The Stipendium Peregrinum scholarship is an investment in the future that, according to the hopes, will pay off many times over, said the minister without portfolio responsible for families in Balatonszárszón on Friday.

Katalin Novák announced in the selection camp of the tender announced for the second time: the Stipendium Peregrinum scholarship offers talented young Hungarians the opportunity to apply to one of the world's most prestigious universities with state financial support and study there for a year.

In exchange for covering the study costs, they are expected to work in Hungary for as long as they received a scholarship after obtaining their education, he added.

"There are not many state scholarships like this anywhere else in the world, there is not really an example of a state giving its talented young people such support to go to the best centers in the world in the hope that they will come back and use their knowledge at home," he declared. .

The minister recalled: 17 young people, most of them studying in the United Kingdom, received scholarships in the previous school year through the tender announced by the National Talent Center.

He indicated that 68 students will participate in this year's three-day selection camp for the most promising applicants, and a committee of university professors will select up to 35 young people who are deemed worthy of the one-year grant.

This year's budget of support financed by the National Talent Program is HUF 412 million, he added.

In response to a journalist's question, Katalin Novák said that the young people in the camp work in groups of seven, with the help of twenty well-known and recognized instructors from public life, sports, and culture, hoping for the best possible introduction.

In addition to the academic performance of the students and the places they have achieved in academic competitions, the committee is interested in how much it is worth investing in the studies of the young people based on the presentation, how important they think it is that they live as Hungarians later, how important the community is to them, and the fact that having their knowledge not only for their individual dreams, but also "for all of us", he said.

Katalin Novák also said that they maintain a mentoring relationship with the winners, monitor their academic results, community work, and possibly their involvement in scientific and research programs.

"The goal is to offer them good job opportunities in Hungary when they have finished their studies, because everyone wins," he said. He added that they are confident that the majority of them will find prosperity in Hungary in the long term.

The minister said: "they are the Katalinjas of Karikó of the future, which is why we are happy if we can give them a chance to acquire the knowledge necessary for scientific work".

The participants of the selection camp represent the most diverse fields of science, among them there are those interested in mathematics, economics, astrophysics, but there are also young people receptive to the arts, he said.

He emphasized that those who are in the camp "will not let go of his hand" and will keep in touch with them later, even if they do not win the scholarship. He touched on the fact that after a year, those who previously won the scholarship can apply again, as well as those who did not.

MTI

Photo: MTI/Tamás Vasvári