Hungary

Political framework for scientific and technological cooperation

Research cooperation between Germany and Hungary has a long tradition. Bilateral cooperation in the area of science and technology is based on an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation that was concluded between the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Hungary on 7 October 1987 (in force since 7 October 1987). In addition, a bilateral agreement on cultural cooperation with Hungary was concluded on 1 March 1994. Increased cooperation in the field of research and technology as well as sustainable research cooperation partnerships, in particular through the development of joint research bases, were agreed in the joint declaration by the research ministries of the two countries in Budapest on 15 September 2004. In its mid-term research and development (R&D)/innovation strategy for the years 2007-2013, the Hungarian government lists as its main goals: the intensification of R&D and innovation in companies, increasing annual R&D expenditure, the creation of an internationally renowned research and university landscape. This also includes strengthening the regional "development pole" by expanding the research infrastructure. In addition to Budapest as the overall centre of science and research, these six development poles are distributed as follows:

• Debrecen: pharmaceutical industry and agriculture 
• Miskolc: nanotechnology, chemical industry, mechatronics and renewable/alternative energies ("Technopolis")
• Szeged: health and the environment, agricultural biotechnology ("Biopolis") 
• Pécs: culture and the environment 
• Györ: automotive and mechanical engineering, renewable energies ("Autopolis") 
• Székesfehérvár and Veszprém: ICT, mechatronics, logistics and the environment

The two most important branches of industry in Hungary carry special weighting with regard to research policy. The country’s main universities have capacities for specialising in the areas of biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry as well as in mechanical and automotive engineering. The presence of important automotive companies in the region was taken into account through the foundation of the Knowledge Center of Collaborative Engineering in Györ in 2007 and the Automotive Living Lab (ALL).  Hungarian biotechnology and pharmaceutics research received funding amounting to an approximate total of HUF 16 billion in the years 2007 and 2008.
Since 2004, the National Office of Research and Technology (Nemzeti Kutatási és Technológiai Hivatal, NKTH) has been coordinating all tasks connected with R&D and innovation within the scope of the national development plan and organising international research cooperation. The NKTH is supervised by the Ministry of National Economy.

Calls for proposals were most recently held by the NKTH for the four main programmes Knowledge Hungary, Entrepreneur Hungary, Technology Hungary and Co-operative Hungary. These programmes are aimed, for example, at the expansion of universities into internationally renowned competence centres in fields of growth and key areas, improving the access in particular of young companies to technology transfer and preparation for participating in EU programmes. Development measures, aimed in the direction of the Seventh Research Framework Programme, are run on the basis of cooperation agreements between the NKTH and 34 states.
Hungary actively participates in the development of the European Research Area (ERA). Furthermore, it views the use of EU structural funds as an important opportunity for the country to decisively drive ahead research, development and innovation.

Highlights of bilateral cooperation

The Bay Zoltán Foundation for Applied Research (BZAKA) was founded in 1992 with the aim of building up a network that would function as a bridge between university research centres and industry. It was also intended that the foundation’s institutes would participate in training junior scientists.

The BMBF supported the development of the foundation and its first three institutes over several years, among other things by engaging experts at the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and by supporting bilateral cooperative projects. By 2007, three further Bay Zoltán institutes were founded. The six institutes are distributed regionally and thematically in line with the Hungarian development poles (e.g. biotechnology in Szeged and nanotechnology in Miskolc).

Collegium Budapest (CB) was founded in 1991 as the Institute of Advanced Study in Budapest. CB sees itself as a Hungarian science institute with a European and international character. In the years 1992 to 1999, the Free State of Bavaria and the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg were involved in the funding of the CB, with the BMBF also on board between 1988 and 2003. The funding was aimed at contributing towards the establishment and development of the science landscape in Central and Eastern European countries.

Hungary is one of the countries with which the BMBF agreed a sustainability dialogue in May 2007. In June 2008, the "1st German-Hungarian Conference on Research for Sustainability” was accordingly held in Budapest.

Funding for German-Hungarian cooperation

In the joint ministerial declaration of 15 September 2004, an agreement was made to install joint research bases as a new instrument of cooperation. Autumn 2004 already saw the establishment of the first German-Hungarian research base "Ambient Intelligence". Until 2008, the BMBF provided funding for this cooperation project, in which the competences of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) in Kaiserslautern and the Bay Zoltàn Foundation for Applied Research in Budapest were linked. Since its establishment, it has supported the development of four German-Hungarian research bases.

At present, the BMBF and NKTH are supporting the establishment of two new research bases with Hungary. The project entails collaboration between the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy with the University of West Hungary in Sopron and the cooperation of the Fraunhofer Institute Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) with the MTA Sztaki Computer and Automation Research Institute.

Within the scope of the regional call for proposals "International Cooperation in Education and Research - Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe Region" ten projects have been successfully conducted since 2004. A project from the field of material science is currently underway. Topical focus areas of the previous projects lie in the areas of mechatronics, ICT, medicine and environmental protection. The aim of these cooperation projects is generally the submission of a joint proposal for the funding programmes of the BMBF or the Seventh Research Framework Programme of the European Union.

A further important pillar of cooperation is the participation of R&D networks in the initiative to promote Germany as a key location for innovation – research marketing. Under this scheme, four projects have been completed with Hungary. A further two are currently in progress: the University of Leipzig is working on the "Expansion of the network for regenerative medicine, from Leipzig to Eastern Europe"; MicroMountains Applications AG, Villingen-Schwennigen, is running the "Expansion of the R&D network in the area of micro systems engineering and mechatronics for the target region of the Czech Republic and Hungary ("EFEkt-TU")".