Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
János Czak recalls: Palash Gulyas received his medical degree from Semmelweis University and his PhD in neurobiology from the Catholic University of Leuven, then worked in the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. . He graduated in theology, mathematics and medicine. He spent the last 12 years in Singapore at Nanyang Technological University, where he founded the Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging. He wrote fourteen books, published 290 monographs, and obtained 7 patents.
Janos Chuck emphasized: There are complex, difficult-to-explain processes occurring in today's world, and science plays a leading role in understanding our world.
Balázs Gulyás spoke of the fact that the success of science is indisputable – citing the examples of smartphones, weather that can be predicted through information from satellites, and Mars missions. However, science does not answer everything. He said, for example, it cannot answer the great moral questions, the great challenges of human life, the most challenging problems of our environment or our society, because the dimensions of the questions about human life go beyond the dimensions of science.
He put it this way: Science is not a general medicine that can answer everything, but a form of the highest level of human activity, like culture, art, religion, philosophy, or other forms of human thought in general.
He stressed: The field of scientific validity is growing more and more, and we include more and more fields in what we can explain with scientific models and theories, but the more we learn about the world, the more questions will arise.
He pointed out that science and faith, in the opinion of many, are incompatible, even though what we call the scientific revolution in Europe is based on Christian foundations. Faith and science evolved into twentieth-century science in the closest unity.
János Škák emphasized: Science is driven by curiosity, which is what distinguishes Hungarians. He said that Hungarians Katalin Karekó and Ferenc Krausch won the Nobel Prize last year for their discoveries that serve all of humanity.
Balázs Gulyás spoke of the outstanding intellectual richness, curiosity, creativity, and tendency to answer questions, which are nurtured in us, partly in the family, partly in the school system. Citing his experiences in Southeast Asia as an example, he emphasized that the kind of creativity that the Hungarian mind adds to acquired knowledge is rare, as the Hungarian mind is always full of questions.
Historical experiences and individual personal experiences force us to accept everything that happens around us with a sufficient degree of skepticism, ask questions about things, and try to find solutions, he said, adding that the special structure and logic of the Hungarian language may have played a big role. role in this. Our senior researchers who left the country were also forced to constantly rethink and reform due to the internal linguistic transformation that fertilized them.
Balázs Gulyás, who has been in charge of the HUN-REN Research Network for nearly ten months, talked about what needs to be done in the field of training the next generation in order to continue to achieve achievements similar to the previous ones. He said: In different parts of the world, he saw that great personalities encourage research and create schools that attract young people. Secondly, he pointed to the concept of an interesting scientific challenge that attracts young people. He added: Money is also needed, which is also important, but only after that.
He stressed that as long as there are great figures in the field of research in Hungary who can deal with the outstanding problems, there will be an offer.
The minister added: In the field of culture and higher education, he believes that there are many ideas and concepts, and there are personalities, but cooperation must be organized.
Palasz Gulyás emphasized: Hungary has a large number of researchers, there are figures who play a leadership role, and there is a will at the governmental and national levels, and this trio will succeed together.
For him, the three most important qualities of a researcher are the search for novelty, the search for challenges, and the ability to tolerate failure. He emphasized that moving forward is possible, even at the cost of minor failures, because we can always rise to a higher level this way.
János Škák spoke about the phenomenon of brain drain, stressing that a reverse process has begun, with more people now moving to Hungary than leaving.
He prefers to talk about cerebral circulation, because it creates a win-win situation for everyone, Balazs Gulyas added. This process needs to be strengthened, he said, stressing that many world-famous researchers want to join us, and that Hungarian researchers will also return to their homeland.
