Fields of society, economy, history, archaeology, humanities and language
ELKH’s research centers, institutes and university research teams – Research Centre for the Humanities (BTK), Centre for Economic and Regional Studies (KRTK), Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (NYTK), Institute for Computer Science and Control (SZTAKI), Centre for Social Sciences (CSS), Military History Institute and Museum, University of Szeged and the Hungarian Medievalism Research Group of the Hungarian National Archives (HIM-SZTE-MNL Hungarian Medievalism Research Group) – are the most outstanding Hungarian centers in their field, working with highly experienced researchers. Therefore, they have a leading role in the analysis of social, economic and industrial challenges, in the foundation and elaboration of responses to these challenges, in the protection of the Hungarian and European culture and in the improvement of the quality of life.
Through the micro and macro level analysis of the conditions for economic growth both in the short and long term, the researchers at KRTK aim to reveal how large distribution networks and associated policies can influence the sustainable development of the Hungarian economy by making company networks more innovative and effective; by helping them contribute to the replenishment of human resources at increasingly high levels; and by helping people break out of the poverty trap. SZTAKI is participating in an international consortium to create a new digital platform concept that supports a cyclical economic model that bridges the asymmetry of information present among stakeholders in the value chain.
The investigation of policy processes allows for the creation of methodologies to analyze the implementation of government policies, which is carried out in CSS’s Child Opportunities Research Group and the Research Centre for Family Studies. The data requirements of public policy research are made possible by building databases leveraging big data methods, which also rely on investigations into political and social context.
The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the ethnic/minority dimension of mobility is made possible by the research conducted at CSS on the culture, values and social networks of minorities within and outside the borders of Hungary. This survey reveals what people from the minority or majority population in Hungary or the neighboring countries and in the Western European diaspora think about nationhood and the different forms of social coexistence.
Within domestic and international collaborations, BTK is researching the past and culture of Hungarians. In line with the center’s basic task of revealing and maintaining Hungarian cultural heritage and strengthening Hungarian identity, BTK is operating research groups both at the central and institute level to explore subjects fundamental to the national identity, while at the same time reflecting on the challenges of the present.
BTK’s Institute of Archaeology conducts research on the archaeological evidence of the past inhabitants of the Carpathian Basin and of the Magyars in the 8,000 years between the formation of the first food producing societies until the Early Modern Age. The institute has become the most important laboratory for archaeogenetics in Hungary, where high profile researchers with strong international educational backgrounds and extensive sampling experience are conducting research in the field. BTK has extensive international relationships, including with the Harvard Medical School for example, and performs research that excels in Europe. In line with its mission to conduct basic research on the history of the Hungarian state and society, the BTK Institute of History publishes valuable sources and comprehensive books, sometimes in cooperation with ELKH-funded university research groups. The Institute’s interdisciplinary research groups deal with topics forming public opinion in Hungary, including the early history of the Magyars, the Battle of Mohács, the Siege of Szigetvár, family histories in Hungary and Europe, the Treaty of Trianon and its consequences, the Horthy era, the Soviet occupation, and the history of the Hungarian provinces in the 20th century.
The Institute of Ethnology, which performs research on Hungarian ethnography and ethnology, folkloristics, cultural and social anthropology, is currently working on the Lexicon of Folk Poetry. The comprehensive publications of this field of science are compiled in the Institute (Lexicon of Ethnography, Ethnographic Atlas, Hungarian Ethnography, folklore and genre catalogs). The institutes of BTK own collections considered to be national treasures, including the Bartók Archives and the Hungarian Music Archives of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition, Ernő Dohnányi’s legacy is owned by the BTK Institute of Musicology, which also operates a museum. The institute’s methods go back to the methodological traditions established by Zoltán Kodály and Bence Szabolcsi, and thus their work synthesizes research on historical music, folk music and folk dance. The digital collections of the Department for Folk Music and Folk Dance Research, and the Department of the History of Early Music are of great importance to Hungarian culture.
The BTK Institute of Art History maintains a database of the most important handbooks and bibliographies of Hungarian art history and of art on Hungarian topics. The Institute also owns a collection of photographs of significant works of art, artists and buildings. It manages the Collection of Art and the Psychiatric Art Collection of MTA.
In the research conducted on history by the ELKH-funded university research groups, a significant result is the publication of the Archives of the Anjou and Sigismund Eras by two departments of the HIM-SZTE-MNL Research Group for Medievistics. The publication of these archives ensures the preservation of this important part of Hungarian cultural heritage and provides indispensable sources for investigation into the medieval Hungarian state and society, and for comparative history research in Central Europe. It also serves as a firm base for the publication of the archives from the Hunyadi Era and the period before the Battle of Mohács.
The strategically important tasks of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (NYTK) include the creation of language technology and healthcare applications, as well as the exploration of the past of the Hungarian language, which is one of the most important carriers of our culture, and also the listing and preservation of Hungarian written records.