Doctoral students, listen up! This year’s Cooperative Doctoral Programme is going live

The Cooperative Doctoral Programme provides substantial grants for research conducted in cooperation with companies, primarily in the fields of mathematics, science, engineering and information technology. The aim of the programme is to increase Hungary’s competitiveness by providing targeted support to the development of research careers adapted to market requirements. 

The special scholarship programme supports the scientific careers of talented young Hungarians, tailored to the R&D requirements of the industry and the service sectors. Winning applicants will receive a monthly grant of HUF 400,000 net for 24-43 months to work on their research topic in cooperation with a company, within the institutional framework of a Hungarian university’s doctoral school. In addition to the young researcher, support is provided to the host doctoral school, the supervisor and the company expert involved, too.  

The call for applications for the Cooperative Doctoral Programme is open from 19 June to 20 July 2023 to all students who are pursuing doctoral studies or will start their doctoral studies in the 2023/2024 academic year and have a contract with a corporate partner involved in their research. Applications will be assessed by a dedicated panel of experts, including the representatives of higher education and the private sector, too. You will find more information on the programme on the website of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office. 

Under the programme, which has been running since 2020, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office has supported the implementation of 366 doctoral students’ projects at 19 universities, in the value of nearly HUF 14 billion so far. ‘The scholarship programme implements our main objective, the connection of universities with the industry, as doctoral students define their research topics jointly with industrial players and the university, and they work together in a coordinated way. This is the basis for increasing the number of Hungarian patents, thus strengthening Hungarian innovation and the future potential of our nation,’ said Balázs Hankó, State Secretary for Innovation and Higher Education at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation. He added: ‘The Programme will provide young researchers with another opportunity to implement targeted career development strategies in the world of R&D and innovation. 

Hungary’s new innovation strategy will focus on strengthening the knowledge-based economy and connecting research centres, universities and the economy. The Parliament is about to decide on Hungary’s new innovation strategy, the János Neumann (John von Neumann) Programme, one of the key elements of which is to ensure the education of the next generation of researchers. This is the purpose of the newly announced Cooperative Doctoral Programme. 

Source: KIM