Hungary looks into new laws to stimulate innovation
The Hungarian government has announced plans to promote the commercialisation of publicly funded research and encourage private investment in the biotechnology sector. At present, Hungary restricts universities and research institutes from receiving funding from non-government sources. The Act on Research, Development and Technological Innovation would dispose of these legal barriers, enabling research groups to attract private finance. Currently, spending on research and development (R&D) has fallen from around two per cent of GDP in 1989 to 0.9 per cent in 2001, well below the EU average of two per cent. This trend has led to a number of laboratories all over Hungary being forced to shut down. The Act on Research, Development and Technological Innovation has been debated in Parliament since the beginning of December. If passed, it will encourage greater collaboration between universities and the private sector. Academics will be able to form their own start-ups and PhD students will be encouraged to conduct research for companies. Furthermore, researchers behind government-funded inventions will be given ownership of their creations. It is hoped that the law will provide a clear framework for commercialisation and encourage foreign venture capital funds to invest in Hungarian biotechnology firms. It is expected that the law will be passed in January. In addition, the government has also obtained new funding for R&D through the Research and Technology Innovation Fund Act, which will provide applied research grants to research institutes, firms and universities. A significant tranche of the 40 billion forints (163 million euro), which will be handed out yearly, will go to biotechnology - one of the government's five research priorities.
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Hungary