ii) fostering scientific excellence (stimulating and maintaining the motivation of talented youth for scientific careers, popularization of the academic career paths, serving as role models, mentoring,
iii) reinforcement of communication between science and society by the implementation of sophisticated and authentic science communication strategies and providing professional training for young researchers in that domain.
You may find further information on the activities and publications of HYA on this link.
Criteria for the election of members: academic excellence and planned activities in the framework of membership.
- The aim of the call for applications
The aim of the call for applications is to award HYA membership for a specific mandate of five years. In this election procedure, 12 persons may be admitted to the Hungarian Young Academy. Their membership will begin on 1 May 2024.
The list of the current members is available on the HYA website. The members perform their HYA-related activities without remuneration, in addition to their teaching and research obligations.
Date of the announcement of the call: 2 November 2023
- Who can apply?
An application for membership may be submitted by researchers meeting the following criteria:
i) Applicants must have become members of the public body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by 1 September 2023 at the latest.
ii) Applicants must have obtained their first PhD less than 12 years ago (i.e., after 31 December 2011*).
iii) Applicants must not turn 41 in the year they become members (i.e., they must be born after 31 December 1983*).
*In regard to points ii) and iii), an age allowance of up to five years may be applied in cases of documented career interruption due to childbearing (up to two years per child), long-term illness, or other verifiable individual circumstances. (Applicants taking advantage of the age allowance must have been born after 31 December 1978, and must have obtained their first PhD after 31 December 2006.) The request of age allowance and the reason for it must be stated on the online application platform in the text box under the tab “Application data”. No certificates attesting eligibility for age allowance need to be attached to the application, but the HYA Election Committee reserves the right to request these documents from the applicants during the assessment phase.
- Reasons for exclusion from the application procedure for HYA membership
Applicants may not be elected as HYA members in the following cases:
i) if they have supplied false, incorrect or misleading information or made a statement in their application which substantially affects the decision,
ii) if they fail to make the statements required as a condition to membership, or revoke their statements,
iii) if they do not meet the criteria of the call for applications.
- Submission of applications
i) Applying for HYA membership. Researchers who meet the above criteria and wish to apply for HYA membership may submit their applications between 2 November and 1 December 2023 via the electronic application system accessible at the following link: https://palyazat.mta.hu/fka_2024/ .
Applications may be submitted from the announcement of this call till 1 December 2023 (midnight).
Electronic applications must include all of the following:
- The applicant’s data (personal and workplace data, contact details, link to the publication list of the applicant in the Hungarian Science Bibliography “MTMT”, year of admission to the public body*, based on the Academic Data Repository; date of birth, date of obtaining PhD, MTA scientific section of the applicant, list of the circumstances justifying request for age allowance, e.g. maternity leave).* For public body membership beginning in 2023, please specify the exact day of admission.
- Letter of motivation stating which HYA working committee(s) the applicant wishes to participate in and what specific tasks the applicant considers important and intends to carry out as a HYA member. For the list of working committees and their responsibilities, please see https://fka.mta.hu/en/hya-stucture/. The cover letter should be uploaded as a pdf file in annex to the application. The maximum length of the letter is 1 page, not exceeding 4500 characters (including spaces). Please indicate the applicant’s name, workplace and the total number of characters. Please note that the cover letter is not a mere formality: it has a substantial weight in the assessment of applications. On the other hand, the applicant’s professional experience should be reflected by his/her CV, so it need not be detailed in the cover letter.
- A curriculum vitae, which should include a detailed description of previous experience and activities relevant to the goals of HYA, in addition to the applicant’s professional background. The CV must be uploaded in pdf format in annex to the application. The length of the CV must not exceed 3 pages.
ii) Advisory vote by the public body. From 5 January to 2 February 2024, those members of MTA’s public body who are under the age of 45 will vote for the applicants from their own scientific section via the MTA e-voting system. Eligible public body members may vote for up to 5 applicants per person. Those eligible to vote will have access to the applicants’ CVs and cover letters. The rankings resulting from the advisory vote will be taken into account by the HYA Election Committee when making the final decision about the admission of the new members.
iii) Vote by the HYA Election Committee. From the five applicants with the highest number of votes per scientific section (60-70 applicants in total), the HYA Election Committee will select 12 persons who will start their five-year membership in May 2024. The Election Committee will strive to maintain a balanced distribution of disciplines, gender and geographical regions within the membership and will seek to ensure that all scientific sections of MTA are fairly represented in the membership.
iv) Oral interview. In those cases where the HYA Election Committee is unable to decide between the applicants, it may also conduct an oral interview with them.
The applicant agrees that for the purpose of the management and evaluation of the membership application, his/her personal data may be accessed and processed by the MTA staff members handling the Academic Data Repository (AAT) and the e-election system, as well as the members of the HYA Election Committee, and that his/her name, place of work and cover letter may be made available to public body members eligible to vote in the e-election. The applicant acknowledges that the Privacy Policy of MTA and of the Secretariat of the MTA can be accessed at https://mta.hu under the tab Useful Information (click here). Furthermore, the applicant agrees that his/her personal data (name, contact details, academic degree) recorded in the AAT will be kept by the Data Controller for 5 years after the closing of the call in the case of successful applications, and for 12 months in the case of non-winning applications. The Data Controller shall delete all personal data after the retention period has expired.
- Validity of applications
An application shall be formally valid only if all the necessary documents have been submitted by the deadline in the required format and with the required content; if the applicant meets the requirements of the call for applications; if the applicant is eligible for HYA membership as defined in this call; and if there are no grounds for exclusion. (For the general criteria of HYA membership, see the Statutes of the Hungarian Young Academy.)
By 14 December 2023, HYA will notify the applicant in e-mail of the acceptance of the application, or reject the application without further examination. Before an application is accepted, it is checked by the HYA Election Committee for meeting the following criteria: whether the applicant fulfils the requirements of the call, whether the documents required have been duly submitted by the deadline and whether there are no grounds for exclusion. Applications shall be rejected without a review of their substance in the following cases: if they are submitted after the deadline, if the applicant does not meet the requirements specified in the call, if the documents required are not supplied in the required format or in the required length, or if the applicant has supplied false, incorrect or misleading information which could have a significant influence on the decision.
Deficient applications may not be remedied. Incomplete or incorrect applications shall be declared invalid and thus rejected.
- Assessment of applications and decision about awarding membership
The HYA Election Committee shall make its decision by 22 March 2024. Applicants shall be notified of the election results electronically by 29 March 2024. According to the current call for applications, a total of 12 members may be admitted to HYA.
- Beginning of membership
Winning applicants will begin their membership on 1 May 2024. Membership is subject to the selected applicants’ signing the HYA Declaration of Adherence at the HYA Annual General Assembly to be held in May 2024 (“Declaration of Acceptance of the Statutes of the Hungarian Young Academy”). By signing the declaration, the members of the Hungarian Young Academy also declare that they have read and understood the HYA Statutes (Articles of Association), and have given their consent to be bound.
- Remedies and objections
No appeal shall lie from the outcome of the call for applications. No objections may be lodged against the decision.
- Further information
For further information on HYA, please visit the website. Regarding questions about the call, please check FAQ (in Hungarian). For other technical matters, you may contact Judit Pethő-Szirmai, assistant for international affairs, at .
Budapest, 26 October 2023
Imola Wilhelm and Gábor Kecskés,
Co-Chairs of the Hungarian Young Academy