Coordinated Development
Coordinated Development
Today public opinion attaches paramount importance to science, and recognizes its results as a distinguished measure of national performance. The same applies to the political and intellectual elite; in fact, over the past few months, several outstanding representatives of the latter group argued on different occasions - among them in this publication - in favor of increased support for research, and presented their reflections on certain general as well as particular issues linked to Hungarian science. In addition to this multi-channel, sometimes unfocused, and thus vain or ineffective, ‘networked’ style of public thinking - so characteristic of our era - several reputed scientific circles also elaborated views on research, development, and innovation issues.
A number of the individual and institutional players of Hungarian scientific policy play rather active roles on the stage. At the same time, though, a clearly pronounced national research, development, and innovation strategy has not been put forward for a long time. The governmental program manifestly expressed the intent to provide significant support through government participation and the involvement of the business sector in order to bring together research, development, and the economy for the benefit of promoting the successful development of the country. All this entails a coordinated educational, research, development, and innovation policy, and measures encouraging the R&D activities of the private sector. Driven by a recognition of the supreme importance of research and development, the Hungarian Government established the College for Science and Technology Policy (TTPK in Hungarian) and its scientific advisory body. According to the corresponding governmental resolution, the task of the above body is to define the principles of national scientific and technological policy, analyze domestic research, and set forth thematic priorities. In the course of this work, the members of the body and appointed experts prepared studies and compiled a material that served as a basis for distilling all the various ideas into a single, simple science and technology policy indicating the decision-making points, too. In the next stage, the material and the studies written had been consolidated, with (the first draft of) the document titled Science and Technology Policy 2000 as the outcome. Based on the document reviewed twice, amended and finally approved by the scientific advisory body, the government passed a resolution on launching National Research and Development Programs (NKFPs). In parallel, certain inevitable structural modifications defining the distribution of tasks between the actors of scientific policy also had to be implemented. More explicitly, these modifications determine the positions and tasks of the players, the Ministry of Education, the HAS, R&D funds, research and higher education bodies, HE institutions and research institutes. The Science and Technology Policy 2000 document sets out a long-term development program for Hungarian science and innovation.
The document reviews the current situation as focussed around five topics, namely human resources, institutional structure, financing, infrastructure and international relations, and defines the objectives, as well as the activities required to achieve them. Here I would like to highlight three issues among the activities indicated. One task is to outline and establish attractive teacher and researcher career models promoting the rise of a new generation, in particular a postdoctoral system has to be created. Another task is to maintain and operate two-channel state financing consisting of basic support and a grant application system, and to significantly increase the budget support of research funds allocated on the basis of submitting tender applications. Concerning areas of strategic importance, application-and-granting-based National Research and Development Programs have to be implemented, targeted, in particular, on the following five subjects: improving the quality of life; information and communication technologies; research in environmental protection and materials science; research in agricultural economy and biotechnology; research of the national heritage and present-day social challenges. Hungary has always moved along with European progress. In this spirit, the National Research and Development Programs are seamlessly fitted with the development programs of the European Union. Our country today shows promising development trends, and can rightfully be proud of its scientific achievements, the intellectual potential evidenced by Hungarian researchers.
The 2001 and 2002 budgets submitted to Parliament by the Government devote significant resources to the realization of the objectives put forward in the Science and Technology Policy 2000 document. The budget financing of research and development will increase by at least HUF 17.5 billion next year, then by another HUF 19 billion in 2002. From this increase, in the year 2001, HUF 7 billion will be devoted to reinforce R&D bases, and HUF 10.5 billion will be used to application-based granting funds. For the same purposes, another HUF 10 and 9 billion, respectively, will be allocated in 2002. In what follows, I will review how we can use these resources to perform the tasks elaborated in the Science and Technology Policy 2000 document.
