Top Hungarian science institutions haggle over humanities institutes

Hungary’s umbrella organisation for state-funded research, the Hungarian Research Network, has approved the transfer of four of its humanities research centres to Eötvös Loránd University. 

The decision is contested by the academic community, with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences issuing a pre-emptive statement opposing the separation of the humanities and social science institutes from the network. The academy operated the institutes until 2019, when they were taken into government control. 

According to Balázs Gulyás, president of the Hungarian Research Network, transferring the four centres to the university is expected to improve their management and operations. “Despite the high-level work being carried out, collaboration between humanities research institutes and other scientific domains within [the network], particularly in the form of joint projects and publications, has remained limited,” he told Science|Business.

The staff of the four affected centres will continue their research under university management, while remaining within the same buildings, which are owned by the academy.

For its part, the academy has issued a statement saying that it is “ready to take over the four research centres,” if requested. 

Related articles:

• Privatisation of Hungarian research centres raises fears for Horizon Europe eligibility
• Hungarian government to take over research institutes of the Academy of Sciences

When contacted by Science|Business, the academy declined to comment further. Meanwhile, the university did not respond to requests for further information.

The original proposal to transfer the institutes came from Lénárd Darázs, rector of Eötvös Loránd University. It was approved by the research network governing board in a 6–2 vote and forms part of a broader strategy to revamp the national research landscape. 

The transformation began last year when the National Assembly’s passed a law including to transform the research network from a state-budgeted entity to a private-law organisation operating outside the state budget. This process is still underway and is expected to be finalised later this year.

As part of its ongoing reform, the research network is also introducing a performance-based funding model “in which a research institute commits to achieving clearly defined scientific, financial and operational objectives within a specific period,” Gulyás explained to Science|Business. 

“This approach [. . .]allows us to recognise outstanding scientific and innovation achievements, motivates institutions and strengthens the transparency and long-term stability of the network,” he said.

The real-estate question

The long-running standoff between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Research Network has deep roots.

In 2019, the government launched a major restructuring of the country’s public research system. Operational control of the academy’s research institutes was transferred to a newly established body overseen by the government, the Eötvös Loránd Research Network, which was renamed the Hungarian Research Network in 2023. The move provoked significant controversy, widely perceived as a threat to academic autonomy and an expansion of political oversight.

Although the academy technically retained ownership of most buildings housing the research institutes, control over their use shifted to the network.

In December 2024, the academy’s general assembly agreed to sell these properties to the government for HUF 74.5 billion (€185.8 million). However, as the deal remained incomplete, the academy leadership now wants the agreement to be reassessed.