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MTA reaches agreement with ministry

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and the innovation and technology ministry (ITM) have reached an agreement on the legal and financial foundations for the continued operation of the Academy’s network of research institutions, MTA said.

The sides agreed that the conditions for financing the research institutions are in accordance with the budget act and the legal and administrative conditions for the implementation of the law will be established. The budget of the Academy and its institutions for next year will be planned in the same way as in previous years, in a manner and with deadlines that are in line with regulations. Financing for the institutions next year will be finalised in an agreement. After the agreement was reached, the ministry’s experts announced the restructuring of the innovation system. It is the
ministry’s position that a review and assessment of institutions active in basic and applied research be conducted before the new system is introduced. The reviews and assessments will be carried out by the ministry for institutions within its own scope, and by MTA for institutions that belong to its own network. Decisions on the structures of institutions will not be taken before the reviews take place, MTA said. The ministry wishes to continue talks on the timeframe and method for undertaking the reviews, it added.