HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged 
May 21, 2026 | News
On May 18, our guest speakers were the coordinators of the young researchers’ movement at the University of Pannonia.
In the framework of the Young Researcher Career Path Seminar series of the Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Tamás Ruppert, co-chair of the Hungarian Young Academy and associate professor at the University of Pannonia, together with László Koók, board member of the Hungarian Young Academy and senior research fellow at the University of Pannonia delivered a talk entitled “The Young Researchers’ Challenge and the Young Community’s Strength.” Representing the early-career researcher community both within their university as well as on the national level, they shared their experiences, challenges, and insights, highlighting the opportunities and difficulties they have encountered since establishing their local network.
Beginning with personal reflections, Tamás Ruppert emphasized the importance of supervisors serving as role models for young researchers. Although scientific research is driven by passion rather than being merely a job, he stressed that researchers must consciously manage their time by setting clear boundaries while also remaining attentive mentors to their students.
Within the framework of the young researchers’ community at the University of Pannonia, they have identified three major challenges. Beyond building a real community and systematically mapping the most pressing issues, the recruitment of PhD students emerged as the most critical obstacle, as it is essential for launching new research groups.
To address this issue, based on a proposal submitted by the Young Researchers Community established at University of Pannonia, the university introduced a Research Group Start Program grant initiative designed to fund the salary of new PhD students through a system of clearly defined milestones and checkpoints.
Finally, Tamás outlined his vision for establishing a national network of local young researcher communities. The launch of this initiative may take place next May within the framework of the Young Researchers’ Forum of the Hungarian Young Academy.
As a kind of “homework for himself,” László reflected on the main challenges involved in sustaining an already established network of young scientists. In his view, preventing failure in this context requires strengthening social connectedness within an increasingly competitive environment. Although this may seem paradoxical, researchers often experience isolation in a field where collaboration and interaction-driven innovation are constantly encouraged.
For this reason, he stressed the importance of building networks and “acting like forests rather than individual trees.” The transfer of knowledge, opportunities, and resilience is essential to ensure that future generations of young researchers do not have to face and repeat the same struggles alone. Organizations such as the Hungarian Young Academy and local young researcher communities can play a particularly important role in this process by maintaining a balance between grassroots engagement – which may be ignored – and institutional structures – which usually do not preserve their authenticity.
He emphasized that building trust is a slow process and that creating a genuine community may take years. Since energy and resources are limited, and these initiatives rely largely on volunteer efforts, sustaining them requires consistent, long-term work, shared responsibility, and diversification of tasks. He also highlighted the importance of honesty and openly discussing failures. At the same time, László argued that a scarcity mindset must be abandoned in order to foster an open and supportive community in which opportunities and resources are shared among members.
In conclusion, Imola Wilhelm, scientific adviser at the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged and alumna of the Hungarian Young Academy, who organized and moderated the event, reflected on how several themes emerging from the talks closely connected to topics previously addressed in the seminar series. These included mentoring, international experience, and the avoidance of workaholism as key factors in attracting and supporting students. She also emphasized the importance of openly discussing failures rather than concealing them, a topic that has likewise been central to earlier seminars. In addition, time management, as well as the balance between competition and collaboration, emerged as potential subjects for future sessions in the series.
