Government supports cutting-edge health innovations and early-stage researchers

The Ministry of Innovation and Technology told MTI on Saturday that the spending will cover the costs of operating the BrainVisionCenter, which is investigating the possibility of restoring sight, and the Molecular Fingerprint Research Center, which is working on the early detection of diseases, for the next few years. 

The BrainVisionCenter Knowledge and Competence Center, which will be set up with a government grant of HUF 5.2 billion under the leadership of Botond Roska, will join forces with experts from Femtonics Ltd., which is producing a prototype of a domestically manufactured ventilator. The knowledge-sharing organization plans to bring innovative technologies and therapeutic procedures to the table for vision restoration, diagnosis and therapy of central nervous system diseases, they said.

A HUF 1.5 billion grant will be awarded to the Molecular Fingerprinting Research Center, led by Ferenc Krausz. The professor, who was recently awarded the Wolf Prize, is working to further develop his method for the early detection of diseases by exploiting the opportunities offered by the Szeged laser center. The research combines laser physics, molecular science and machine learning, creating a new platform for modern medicine. The early detection of cancer and cardiovascular diseases can often be life-saving but, at the very least, more effective.

Over the next three years, the Cooperative Doctoral Programme (KDP) will provide over HUF 4 billion in funding to talented Hungarian researchers. KDP will support the studies and research of up to 100 winning students per year with a monthly grant of HUF 400,000.

According to József Bódis, Minister of State for Higher Education, Innovation and Vocational Training at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the government wants to increase the share of R&D funding in the gross national product to 3 percent by 2030.