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The article below is a translation of the Hungarian article published on mta.hu.

In December 2022, the Council of the European Union suspended the access of model-changing Hungarian universities run by public interest trusts to EU research funding and exchange programmes. Competent EU entities and the Hungarian government have been carrying on a dialogue in order to lift the suspension. At the same time, the negative effects of the funding ban can already be felt. A survey conducted by the Hungarian Young Academy (HYA) has investigated the consequences of the frozen funds, analysing the responses of more than 500 researchers and university lecturers with a PhD, aged 31–45 .

Forty per cent of the respondents have experienced the negative consequences of the freezing of the EU funds, which, alarmingly, have affected not only those working at the universities concerned but the entire Hungarian research community. Based on the survey, the suspension of grant funds injures those researchers the most who already applied for EU funds in the past, prior to this measure. Contrary to expectations, the difference in negative consequences is, in fact, much less significant in terms of the situation of researchers and lecturers working at suspended universities and of those who have at least a part-time job at other workplaces, unaffected by the suspension (for instance, in HUN-REN research centres). Young researchers find that these restrictions not only shut them out from funding, but also entail the weakening of their international research networks, which could have a considerable detrimental effect on the competitivity of Hungarian research in a European perspective.

According to the figures of the survey, one of the most harmful consequences of the suspension is the appearance of uncertainty in European academia regarding the involvement of Hungarian partners in international projects. Nearly 9 per cent of the respondents complained that their international partners wanted to exclude them from winning consortia despite the fact that their specific institutions were not subject to the suspension. Foreign researchers feel that cooperation with Hungarian researchers has become increasingly risky, the consequences of which can already be observed not only in the case of the Erasmus and Horizon Europe programmes but also of other European funding schemes. In order to counter these negative effects, a quarter of the respondents are considering the possibility of looking for a job abroad, as a result of which Hungary might lose those researchers who could play an active role in the integration of Hungarian science in European networks.

All in all, the findings of the survey reveal that it is the international reputation of Hungarian science that took the heaviest blow in consequence of the EU funding ban. To mitigate damages, it is indispensable to find a solution to the current situation as soon as possible so as to allow Hungarian universities to once again take part in European cooperation networks as full partners. As the authors of the report see it, the lifting of the suspension could increase the competitivity of Hungarian research, and thus, indirectly, of the entire European Research Area.

A summary of the research was published in Nature (Correspondence), a leading scientific journal, available on this link. The full text of the research report can be accessed in English and Hungarian on the website of the Hungarian Young Academy.

For further information on the research, please contact one of the heads of research, Balázs Lengyel (lengyel.balazs@krtk.hun-ren.hu, HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies), HYA co-chair Imola Wilhelm (wilhelm.imola@brc.hu, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre), or former HYA co-chair Gábor Kecskés (kecskes.gabor@tk.hun-ren.hu, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences).

The other head of research was Júlia Koltai (HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences; additional participants included István Gábor Hatvani (HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences), Katalin Lipták (University of Miskolc), Ákos Lencsés (Kodolányi János University) and Gábor Kemenesi (University of Pécs).