Hungary's national R&D funding agency, co-funding transnational ERA-NET programmes across health, quantum technologies, materials, and food systems.
NKFIH is Hungary's National Research, Development and Innovation Office — the country's primary public agency responsible for funding and coordinating research and innovation policy. In H2020, NKFIH acts as Hungary's representative in transnational funding instruments, pooling national budgets with other countries through ERA-NET Cofunds and Coordination and Support Actions. They do not conduct research themselves; instead, they co-fund joint transnational calls, operate National Contact Point networks, and build institutional capacity to connect Hungarian researchers with European programs. Their participation ensures that Hungarian research teams can access cross-border funding in fields from quantum technologies to rare diseases.
18 ERA-NET Cofund projects spanning quantum technologies (QuantERA I & II), materials (M-ERA.NET 2 & 3), health (ERA PerMed, TRANSCAN-3, NEURON Cofund2), and agri-food (ICT-AGRI-FOOD).
Sustained NCP engagement across domains: NCP_WIDE.NET (widening), Net4MobilityPlus (MSCA), Idealist2020 (ICT), Access2EIC (innovation), Bridge2HE (Horizon Europe transition).
Co-funding in rare diseases (E-Rare-3, EJP RD), neurodegenerative diseases (JPCOFUND2), antimicrobial resistance (JPIAMR-ACTION), cancer (TRANSCAN-3), and personalised medicine (ERA PerMed).
Participated in both QuantERA (2016-2022) and QuantERA II (2021-2026), among the largest ERA-NETs in quantum computing, simulation, and sensing.
Supported Hungarian centres of excellence: EPIC (production informatics), HU-MOLMEDEX and HCEMM (molecular medicine with EMBL partnership).
Recent entry via FOSC (food security and climate change across Africa, America, Europe) and ICT-AGRI-FOOD (smart agri-food systems).
In the early H2020 period (2014-2018), NKFIH focused heavily on building domestic research capacity — establishing centres of excellence in molecular medicine and production informatics, running NCP support networks, and entering its first ERA-NET cofunds in materials and quantum technologies. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward health-related ERA-NETs (rare diseases, cancer, neuroscience, antimicrobial resistance) and emerging technology domains like ICT and FET, while also expanding into food systems and climate. The trajectory shows a maturing funding agency moving from foundational capacity building toward more targeted thematic co-funding across a broader range of scientific domains.
NKFIH is expanding its transnational co-funding portfolio into health, green materials, and quantum technologies — signalling Hungary's strategic research priorities for Horizon Europe.
NKFIH participates exclusively as a partner — never as coordinator — which is typical for national funding agencies in ERA-NET structures where coordination usually falls to a lead agency from a larger member state. With 338 unique partners across 58 countries, they are a high-connectivity hub, engaging with a vast and diverse network rather than repeating with the same partners. This makes them a reliable consortium member for any ERA-NET or coordination action that needs a Hungarian national funding body at the table.
NKFIH has collaborated with 338 unique partners across 58 countries, making it one of the most broadly connected Hungarian public bodies in H2020. Their network spans all of Europe plus partners in Africa and the Americas through food security and climate initiatives (FOSC).
NKFIH is the gateway to Hungarian national research funding in transnational programmes — any ERA-NET or joint programming initiative that wants Hungary's participation needs NKFIH at the table. Unlike research institutes, they bring co-funding commitments from Hungary's national budget, making them essential for launching joint transnational calls. For consortium builders, partnering with NKFIH means gaining access to Hungary's research community and ensuring Hungarian teams can apply to co-funded calls.
