fact that every third Hungarian scientific publication is prepared in international collaboration, and every fourth young PhD student in Hungary is foreign. ‘We are working for Europe’s competitiveness,’ he emphasized. The state secretary stated that the call for proposals for the Hu-rizont programme was issued by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, and higher education institutions can apply until early July.
For those universities participating in the Horizon Programme, but whose costs are not financed by Brussels, we provide a 5.4-billion-forint self-financing fund,’ Hankó highlighted. He also mentioned that in addition to the HU-rizont programme, 6 billion forints have been allocated to support international researchers to continue their research in Hungary.
He also mentioned that starting from the autumn, students can reach the world’s leading universities through the renewed Pannónia Scholarship Programme. The credits obtained in this way will always be accepted by domestic institutions, and the experience will be supported by a monthly scholarship of 350–500 thousand forints through the Pannónia Programme.
‘We trust that common sense will prevail in Brussels someday, and they will say that the Hungarian university model change is autonomous, competitive, and then alongside the Pannónia Scholarship Programme, we will have our Erasmus Programme again,’ the state secretary concluded.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/KIM/M1/Kossuth Radio
