The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) Presidium awarded the Hungarian Dairy Research Institute Ltd. with the MTA Centre of Excellence qualification, recognising the high-quality scientific and research work of the institute. With this recognition, HDRI became one of the most prominent Hungarian research centres.
By creating the Centre of Excellence certification, the Academy aims to provide an opportunity for enterprises or company organizational units dealing with research and development (R&D) to recognize their high-quality research work, as well as to measure their scientific performance according to international standards. It also aims to attract more attention not only to individual outstanding researchers, but also to excellent research sites and research communities. The prestigious recognition was awarded for the first time to research centres operating within businesses.
HDRI submitted a detailed proposal for the award call, in which it reported the scientific degrees and performance of researchers, the innovation activity, the patents filed in the last five years and the scientific publications published in the same period. Collaborations with university research teams and active involvement in PhD trainings were also part of the evaluation. The uniqueness and strength of HDRI’s portfolio refers to the widespread fields of activities; in addition to commercial and laboratory services, it also performs R+D+I activities. With product or technology development and laboratory method development, researchers provide solutions to many challenges of the food industry, thereby supporting the work of current and future business and innovation partners.
On May 22, Dr. Tamás Freund, President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Dr. László Hunyady, Chairman of the Certification Committee handed over the certificate to Dr. Róbert Kocsis, Managing director of HDRI. The MTA Centre of Excellence qualification is valid for five years.
It is a great honour for HDRI that the professional and scientific work is recognized not only by practitioners and business partners, but also by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Róbert Kocsis said: “As an MTA Centre of Excellence, we will continue to perform our tasks with pride and commitment, based on our best professional knowledge, so that all our business and cooperation partners will acknowledge our work.”
Evelin Simon-Korcz
research fellow
