Research physicist Gergely Endrudi, professor at Bielefeld University, will continue his work in Hungary within the framework of the Hungary Research Grant Programme, Minister Responsible for Culture and Innovation Balázs Hankó announced.
The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Golden Team for Hungarian Science is being built in the Hungarian Research Grant Program, and theoretical particle physicist Gergely Endrudi, who studies the origin of the universe, is the first scientist to return to continue his research. In Hungary.
A new European model is being developed
There is a need to renew science in both Hungary and Europe. In Europe, the competitiveness of science has declined.
Four of the 50 most innovative technology companies are in the EU, but many other countries are also doing better in terms of scientific performance, which is why they are developing a new model.
Balázs Hankó said that initiatives have been launched in the Hungarian Research Network, through which a new direction can be taken to increase the competitiveness of Hungarian science.
The minister stated: The independence of science has been strengthened in the recent period. An important step in this was the establishment of the Research Excellence Council, through which excellence-based grants were strengthened, the scope of the National Research Excellence Program increased from HUF 13 billion to HUF 19 billion, and the Scientific Sponsorship Program was revamped.
The Minister thanked Ferenc Kraus for his help in rejuvenating Hungarian science and creating the “Golden Team” for Hungarian science by establishing the Nobel Prize-winning office and acting as chief advisor for science policy. They also rely on physicist Peter Domokos, Chair of the Research Excellence Council, and Co-Scientific Head of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office responsible for innovation and research resources.
Balázs Hankó said that through the Research Grant Hungary programme, they are trying to reach important researchers such as Gergely Endródi, who deals with a particularly important topic in the natural sciences, and with whom they have a five-year agreement. – We will expand this team so that we can renew the world of Hungarian science and the world of European science. He stressed that our common mission is to move forward together for science and innovation.
Ferenc Krausch: There is no future without competitiveness
According to Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ferenc Krausz, the Minister's Senior Advisor for Science Policy, there is no future without competitiveness, without scientific research and technological development. It is essential to ensure that a sufficient number of senior researchers are doing world-class work in Hungary under competitive conditions. The aim is to create knowledge centers around outstanding researchers returning from abroad, which will be attractive to the next generation.
These young people who set themselves the goal of conducting world-class research have largely been able to do so only abroad. The National Program for Research Excellence wants to change this situation – noted Ferenc Kraus, adding that the first task of the Nobel Prize-winning office was to bring back to their homeland outstanding Hungarian researchers currently working abroad.
“It feels great to bring knowledge home.”
It deals with theoretical particle physics and studies the formation of the universe, star formation, and the microscopic structure of matter, said research physicist Gergely Indrodi. The physicist, who will start his work at the ELTE Faculty of Science in November, added that his special field is lattice field theory, a method by which elementary particles and their interactions can be described with the help of simulations running on supercomputers.
Gergely Indrodi first became acquainted with network theory at the Department of Physics at ELTE TTK University, where he obtained his diploma and doctorate degrees, and then joined a research group that is among the best at the international level. He spent five years conducting research at the University of Regensburg, in 2016 he became head of a research group at the University of Frankfurt, and in 2020 he was appointed professor at Bielefeld University. The physicist explained that last year he received a research grant from the European Research Council worth two million euros that can be used in any country in Europe.
For me, it is a great feeling to be able to bring home the knowledge and experience in education and research that I gained abroad, and to be able to benefit from international cooperation that I did not have enough time to build at ELTE TTK.
He said.
Imre Kasovic, Dean of ELTE TTK, emphasized that he hopes that Gergely Endrudi will not only bring science home, but will also participate in the education of outstanding scientists. I would like to attract as many foreign students as possible to complete their studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences. “Gergely Indrodi will return to a team that understands and knows what it is doing and can provide valuable support to it,” the dean said.
