New Hungarian Nobel Prize winner Krausz slammed Orbán government?

Scientific research is only worth conducting if it is “world class” and meets the highest international standards, the Hungarian Ferenc Krausz, who shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics, said in a programme broadcast on public television channel M5. Before, he gave an interview to government-close Hír TV in which he talked about the importance of reestablishing the honour of being a teacher in Hungary. Furthermore, he decided to give the money he won with the award – EUR 314 thousand – to a charity organization helping Ukrainians.

Krausz, who is the director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, said the ELI-ALPs laser laboratory in Szeged, in the southeast of Hungary, was “absolutely suitable” for this purpose.

Even the richest, strongest countries can’t be at the “cutting edge” of all areas of science, and for a country the size of Hungary to conduct research that has an international impact, focusing on specific areas is “unavoidable”, he said. In an interview with government-close interview, he talked about the importance of reestablishing the honour of teachers in Hungary. That can regarded as a criticism towards the government, which keeps teacher wages low in Hungary. As a result, many talented people do not choose to become a teacher, and many teachers leave the field to work in a segment paying more and requiring less.

Hungarian Nobel Prize winner helps Ukraine

Krausz highlighted how important his teachers in the beginning of his professional career, and would like decision-makers to restore the honour of that profession in Hungary. In an interview with a German newspaper, he added he would offer the money he received with the prize – EUR 314 thousand – to Science 4 People, an association founded by him 1.5 years ago, and helping Ukrainians by bringing together scientists.

He added that sufficient funding was not enough to produce world class research results, the right infrastructure and people were also necessary.

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• Hungarian researcher wins this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics

Krausz said his interest in physics started in the classroom of “Mr Kiss” at the Radnoti Miklos Primary School in Mor, in the west of Hungary, and grew at the city’s Tancsics Mihaly Gymnasium.

He earned a degree in electrical engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and started to deal with laser physics at the technical university in Vienna.