The newly established Hungarian Frontiers Foundation will have a new home in Budapest. The cornerstone for the national research organization was laid in Budapest by Professor Ferenc Krausz, together with the foundation’s board members Randy Schekman and László Lovász, as well as the foundation’s director general, Markó Madaras, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Together, they buried a time capsule at the construction site containing early drafts of the concept for the center, the decisions regarding its implementation, and personal messages from the board members.
In his opening speech, Ferenc Krausz emphasized that the Frontiers Campus will not simply be a new institution or just a research center, but a scientific ecosystem—a system that connects the full spectrum of science and generations, “one that will shape the future here in the Carpathian Basin and far beyond its borders, from talent development to cutting-edge research, from basic research to societal application, all under one roof.”
“The cause of science cannot be a matter of political cycles; investment in knowledge cannot be a partisan issue; supporting excellence must be a national minimum if future generations are to live in prosperity here in the Carpathian Basin. This is an area where decision-makers of all times share responsibility. We owe gratitude to those whose support made today possible,” Ferenc Krausz stated at the event in Újbuda.
According to Krausz, the campus is needed so that the spark of curiosity in Hungary is not lost but can lead to discovery. “Laying the foundation stone is a decision about the future, the setting of a direction, the designation of a benchmark, and a commitment. It is the laying of the foundations for knowledge that becomes value at home.”
He added that the measure of science is not national but international, and it always compares itself to the highest standards. “We are building the Frontiers Campus so that it will rank among the best—a place where the world’s leading researchers are eager to come, and where the best Hungarian researchers are happy to return. The Frontiers Campus will connect to institutions from which we can learn, from which our top researchers will come, and where our young talents can study,” he said.
Krausz also noted that medicine has undergone unprecedented development in recent decades, but the ability to not only treat diseases but recognize them in time still lies ahead. “The Center for Molecular Fingerprinting (CMF) was created precisely for this reason: to understand the functioning of the human body through molecular information, to detect changes in time, and to make the medicine of the future preventive. CMF can now return home to the Frontiers Campus,” said Krausz in his role as CEO of CMF.
He highlighted the special role of teachers in science—those who first notice the spark of curiosity, who encourage questions, give space for thinking, and support talent. “This is why the Frontiers Campus will also build on a community of outstanding teachers—the first mentors of future researchers and innovators.”
At the event, Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, emphasized in his speech that Krausz has long argued that despite strong foundations, excellent teachers, and many talented Hungarians pursuing careers in the natural sciences, they often have to leave Hungary at some point in their lives because modern research requires technological and technical conditions that smaller states like Hungary typically lack.
For this reason, an agreement was reached with Ferenc Krausz: he and his team would bring forward plans for creating a world-class research center under domestic conditions, while the national government would provide the necessary support.
Internet: www.frontiers.hu
Picture: Ádám Béres
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