János Csák, the minister of culture and innovation, said the government’s aim is for Hungary to be among the EU’s top ten innovative countries by 2030, by tapping the expertise of the country’s eminent scientists, teachers and organizations.
In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening, János Csák said the National Science Policy Council (NKFI) has approved the program of Hungary’s Research Development and Innovation Fund for 2024. “We are going to spend 147 billion forints (EUR 383m) on those [three] areas, 60 billion more than in the previous year,” the minister said. Allocations will be tailored to support big companies and SMEs, spin-off companies promoting innovations and patents developed at universities, as well as startups developing new, innovative solutions, said Csák. The fund will also provide support to researchers in research institutes and universities, he said, noting the establishment of the Research Excellence Council led by Hungarian Nobel laureate Ferenc Krausz. Financing will be also provided to support two new university programmes which include the Pannonia Programme for international student and teacher exchanges and the HU-rizont Program for promoting international research cooperation, Csák said.