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Founded in May, the Hungarian Young Academy (HYA) has been established as a grassroots scientific society operating in line with the public duties of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). The main objective of the organisation is to represent the specific generational interests of young Hungarian researchers at national and international levels. Through its activities, HYA aims to promote the professional development of young researchers, improve their living and working conditions, and strengthen the relationship between researchers and society.

Click here for HYA’s statement in pdf (in Hungarian)

Young researchers constitute the next generation and future of the community of researchers. It is of key importance to ensure general and appropriate respect in the medium and long-term science policy strategies of all those countries that wish to maintain their competitivity in scientific research. Therefore, as members of the Hungarian Young Academy, it is our intention to expose all those difficulties that affect large masses of young researchers and gravely endanger the emergence of new generations of researchers in Hungary. As the voice of young Hungarian researchers, we wish to put forward constructive proposals regarding the following: (i) make research careers more attractive for young people about to embark on a career, (ii) disseminate recent research findings with society at large, and (iii) discuss what changes we deem essential in order to maintain a Hungarian young researchers’ community that can be competitive in the international arena.

Any curtailment of the autonomy of Hungarian academia could lead to the isolation of those researchers who stay in Hungary and reduce their international competitiveness. The draft legislation recently proposed by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology outlines a structure that allows for strong political interference, which could have a negative impact on the willingness of the international research community to collaborate with Hungarian researchers and on the chances of excellent Hungarian researchers to take part in and win in international calls. This may have a detrimental effect on the international experience of the young generation of Hungarian researchers, and may hinder their integration into the international research community. The draft legislation, while claiming the use of certain properties of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, does not outline a plan for the measures to be taken to improve the wages and infrastructure of the otherwise underfunded research system.

The results of a questionnaire survey we carried out last year highlighted a number of problems that require urgent action. The research sector is currently suffering from a shortage of staff and, as our survey showed, more than 70% of the young generation of researchers have seriously considered leaving the profession in the last five years, a situation exacerbated by the uncertainty created by the planned restructuring of MTA’s organisation and funding and the loss of confidence in the rationale of the restructuring. In addition to the exodus of internationally competitive principal investigators, the planned restructuring of the research institute network is already putting at risk thousands of young researchers in the academic and higher education sectors who carry out a crucial part of domestic research.

By analysing the data series representing the views of more than 1,500 respondents under 45, we identified the problems and issues deemed the most crucial according to young researchers:

1. Developing a predictable, dynamic career model for young people embarking on a career in science, taking into account individual performance, life circumstances and disciplinary specificities.
2. Ensuring a financial security significantly exceeding current salaries.
3. Providing enhanced support for female researchers and young researchers with children.
4. Providing increased support for applications for calls and international mobility for young researchers.
5. Enhanced implementation of quality assurance, transparency and constructive assessment criteria.
6. Reduction of administrative burdens, major simplification of bureaucracy and public procurement procedures concerning calls and the use of other funding.
7. Rationalization of teaching burdens in higher education, taking into consideration the specificities of the individual stages of career path and research duties of instructors.
8. Large-scale modernization of research and educational infrastructure.
9. Establishment of efficient and comprehensive advocacy for young researchers.

As members of the Hungarian Young Academy, we have supported and will continue to stand by the leadership of the Hungarian Young Academy and its General Assembly. We genuinely hope that the questions regarding the operation of the research institute network will be decided along a consensus based on professional principles and constructive negotiations. By highlighting the problems and issues of particular concern to young researchers in this statement, we wish to offer some reference points to ensure that the opinion of young researchers is given due weight in any future systemic transformation. In order to maintain and further increase the competitiveness of Hungarian academia, it is essential to urgently resolve the current uncertain situation by consensus and to restore a calm and supportive research environment.

The members of the Hungarian Young Academy