More than 2.4 billion forints (EUR 8.3m) are available for supporting young talents and their mentors in Hungary and in ethnic communities in the Carpathian Basin under the national talent support programme, the Minister of State for Education Rózsa Hoffmann said on Thursday.

The amount earmarked in grants under the 2011/2012 programme is four times greater than in the previous budget, Minister of State Hoffmann stated at a press conference, adding that in December last year, applications for a total of 30 grants had been invited for an amount of close to 1 billion forints.

She also said that this February, 33 grants worth 1.4 billion forints will be announced, while last year, under the 2010/2011 programme, an amount of 613.9 million forints was awarded in grants for 827 winning projects covering over 334,000 students and 139 localities. Deputy General Secretary of the Hungarian Academy of Science (MTA), Valéria Csépe said that the programs are aimed at people from different age groups, social backgrounds and countries.

(MTI)