CERS Institute for Regional Studies
The predecessor of the Institute for Regional Studies, the Danubian Scientific Institute (DTI) was founded in Pécs in 1943. The Centre for Regional Studies (RKK) was established in 1984 on the basis of the DTI, which had been an academic research institute since 1955, and acquired its networked organisational structure based on rural units, which it has retained even after its integration into the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies (KRTK/CERS) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2012. It took a few years to consolidate the research synergies between the three institutes and, as a result, to achieve a significant improvement in results.
The Institute is a leader among national think tanks in regional science, not only because of its size, but also because its four scientific departments are present in different regions of the country, providing valuable local knowledge and embeddedness. The knowledge of the spatial patterns of natural, social and economic resources and the reduction of spatial disparities, which requires a complex social science approach, are key to the country’s competitiveness and balanced development. Only the Institute for Regional Studies of the CERS, the base institute of Hungarian regional science, can provide this in Hungary, which has the critical mass for interdisciplinary research in cooperation with representatives of economics, geography, sociology, political science and law. It has been a key player in this field, having chaired and served two terms as Secretary of the HAS’s (MTA) Committee on Regional Sciences (RTB), and its leading researchers continue to play a major role in the work of the scientific body.
The knowledge and spatial perspective of regional science, built up over some four decades, has been successfully integrated by many of the Institute’s researchers at various levels of higher education. Leading researchers at the Institute for Regional Studies have played a key role in the establishment and operation of several doctoral schools. At present, one of the RKI’s research professors is the head and a full member of a doctoral school at one university (Interdisciplinary Doctoral School, University of Pécs), while the Institute has seven full members and full members emeritus in three other doctoral schools (Doctoral School of Regional and Economic Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Győr; Doctoral School of Regional Politics and Economics, University of Pécs; Doctoral School of Economics and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Gödöllő). The number of doctoral students who have obtained a degree under the supervision of RKI researchers is 127.
The Institute for Regional Studies has fulfilled its mission by providing substantial professional support for the establishment of Hungarian regional science centers beyond the borders and continues to emphasize the cultivation of professional relations and research on the spatial structure of the Carpathian Basin. Nearly 40% of the literature on the Carpathian Basin, Central Europe and border studies, written by Hungarian researchers, was authored by researchers of our Institute. The Institute’s publishing and library activities are unique in the region, as exemplified by its book series, especially the series on the Carpathian Basin regions, the indispensable journal of regional science, Tér és Társadalom (Space and Society), published continuously for three decades, the RKI-ELEKTRA regional science repository, and the subscriptions to books and journals which are available only here.
The Hungarian Regional Science Association (MRTT), which is closely linked to the Institute, provides a framework for cross-border cooperation, exemplifying the science-organising activities of the Institute for Regional Studies: the MRTT’s annual conferences, organised in Hungary or in one of the neighbouring countries, are a prominent forum for the professional community in Hungary and abroad.
The Institute has extensive international contacts, as demonstrated by its status as a prestigious Central European partner of the most important international organisations in regional studies, the Regional Studies Association (RSA) and the Regional Science Association International (RSAI): in 2010 the Institute was the organiser of the RSA international conference, and in 2022 it was one of the main organisers of the 61st annual conference of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA) in Pécs. Its international embeddedness is also demonstrated by the fact that the RKI is one of the five most important non-Capital-based Central and Eastern European institutes among the consortium partners awarded ESPON (European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion) research projects, thanks to its reputation acquired in previous decades, as well as its international research activities and international public presence, which are increasingly involving a wider range of the collective. The trend towards basic research, including international research, is demonstrated by the fact that between 2016 and 2020, the staff of the Institute for Regional Studies, as members of international consortia, worked on four H2020 projects, which brought the CERS/KRTK a total of € 850,000 (approximately 280 million HUF) in funding, and five international proposals worth € 380,000 (approximately 126 million HUF). In addition to the nine international research projects, the institute has also run a similar number of national projects during this period, worth around HUF 160 million.
