A successful cooperation with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) may contribute to increasing the international competitiveness of domestic medical and health sciences research and innovation, László Palkovics, Minister for Innovation and Technology said to MTI (Hungarian Press Agency) on Friday after a meeting in Germany with Edit Heard, Director General of EMBL.
The Minister said that one of the major topics of their discussion was the HCEMM project financed from the “Teaming” Scheme of the Horizon 2020 framework programme. In this project, coordinated by HCEMM Nonprofit Kft., the University of Szeged, the Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Semmelweis University and EMBL work together in setting up a centre of excellence in the field of molecular biology in Szeged.
László Palkovics said: the budget of the project is nearly EUR 52 million of which some EUR 15 million is funded from the Horizon 2020 EU framework programme supplemented from own funds by the European structural and investment funds, NRDI Fund (National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary) and the participating Hungarian partners. The goal is to implement such an internationally recognised centre of excellence in Szeged that engages in researches related to molecular medicine focusing in particular on treating vascular diseases affecting mainly the elderly, inflammatory diseases and cancer. The project is planned to significantly contribute to research groups, efficient and competitive on international level, being able to start their work in Szeged and Budapest through a strict selection system using an EMBL best-practice.
The Minister added: In 2017, Hungary joined EMBL as full member to enable Hungarian researchers to have access to world-class infrastructure, training and research grants and thus, to be involved in world-leading life sciences researches. Hungarian organisations are currently involved in 20 healthcare projects under the Horizon 2020 programme as the international organisation’s partner winning nearly EUR 20 million in grants.
László Palkovics had further discussions with Director General Edit Heard about the further opportunities of the Hungarian membership and particularly about deepening the cooperation in the EU framework programme, then he met Orsolya Barabás, Head of one of the EMBL research groups.
(MTI)