It is 13 years since the first Nature Method article by the Balázs Rózsa group was published. Gergely Szalay, the first author of the 2012 article and the last author of the one published in December 2024, and Linda Judák, one of the first authors of the publication, share their thoughts on their second publication and the significance of their results.
This is the third Science article published by the Nyiri group in five years. As a Science article goes, each one contains a breakthrough discovery about the structure and function of the brain. The first three authors of the current article are two PhD students and an undergraduate, and for the first author Krisztián Zichó PhD student, it is the second Science paper with his first authorship.
One of the wonderful things about research is that it never ends. For example, there is a basic concept like action potential, which has a textbook definition that goes back decades. What else is new about it? Quite a lot! János Brunner, the first author of a paper in PLOS Biology and a senior researcher in the Szabadics group, has agreed to tell us.
The aim of the Róbert Bárány Prize is to recognise and financially support the scientific achievements of young researchers. It was established in 2021 by ELKH, the predecessor of HUN-REN, to distinguish those who have achieved outstanding results at international level under 40 years of age. Our colleague László Biró and 8 other young HUN-REN researchers received the award on 5 December 2024, at the National Museum.
It is now 25 years since the MTA, with the support of UNESCO in particular, organized the "World Conference on Science for the 21st Century: a New Commitment", which has become the successor to the biennial World Science Forum (WSF) series, with Budapest hosting every second event. From 20-24 November 2024, the Forum, entitled "Science and Policy in a Time of Global Transformation", was held in the exceptional venues of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Vigadó, and the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus, where it was possible to meet with invited policy-makers, researchers and science journalists. However, the Science Expo, a joint project of the MTA, the National Innovation Agency, and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, held in the Romanian Hall of our magnificent Museum of Fine Arts, was open to all for free.
Although there are many different types of news on our website, in a certain respect they are all the same. The news has something to do with the work of our institute and the people who work here. That is the case now. Emil Koplányi, a student of Imre Kalló, was among the high school students who were welcomed at the Sándor Palace. What's more, Emil was one of the three students who were able to present their work.
The internet has finally taken over the SfN conferences, and there is hardly anyone who doesn't have a smartphone/iPad in their hand at all times. Excellent apps help you to find your way quickly and easily, which is a must at a conference with more than 22,000 participants. But the technical innovation only shows that the conference is moving with the times. The essence today is still what its creators envisioned in 1971: neuroscience from A to Z.
Tetrabenazine, a VMAT-2 enzyme inhibitor, is used to treat sudden movements caused by neurodegenerative diseases called Huntington's disease andtardive dyskinesia, which are uncontrollable by the individual. The extent to which this drug inhibits the release of the monoamines noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin in different brain areas is not yet known. This is what a collaboration between the Sperlágh group and researchers at Richter Gedeon Nyrt led by Szilveszter E. Vizi investigated. The significance of the result is underlined by the fact that the work, first submitted by Pál Tod and with corresponding authorship by Professor Vizi, was published in the leading international journal of pharmacology.
"Autumn is here, it's here again", we could have said with Petőfi, and we could have agreed with the rest, that autumn is beautiful. The first day of our stay in Várgestes, 26 September, was so beautiful that you couldn't wish for a more beautiful day since the end of September. The main reason for our satisfaction, however, was that our Institute conference went very well!
