The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) and the Hungarian Young Academy (HYA) presented the first comprehensive national survey on the situation of Hungarian researchers at a public session on 24 November 2025. The study, titled The Situation of Researchers in Hungary and Researchers with Ties to Hungary, provides unprecedented insight into how researchers view their working conditions, career prospects, and mental well-being.
Opening the event, Tamás Freund, President of MTA, underlined the importance of the survey as a unique overview of the challenges facing the country’s research community. Sociologist Júlia Koltai presented the background and initial results, highlighting issues such as excessive workload, income levels, publication patterns, and the alarming number of younger researchers considering leaving academia.
Psychologist Bernadette Kun discussed the mental health findings, noting that researchers in Hungary report significantly lower well-being than the general population. Burnout is more common among women, nearly half of whom have experienced gender-based disadvantage in their careers.
In closing, László Kollár, Secretary-General of MTA, reflected on the most expected and most surprising results, as well as the factors that offer reasons for optimism. He emphasised the importance of continuing MTA’s scholarship programmes and science-popularisation activities, and of strengthening institutional support to restore trust in the predictability of scientific careers.
Key findings include:
- Only 21% of researchers under 40 consider academic career paths predictable.
- 66% view the Hungarian grant system as unpredictable.
- 57% do not feel appreciated by society.
- 50% of all researchers – and almost two thirds of those under 40 – have considered leaving their scientific career.
- 48% of female researchers report negative gender-based discrimination.
- Psychological well-being among researchers is significantly lower than in the general population.
- Most researchers describe their work environment as supportive and professionally fair.
- The community remains divided on the awarding practices of the title “MTA Doctor of Science”, a prerequisite for full professorship.
Source: Hungarian Young Academy
Photo: Dale Pike/Unsplash
