The Meet the Scientist program was launched by the Hungarian Association for Innovation, the Hungarian Fulbright Association and the Embassy of the United States of America in Budapest. The program was announced at the First Hungarian Fulbright Day on September 24th, 2010 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The goal of the program is to promote engineering and natural sciences along with education in the United States among high school students.
Former Hungarian (American) Fulbright scholars (as a volunteers) hold a half an hour presentation about her/his research field in high schools in the capital and the countryside and a scenic half an hour experimental show is made, as well. In connection with the program a website (www.meetthescientist.hu) is operating, which all videos and photos of the meetings and shows can be downloaded from. In addition, there is a Facebook group to help achieve the objectives. Every meeting is to be followed by press.
From the beginning, till Oct. 2015, 22 schools in Budapest and 33 in the countryside were visited. We had 3 American lecturers, as well.
Results of the 55 meetings:
• 5136 student participated at the meetings,
• the videos of the lectures were seen 15493 times on Youtube,
• the videos of the experiments were seen 12500 times on Youtube,
• the website was visited by 11616 unique visitors,
• the total likes of the Facebook page has grown to 1706 (80% of them is under 21 years old),
• 195 articles were published about the program and the meetings.
Hungarian Association for Innovation
The Hungarian Association for Innovation (HAI) was founded by thirty organizations in 1990. Currently, it has more than 300 members, among others, companies, research institutes, universities and individual entrepreneurs. HAI as a professional and employer business organization, focuses - in conformity with the objectives of its member companies - on the role of innovation in boosting the economy
HAI organizes the Hungarian Innovation Grand Prize an the Scientific and Innovation Talent Recruitment Contest for Youth every year. Between 2008 and 2012 HAI carried out the "Scientific, Useful, Human" program for promoting engineering and natural sciences careers. It awards gifted university students by the István Harsányi Prize in the field of innovation management.
The Hungarian Fulbright Association (HFA) was founded in 1991 to bring together Fulbright alumni who studied in the United States: educators, researchers, professors, students. HFA, following the Fulbright mission, supports the cooperation of members, keeps in touch with grantees in the United States and assists with sending more scholarship recipients to the U.S. Additionally, HFA supports individual and institutional networking with American cultural, research and educational institutes and individuals. Professional relationships are cultivated with all national Fulbright Associations especially with the American Fulbright Association.
