IT minister: Three-party research centre set up with EUR 11.3m funding in Szeged

A three-party research centre for petroleum and the development of renewable fuels has been established with funding of 4 billion forints (EUR 11.3m) in the Szeged Science Park, the innovation and technology minister said at the site on Saturday.

Set up by the University of Szeged, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and Audi Hungaria, the Sustainable Green Chemical and Mobility Competence Centre will be tasked with providing the industry partners a state-of-the-art facility for basic and applied research and experimental development, László Palkovics told reporters.

Hungary aims to become a major player in innovation by 2030 and the government has decided to gradually increase spending on R+D to achieve this goal, he said.

The EU will have over 80 billion euros available for R+D projects in its next seven-year budgetary period in which Palkovics said Hungarian universities had to have an increased share.