Unfortunately, the Széchenyi Prizes awarded on the occasion of Hungary’s national holiday on March 15 2020 could not be presented to the recipients due to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the award ceremony was finally held on August 19 at the Hungarian Parliament where János Áder, President of the Hungarian Republic presented the reputable prizes to the recipients. This year, six of the outstanding scholars who were awarded the Széchenyi Prize have direct affiliation with the Eötvös Loránd Research Network.
László Rezső Borhy
This award recognizes his exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during his outstanding scientific career as a distinguished expert in Hungarian and international ancient sciences, specifically his significant research in Roman provincial archaeology and conducted academic work on the history and archaeology of Pannonia.
László Rezső Borhy is an Archaeologist, an Ancient Historian, a Full-time Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Rector of the Eötvös Loránd University, an Ordinary Professor of the Department of Classical and Roman Provincial Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, and a Member of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network’s Steering Committee.
Pál Péter Pálfy
This award recognizes his exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during his outstanding scientific career, particularly his notable research results in the field of algebra, more specifically in the field of group theory and universal algebra. His achievements along with his vital work as institution director and science organizer have strengthened the international recognition of Hungarian science.
Pál Péter Pálfy is a Mathematician, a Full-time Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a Research Professor at the Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics belonging to the ELKH Research Network, and a Member of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network’s Steering Committee.
Melinda Berlász
This award recognizes her exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during her outstanding scientific career, especially the notable results of her niche research in the field of 20th century Hungarian music education history, her widespread dissemination of the oeuvre of Hungarian composers and music performers forced to emigrate, hence lesser known to the public.
Melinda Berlász is a Bence Szabolcsi Prize winning music historian, a Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, a retired senior fellow at the Institute of Musicology of the Research Centre for the Humanities belonging to the ELKH Research Network.
László Buday
This award recognizes his exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during his outstanding scientific career, particularly his notable research achievements in the field of cellular signalling transduction pathways, his high-level work in teaching biochemistry and molecular biology, and his scientific outreach activities.
László Buday is a Doctor and Biochemist, a Full-time Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Director of the Institute of Enzymology of the Research Centre for Natural Sciences belonging to the ELKH Research Network, and a Professor at the Department of Medical Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Pathobiochemistry of the Faculty of General Medicine at Semmelweis University.
Ferenc Iglói
This award recognizes his exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during his outstanding scientific career, particularly his extensive internationally acclaimed research results in statistical physics, specifically in the field of the collective behavior of multiple-body systems, and his contribution to developing research-based curricula in education.
Ferenc Iglói has a PhD in Physics, he is a Scientific Advisor at the Institute of Solid State Physics and Optics of the Wigner Research Center for Physics belonging to the ELKH Research Network, a Professor at the Department of Theoretical Physics of the Institute of Physics of the Faculty of Sciences and Informatics at the University of Szeged.
László Mihály Csiba
This award recognizes his exceptionally valuable contribution to Hungary during his outstanding scientific career in the field of the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, in particular his outstanding role played in the elaboration of a treatment model targeted at facilitating the spread of the best pharmaceutical treatment of stroke, i.e. venous thrombolysis.
László Mihály Csiba is a Batthyány-Strattmann László award-winning neurologist, a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, President of the Hungarian Neurology Society, Professor of the Department of Neurology at the Clinical Center of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Debrecen in Hungary, and head of the MTA–DE Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Research Group of ELKH.