El gobierno busca posicionar una universidad húngara en el top 100 mundial
El programa Universidades 2030 es lanzado con el objetivo de tener al menos una universidad húngara entre las 100 mejores universidades del mundo y varias universidades húngaras entre las 100 mejores de Europa en cinco años, según el Ministro de Cultura e Innovación, Balázs Hankó, durante la sesión informativa «HU-rizont 2025 – Universidades húngaras a la vanguardia» el lunes, informa Nación húngara.
«Stanford, Singapur, Cambridge, Semmelweis, Mate, Szeged, Debrecen, Óbuda: we want international university rankings to look like this by 2030, which is why we are launching the Universities 2030 program,» emphasized Balázs Hankó. «The universities I just listed are collaborating with the best universities in North America, Europe, and Asia in the Hu-Rizont program. We have supported thirty projects in which Hungarian universities lead consortia and are conducting excellent research in the fields of health, robotics, computer science, and environmental sustainability, which are priorities for the Hungarian people,» he added.
Balázs Hankó emphasized that Hungary has achieved a competitive change in universities and research and development, and it is time for the European Union to realize it. This change is very necessary in the EU, because we are now seeing our continent falling from 95% to 80% of the efficiency of productivity in the United States, and only four of the top fifty technology companies are headquartered in the EU, he recalled. Nor can the EU be proud of its scientific performance, which is only 18% of what it was a decade ago, below 25%, the minister added.
Instead of talking about improving competitiveness in Brussels, they are concerned about how they can harm Hungarian students and researchers by excluding them from international cooperation,» he pointed out.
The minister recalled that the Hungarian government’s task is to protect Hungarian researchers and students. This is why a law was passed last year aimed at resolving all disputes regarding the EU’s ban on Hungarians participating in the Erasmus and Horizon Exchange programs, but this was not enough for Brussels. “They want to introduce a system of dictations that could be called political revenge, as in their last resolution of 16 December they demanded that rectors and professors be excluded from the boards of trustees that govern universities, and they also want to determine how long a rector can lead a university, with retroactive effect,» Hankó recalled. He added that the EU now also wants to introduce a conflict of interest regarding national and political affiliation.
Brussels wants to create a conflict of interest for patriotic reasons, which we cannot allow because we are committed to the success of Hungarian researchers and students,» he emphasized.
He noted that the Hungarian government decided to build on last year’s successes by relaunching the Hu-Rizont program this year, with 8 billion forints (20.1 million euros) in non-refundable grants ranging from 100 to 400 million forints (251,000-1,000,000 euros) and a consortium led by Hungarian universities. The government is ready to give even more than the planned 8 billion to a good project, he added.
The Minister also announced that applications are expected from two universities in regions beyond the country’s borders: from the Hungarian Sapientia University in Transylvania (Romania) and the Transcarpathian University of Ferenc Rákóczi II for higher education in Berehove (Ukraine). «We would like Sapientia to be among the top ten Romanian universities in Transylvania and the Berehove Institution to be among the top five private universities in Ukraine,» emphasized Balázs Hankó.
