The British Academy joins calls to safeguard academic autonomy of Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The British Academy supports the statement by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) calling for the protection of the institutional autonomy and academic freedom of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

The statement (below) follows the latest in a continuing series of infringements by the Hungarian government on the academic freedom of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

In supporting ALLEA’s statement the Academy reiterates the previous concerns it has raised over academic freedom in Hungary. In July 2018, the foreign secretaries of the British Academy and the Royal Society sent an open letter to the Hungarian Minister of Innovation and Technology, Mr László Palkovics, following the proposal of new laws that – the Academies believed – would compromise the scientific freedom and independence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.