"A mathematician is a machine that produces theorems from coffee" — this is the saying of Alfréd Rényi, and over the centuries, theorems have given rise to new fields of science and everyday things that are now indispensable in our lives. Among other things, bank encryption systems, medical imaging equipment, large internet networks. The world-famous Hungarian mathematics key institution, the Rényi Mathematical Research Institute, celebrated its 75th birthday, and on this occasion we talk about great Hungarian mathematicians, past, present and future with Péter Pálfy, one of the institute's former directors, and András Stipsicz, the institute's current director — this is how Júlia Gimes introduced the program on Felfedező — the World of Science.
In the popular science magazine of Kossuth Radio, director András Stipsicz said: "Mathematics is a strange formation, it is classified as a natural science, but it is a bit like the humanities, so we are always halfway between thinking and industrial use. So the goal of the institute is predominantly basic research, the discovery of mathematical theorems, mathematical results and mathematical ideas, but in the past few years these ideas have very naturally transformed into knowledge, even algorithms or structures that can be used in our everyday lives." When listing the institute's current most important achievements, the director of the institute also spoke about the opportunities provided by ERC applications. As he said, the institute has several European research projects, these grants are partly used to strengthen a successful research direction, and partly to internationalize the institute. "They provide a framework with which we can attract the best researchers, perhaps those working in Western Europe. A bit like how Western European and American institutes used the training of young people who grew up in Hungary for decades, and then they reaped the fruits of this. I don't think we can reverse this process, but we can channel some of this back into Hungarian science..."
The program "Explorer - about the world of science" can be listened to HERE
(The compilation about the Rényi Institute starts at the 10th minute.)