21 Additional HUN-REN Research Infrastructures Receive Excellent or Promising Certification

The applications were evaluated based on the following criteria, in accordance with the scientific domain classifications of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI):

• Uniqueness, scientific excellence, national strategic importance, national connectivity,
• International collaborations and partnerships,
• Open access and utilisation,
• Education and training of future researchers,
• Industrial innovation collaborations.

As a result of the multi-stage evaluation process, NRIC identified 31 new excellent RIs, 15 excellent RI networks, and 11 promising RIs, and recommended the establishment of 2 promising RI networks. Following this decision, a total of 59 new certifications were awarded. Combined with the research infrastructures certified in 2021, this brings the total number of certified research infrastructures operating in Hungary from 2024 to 111.

Based on the NRIC's recommendation and with the approval of the Deputy State Secretary for Innovation at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, the following Hungarian research infrastructures from HUN-REN's applications have received certification.

In the field of energy, the Nuclear Materials Laboratory of the HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research received excellent certification. In the area of environmental sciences, the following infrastructures were awarded excellent certification: the HUN-REN CSFK GEOLAB Earth Sciences Research Infrastructure of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences; the Hungarian National Seismological Network of the HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science; and the "Aquatic Ecosystem Research – Interdisciplinary Research and Development Infrastructures of Lake Balaton, the Danube, the Tisza, and Their Catchment Areas" project of the HUN-REN Balaton Limnological Research Institute. In addition, the Open-Air and Virtual Agri-Environmental Simulation Platform of the HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research received promising certification.

In the field of health and food sciences, the following infrastructures have received excellent certification or excellent network certification: the Medical GeneTechnology Unit of the HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, the Complex Molecular and Cell Biology Centre of the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre in Szeged, the Translational Models Infrastructure of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, the HUN-REN IEM Microscopy Centre of the HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, and the AI-supported Integrated Biomolecular Analytical and Structural Analysis Infrastructure of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences. Additionally, the Veterinary Research and Diagnostic Platform of the HUN-REN Veterinary Medical Research Institute received promising certification.

In the field of physical sciences and engineering, the following infrastructures received excellent certification: the Micro- and Nanotechnology Research Laboratory of the HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, the Nanomaterials Laboratory of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, and the Digital Holographic Microscope Facility of the HUN-REN Institute for Computer Science and Control. The following infrastructures received excellent network certification: the Quantum Technology National Research Infrastructure Network of the HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, the Space Chemistry Research Network of the HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, and the "Human-Centred Technologies in Mechatronics and Robotics" project of the HUN-REN Institute for Computer Science and Control. In this scientific field, the Zero Magnetic Field Laboratory of the HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science and the Intelligent Vehicles Research Network of the HUN-REN Institute for Computer Science and Control received promising network certification.

Finally, in the field of social and cultural innovation, the EtnoLab project of the HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities received excellent certification, while the HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies received promising certification.

A list of all this year's certified institutes and the TOP RIs certified in 2021, organised by scientific domain, is available on the website of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office.