Science and Culture of Hungary
Hungary has a significant scientific potential and actively participates in international cooperation programs. High-level research is being carried out in the fields of solid state physics, nuclear physics, optics, physical chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, applied mathematics, sociology, economics, and linguistics. Agricultural science is famous for seed production (corn) and breeding cattle.
Ignaz Semmelweis (1811-65; discoveries in obstetrics), Lipot Fejer (1880-1959; founder of the Hungarian mathematical school), Janos Bolyai (1802-60; independently of Lobachevsky developed the principles of “new geometry”), Janos-Gyorgy Kemeny are world famous. (1926-94; creator of the Basic programming language), Lorand Eötvös (1848-1919; creator of the gravitational variometer), Leo Szilard (1898-1964; one of the creators of the first nuclear reactor), Edward Teller (1908-2003; study of thermonuclear reactions ), Zoltan Bai (1900-92; founder of radar astronomy), Janos Neumann (1903-57; mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics), Janos Kornai (b. 1928; justification of the inevitability of shortages in a planned economy), Norbert Wiener (1894-1964; creator of cybernetics), etc.
Among the Nobel laureates there are 13 Hungarians (all of them – except I. Kertes – had citizenship of other countries): 1905 – Philipp Lenard (physics), 1914 – Robert Barani (medicine), 1925 – Richard Zsigmondy (chemistry), Albert Szent-Györdy (medicine ), 1943 – Gyorgy Hevesy (chemistry), 1961 – Gyorgy Bekesy (medicine), 1963 – Enyo Wigner (physics), 1971 – Denesh Gabor (physics), 1986 – John (Janos) Polanyi (chemistry), 1994 – Gyorgy Olah ( chemistry), John (Janosh) Harshani (economics), 2002 – Imre Kertész (literature).
The system of scientific research is headed by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (founded in 1825), which includes 35 academic institutes.
Financing of developments is carried out on a competitive basis. Budget funds are distributed through state and mixed funds. The main ones are: the National Fund for Scientific Research, the Central Fund for Technical Development, the Fund for the Development of Higher Education, etc.
According to educationvv, the education system includes: elementary schools (compulsory education begins at the age of 6 and lasts for 8 years), vocational schools, technical schools or gymnasiums (training lasts 3-4 years and provides secondary education. Most of them are state, but many are church, while there are very few private ones), universities, institutes and higher schools (provide higher education). A reform is being carried out in the direction of optimizing the number of teaching staff and rationalizing the education system.
In Hungary, fees for higher education have been abolished and the competitive procedure for entering universities (except for paid departments) has been preserved; state scholarships are paid to well-performing and needy students. A course has been set for the creation of large university centers. Financing of universities is carried out on a regulatory basis, taking into account the qualitative parameters and the number of students, the number of which exceeds 200 thousand people. (2002).
The national culture has rich traditions, however, due to the country’s peripheral position in Europe and linguistic isolation, it is relatively little known outside of Hungary.
The most notable contribution to the development of Hungarian culture was made by the writers and poets Sandor Petőfi (1823–48; lyrical and revolutionary poems, the poem The Knight Janos), Kalman Miksat (1847–1910; the founder of critical realism in Hungarian literature), Endre Ady (1877–. ..
General information about Hungary
The official name is the Republic of Hungary (Maqyar Koztarsasaq). Located in Central Europe. The area is 93 thousand km2, the population is 10.15 million people. (2003). The official language is Hungarian. The capital is Budapest (1.7 million people, 2003). Public holiday – Day of the founder of the state of St. Stephen (Stefan), celebrated on August 20. National holidays are March 15, the day of the beginning of the revolution and the liberation struggle of 1848–49, and also October 23, the day of the beginning of the revolution and the liberation struggle of 1956 and the proclamation of the Hungarian Republic in 1989. The monetary unit is the forint.
Member of the UN (since 1955), WTO (since 1973), IMF and IBRD (since 1982), Council of Europe (since 1991), OECD (since 1996), NATO (since 1999), EU (since 2004).
