An interview with Péter Hegyi, the new Academic Director of Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub#
The interview was conducted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA
)#
A few months ago, Professor Péter Hegyi MAE, Director of the Semmelweis University
Centre for Translational Medicine and Director of the University of Pécs Institute for Translational Medicine succeeded László Lovász MAE, former president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, as director of the Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub. In the interview, the new director discusses the roles of Academia Europaea and the Budapest Knowledge Hub which is hosted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Professor Péter Hegyi
What is the main mission of Academia Europaea (AE)?
"The mission of AE, as a pan-European academy of science, is to facilitate scientific advancement and education and to support excellence in all fields of science in Europe. In addition, as AE’s members are the continent’s most exceptional scientists, one of AE’s important roles is to act as an advisory body to the European Union.
AE is one of the five academy networks that make up the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA). AE has now accumulated a huge knowledge base, as it has more than 5,500 members, including 87 Nobel Prize-winning scientists. AE is the pinnacle of scientific excellence in Europe, identifying the most urgent problems and finding scientific answers to them. For this mission, AE unites the missions of the national scientific academies, among them the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). The need for interdisciplinarity in the activities of the AE is strong, since most societal problems have social, economic, cultural and scientific aspects."
AE is one of the five academy networks that make up the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA
). AE has now accumulated a huge knowledge base, as it has more than 5,500 members, including 87 Nobel Prize-winning scientists. AE is the pinnacle of scientific excellence in Europe, identifying the most urgent problems and finding scientific answers to them. For this mission, AE unites the missions of the national scientific academies, among them the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). The need for interdisciplinarity in the activities of the AE is strong, since most societal problems have social, economic, cultural and scientific aspects."
Is the organisation of Academia Europaea similar to that of national academies?
"There are similarities and differences. The members of AE are divided into three groups (humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, and life sciences). It is a matter of great pride that the chair of the Life Sciences Section is Éva Kondorosi MAE. This feature is similar to the organisation of national academies. AE also has knowledge hubs, including the Budapest Knowledge Hub, which was established in 2020 and whose first president was László Lovász, former president of MTA. Other knowledge hubs operate, for example, in Munich, Tbilisi, Bergen and Cardiff. These knowledge hubs are not only organised on a regional basis, but identify scientific themes which play a central role in their projects. During the first years of the Budapest Knowledge Hub (which was a very difficult period because of the Covid pandemic), it succeeded in identifying the main problems of the region and focused on science education, the regions along the Danube, urban sustainability and European participation in global research programmes."
What is your experience with Academia Europaea?
"I was appointed chair of the Clinical and Veterinary Section of the Life Sciences Class four years ago. As a member of the section, I had previously been confronted with the problem (which is the main focus of my research) that the results of medical research are used with very low efficiency in terms of the patient’s bedside (in the clinical practice) – this is the main issue of translational medicine. The scale of the problem is incredible. Every year, 1.7 million Europeans under the age of 75 die. But if we utilised all the scientific knowledge and put it into practice, 1.2 million of these early deaths could be prevented. Most of these early deaths could be avoided through more effective prevention, but using the scientific knowledge we have could also improve treatment. The rate of preventable deaths in Hungary is even more shocking: four out of five deaths could be avoided if scientific knowledge was used efficiently. Once we realised the problem, we implemented a translational medicine programme in the clinical section of AE, using a new model to apply the new discoveries. This model was so successful that we were able to publish it in one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, Nature Medicine. As a result of our success, the department’s membership grew from 120 to over 400 in a few years. Obviously, if we establish useful and successful programmes in AE which focus on relevant social problems, they will attract the attention of scientists and more and more of them will join AE because they want to take part in our initiatives."
. As a result of our success, the department’s membership grew from 120 to over 400 in a few years. Obviously, if we establish useful and successful programmes in AE which focus on relevant social problems, they will attract the attention of scientists and more and more of them will join AE because they want to take part in our initiatives."
Does the Academia Europaea recruit new members in a similar way to national scientific academies?
"There are similarities: new members must be recommended by at least two existing members, then at higher levels of the Academy the members of the boards vote for or against their admission. But the number of AE members is not limited, which is why the number of members was able to grow to more than 5,000 in a few decades. It should be noted that members of AE do not receive an honorarium, but have to pay a symbolic membership fee."
What are your goals during your term as director of the AE Budapest Knowledge Hub?
"One of my main aims is to increase the use of scientific results for the benefit of society. To this end, we will promote an evidence-based implementation approach. We will try to communicate discoveries and results which have already been proven to be effective and cost-effective to policy makers and the public. My other goal is to increase the visibility of Hungarian science in Europe. The attempt at reaching this goal will be aided if Hungarian scientists actively contribute to the first objective. In my opinion, these goals can be most effectively achieved with a bottom-up development approach. It is not our task to tell the scientists which fields they should do research in, but instead, let us all bring our own expertise and areas of specialisation and see how we can use this knowledge to create a new whole that is greater than the sum of its parts."
What can Academia Europaea do for the research community?
"The AE Budapest Knowledge Hub has always relied heavily on MTA as its host institution, and naturally this connection will not change in the future. In addition, we will strengthen the role of the Young Academy of Europe inside Academia Europaea, to present and, where possible, expand scientific career opportunities for young researchers in Europe and Hungary. Hungarian talent care is still exceptional at the secondary school and undergraduate levels – look at the National Academy of Scientist Education or the Conference of Scientific Student Circles. At the same time, we must face the fact that the Hungarian career prospects for researchers in Hungary after university undergraduate education are extremely limited. If we look at the number of Hungarian and Western European PhD scholarships, we can see Hungary’s numbers are six to eight times lower."
What can Academia Europaea do about alleviating this problem?
"Here again, the role of AE is mainly advisory: identifying the main scientific and social problems and working out possible solutions. We can only be competitive with Western European countries if we first build a strong basis for more and more talented young people to choose science as their vocation, from which they can become the best scientists. But first we must sow the seed, and then water the seedlings consistently. To do this, we need to create a scientific career model for young people. At the same time, it must be made clear that Academia Europaea is not a scientific grant-making organisation and we can only provide token amounts of support for projects that are launched. But our research programmes are aimed at an interdisciplinary analysis of the published discoveries, at a lower cost. I also think it is very important to strengthen intercontinental research cooperation, because Asian science, for example, is developing at an incredible speed."
What role will the Hungarian Academy of Sciences play in the future operation of the Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub?
"MTA will be the home of the Knowledge Hub, and naturally we will manage our future research projects with the help of MTA. I will negotiate with all the sections of MTA and ask their members to come forward with their project ideas, and by bringing in their intellectual capital, be part of our initiatives. I find it realistic to expect that in the next few years up to 20-30 such projects can be implemented, the results of which will hopefully be published again in the world’s most prestigious scientific journals."
Find out more about the Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub
.
The interview was posted on the 20th September 2024 and conducted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA).
).
