Minister Damjanović in official visit to Hungary: New initiatives in the field of research and innovation

   

Dr. Sanja Damjanović, the Minister of Science of Montenegro, paid an official visit to Hungary yesterday, meeting with Prof. László Palkovics, the Minister for Innovation and Technology, and Prof. Miklós Kásler, Minister of Human Capacities.
At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Palkovics reflected on the joint historical circumstances that led to similar challenges being posed before the two countries with regard to science and technology development. He gave a brief account of the national innovation system and technological platforms in Hungary, indicating in particular the importance of targeted research and the need for science to respond to social challenges. According to him, it is also necessary to strengthen the links with the business sector and the role of infrastructure for support to innovations, such as science and technology parks.

Minister Damjanović familiarised the Hungarian Minister for Innovation and Technology with the ongoing efforts of Montenegro to build a sustainable national innovation ecosystem through preparatory activities on the Smart Specialisation Strategy, the project of establishing the first science and technology park, support to innovative start-ups within the European Commission’s Policy Support Facility (PSF) and the funding of innovation programmes. Damjanović particularly pointed to the importance of large research infrastructures that ought to attract and gather excellent researchers and the best talents, focusing especially on the regional project of establishing the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies – SEEIIST.

The two counterparts agreed to work together in the fields of mutual interest by strengthening bilateral scientific and technological cooperation, preparing joint projects within international programmes, cooperating on the preparation of a joint position within Horizon Europe – the next research and innovation framework programme of the EU and establishing dialogue with a view to find an optimal cooperation model for cancer research in the context of the SEEIIST project.

   

During the meeting with the representatives of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office and the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the national system was presented, as well as the implementation of bilateral projects with Montenegro and joint participation in projects within the EU programmes, such as Horizon 2020, EUREKA and COST.

   

Minister Kásler confirmed readiness for cooperation in the field of human resources, pointing to different types of education and training with a special focus on research in the field of oncology, which was recognised as a topic of mutual interest. In addition, he presented the initiative to establish the Academy for Oncology Research and pointed to the electronic healthcare service that existed for years in Hungary, as well as to the importance of proper management of cancer data, which is a potential field for cooperation of the two countries. 

   

Minister Damjanović explained the concept and time-frame for implementation of the SEEIIST project, which will focus on state-of-the-art treatment of a wide range of cancer types, indicating in particular the importance of establishing a clinical network for the needs of the project and electronic cancer registries in the region and confirming that the latter would open many possibilities for further dialogue on the topic. Furthermore, she confirmed interest in the project of Academy for Oncology Research, so it was agreed that the future steps in that regard would be determined in the coming period.

The Minister of Science also visited the Institute for Computer Science and Control of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which encompasses the EPIC Centre of Excellence and EPIC InnoLabs business entity, as well as the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
During the visit, Minister Damjanović also met with Mr. Martin Kern from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). On that occasion, she gave an account of the national initiatives for support to innovation, identifying EIT as one of the potential international partners. On the other hand, Mr. Kern presented the activities of the Institute regarding the associated countries and pointed to three directions of its activities: education programmes, start-up programmes and innovative projects.

   

It was agreed that Montenegro would appoint a contact person responsible for exchange of information with the EIT, as well as that EIT info day would be organised Montenegro in the second half of 2019, as an ideal opportunity for the innovation community of Montenegro to learn about the activities and programmes of the EIT and to agree concrete forms of cooperation. 

   

The meetings were also attended by Mr. Aleksandar Moštrokol, the Ambassador of Montenegro to Hungary.

Montenegrin delegation also included Ms. Smilja Kažić Vujačić, Head of the Section for International Cooperation and EU Integration and Ms. Marijeta Barjaktarović Lanzardi, Head of the Section for Innovation and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Science.