Hungary 2026 Call for application

Hungary 2026 call for application

HUNGARIAN APPLICATION CALL 2026

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Hungarian Scholarship – 2026

L’ORÉAL Hungary and the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO are announcing their scholarship call for the 23rd time this year, in the spirit of the international L’ORÉAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program, for the year 2026.

The name of the competition: L’ORÉAL–UNESCO For Women in Science Hungarian Scholarship

The aim of the scholarship is to encourage young female scientists and researchers to achieve outstanding and practical scientific results, as well as to support and advance the position of Hungarian women in scientific and specifically research careers across a wide range of research fields. The program is open to PhD or postdoctoral candidates, as well as physicians engaged in research.

1. Eligibility Criteria for the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Hungarian Fellowship

• Hungarian citizenship, or
• in the case of foreign citizenship, the applicant must have been demonstrably involved in Hungarian research for at least one year or be conducting research at an institution in Hungary
• The call is open to women engaged in scientific research in one of the fields listed below who are working at higher education institutions, their research institutes, or any research network institution within the territory of the Republic of Hungary:

1/ natural sciences, life sciences (see appendix)

2/ materials sciences (see appendix)

3/ formal sciences (see appendix)

The 2026 call for applications includes 3 freely usable scholarship grants in the three fields listed above.

Women under the age of 40 (or turning 40 in 2026) may apply for three, each gross 2,500,000 HUF scholarships. The recipient is responsible for paying any taxes due on the award.

In the case of a researcher raising a minor child, the age limit for the application may be extended at the researcher’s request: by 2 years per child or by the length of any leave taken for child-rearing purposes following the award of a scientific degree (if this exceeds 2 years).

Female researchers who have previously received an award from any national or regional program of L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science are not eligible to apply for the award.

A panel of experts will decide on the awarding of the fellowships. The chair of the panel is Prof. Dr. Veronika Ádám, academician; members: Prof. Dr. László Hunyady, director of the HUN-REN TTK Institute of Molecular Life Sciences; Prof. Dr. András Perczel, university professor, ELTE Department of Organic Chemistry; Prof. Dr. Katalin Kamarás, research professor, HUN-REN Wigner FK Institute of Solid State Physics and Optics, Prof. Dr. Péter Pálfy Pál Research Professor, HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute for Mathematical Research.

If the expert jury does not find any applications of sufficient quality in a given field, it reserves the right not to award the prize in that field or to award it to an applicant in another field.

Applicants will be notified of the results of their application via email. The organizer of the competition may publish the names/identities of the successful applicants.

Applications must be submitted electronically, exclusively via the www.forwomeninscience.com platform.

2. Documents required for application

Applications must be submitted in English and must include the following:

1. a) a copy of the PhD degree certificate
2. b) a research CV
3. c) two letters of recommendation introducing and supporting the applicant, from two scientifically recognized experts working in the same field as the applicant
4. d) a list of publications, including the journal title, article title, authors’ names, and year of publication, indicating the journal’s Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) classification (D1 and Q1) in the year of publication; a list of independent citations received for the given articles (a citation is considered independent if the citing and cited articles have no co-authors); as well as the total number of independent citations; highlighting the article deemed most significant by the applicant, in which the applicant is the first and/or last author.
5. e) a summary of the applicant’s research topic and a presentation of their research, limited to a maximum of 3 typed pages in Hungarian
6. f) a brief presentation of the research topic, limited to a maximum of 1 page in English
7. g) in the case of foreign citizenship, a certificate from the employer confirming that the applicant is participating in Hungarian research
8. h) All applicants must declare that if the scientific project for which they are applying involves animal experiments, they will conduct them in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Protection Act and the regulations of the relevant professional committees.
9. i) If the use of animal testing is essential to the applicant’s research, they must provide justification. The jury must make a decision based on this or request a more detailed justification for the animal testing from the applicant.
10. Media Coverage

- The applicant agrees that, if awarded the prize, they will participate in the media training organized by L’Oréal Hungary.

• - The applicant further agrees that, if awarded the prize, they will participate in the official events of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2026, organized interviews, and undertake pre-arranged media appearances.
• - The winners of the competition will treat the information regarding the award as confidential and will not contact the media until the official announcement.
• - The winners of the competition agree to have photographs, videos, and interviews taken of them, which may subsequently be used for purposes related to the program: in publications and audiovisual media, including but not limited to print media, social media, television, the internet, outdoor exhibitions, and corporate publications.
• - The winners of the competition agree to make themselves available to the media for two years following the award of the scholarship to discuss their academic work.

4. Payment of the scholarship

The award will be paid by bank transfer in October 2026.

5. Acceptance of the Rules

By responding to the call for applications for the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Hungarian competition and submitting an application, the applicant accepts these terms and conditions and agrees to the media publicity detailed in point 3 above.

6. Deadlines

• Application portal opens on the forwomeninscience.com platform: May 8, 2026.
• Application deadline: June 1, 2026.
• Jury decision: September 2026
• Announcement of results: September 2026

7. Contact

For questions regarding the application:

Tünde Sasvári

tel: +36 30 2125287

[email protected]

Budapest, May 8, 2026.