The Rényi Alfréd Institute of Mathematics has announced the eighth call for Rényi Postdoctoral Fellowship, named after the institute’s founder, Alfréd Rényi. The fellowship recipient is selected each year in April and is expected to start working at the institute in September.
This year a record number of applications were submitted: 230 young researchers holding a PhD applied for the opportunity to spend two years at Rényi Institute. It is important to note that the position is tied directly to the institute itself – and its research environment as a whole – rather than to any specific project. The aim of the fellowship is to support the selected researcher in reaching a higher professional level during his or her two-year postdoctoral period, enabling them to take the next step in their academic career upon the fellowship's termination.
“Applications arrived both from Hungary and abroad. As in previous years, we aim to select the best candidate from among the applicants. We have managed to choose outstanding young talents so far, and the program has gained a fair reputation: the ‘Rényi postdoctoral brand’ has been established, which clearly contributes to this year’s large number of applicants,” says academician András Stipsicz, Director General of the institute.
According to the call, preference is given if the applicant’s research plan fits well with the ongoing research at the institute. The position carries no teaching obligations, allowing the selected fellow to devote all his or her energy to research. Postdoctoral positions and fellowships play a key role in building the careers of young researchers: after earning their PhD, they provide a bridge between the structured framework of doctoral studies and fully independent research positions, ensuring time and resources necessary for their professional development.
“We fundamentally insist on quality and performance,” adds András Stipsicz, who himself once received the postdoctoral fellowship named after Zoltán Magyary. Candidates must show strong promise, and the institute’s community expects them to actively engage in the scientific life of Rényi Institute – without the requirement of speaking Hungarian.
Several previously selected fellows are now Rényi Institute’s researchers. One example is Rényi postdoctoral fellow Rashi Lunia, who joined the institute from the Mathematical Institute of the Max Planck Society – Germany’s leading organization for fundamental research. At Rényi, Lunia has joined the number theory research group led by Péter Maga. Dr. Maga is a senior research fellow at the institute and himself began his career there as a postdoctoral researcher; he also received support from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Premium Postdoctoral Researcher Programme. His project proposal, titled Automorphic Forms and L-functions, is published in an MTA volume. Rashi Lunia is also supported by the joint MTA Lendület–MSCA COFUND programme.
| The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is the European Union’s most important programme supporting researcher mobility and training. It is a part of Horizon Europe. Its aim is to foster researchers’ professional development through international and interdisciplinary mobility across all fields of science. In Hungary, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) currently holds an active MSCA COFUND agreement. Between 2025 and 2029, postdoctoral fellowships announced within the Momentum Young Researchers Programme are thus jointly funded by the European Commission and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Within individual Postdoctoral Fellowship schemes, several Hungarian universities and research centres – such as Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), and member institutes of the Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) – participate as partners or host institutions in programmes funded through MSCA COFUND. |
“We plan to expand the Rényi Institute’s successful postdoctoral programme,” confirmed Director General András Stipsicz. “We also intend to apply directly for MSCA COFUND support, which co-finances regional, national, or international doctoral and postdoctoral programmes.”
MSCA co-funding could further strengthen the international visibility of Rényi Institute as one of Hungary’s leading centres of mathematical research, whose researchers have already won 13 European Research Council Grants, and the institute has long provided young mathematicians with opportunities to prepare for successful participation in European excellence programmes – most notably, of course, ERC competitions. Read more on how researchers in Hungary can be more successful at receiving ERC Grants HERE.
“At Rényi Institute, we consider the mobility of young researchers particularly important,” emphasized Dezső Miklós, the institute’s Scientific Deputy Director General. “This includes involving foreign researchers in Hungarian research and integrating young researchers returning from abroad into our work – and we also provide institutional mentors to support them.”