We, the undersigned, express our deep concern over the recent decision by the Governing Board of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network - a body established by the Hungarian Government in 2019 after detaching the research network from the 200-year-old Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

On June 20, 2025, the Governing Board resolved to dismember the network by transferring control of four of its research centres (comprised of 20 institutes) to Eötvös Loránd University, a university already struggling with severe underfunding. This decision was made in direct contradiction to prior assurances that the integrity of HUN-REN would be preserved. It was also taken without any meaningful consultation with the affected researchers or scientific leadership, and without conducting any impact assessment. Shockingly, less than one week passed between the initial notification of the proposed decision and its implementation.

Despite the compressed timeline, the move was met with strong resistance: opposition from the directors of the four affected research centres, over 75 Hungarian ERC and Momentum Grant holders, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and nearly 90% of the 800 research staff members who managed to vote in the short timeframe.

We strongly oppose any radical restructuring of research institutions that is carried out without transparency, evidence-based planning, or meaningful consultation with the scientific community. We condemn all political interference in scientific governance, especially actions that seek to marginalize the voices of researchers in matters that directly affect their work and institutions.

We call on the Governing Board of HUN-REN to immediately revoke this decision, and we urge the Hungarian Government to respect the autonomy of its scientific institutions and cease any form of political pressure that undermines academic freedom.
 

Democratic Union of Scientific Workers  (TDDSZ)