THE HUNGARIAN FEDERATON OF TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A009700040002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2009
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 25, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

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THE HUNGARIAN FEDERATION OF TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC
SOCIETIES
Our Federation consists of 25 learned societies promoting scientific and
technical knowledge. The Federation was founded in 1948; some of its societies are
almost 100 years old; the newest was set up three years ago.
At the end of 1958, the Federation had a membership of 44,300; 17,500 of them
were university graduates. In one year, the membership grew by 11,000. There are
eight FTSS branches outside Budapest, consisting of 100 local society-groups. The
societies have besides 90 provincial and factory groups.
The Federation and its societies publish 36 technical and scientific journals.
The Mflszaki Elet and Ipargazdasag are central periodicals. Other important journals
published by the societies are: Magyar Kemiai Fol oirat Hungarian Chemical Journal/;
Magyar Kemikusok Lapja/Hungarian Chemists' Journal ; Fizikai Szemle Physics Review
Banyaszati es Kohaszati lapok Mining and Metallurgical Journal ; F ldtani K8z18
Geological Journal ; Elektrotechnika Electro-technique/; Energia es Atomtechnika
Energy and Atomic Technique ; Meres es AutomatiWMeasurements and Automation ;
HiradastechnikaTelecommunications ; Magyar itoi ar The Building Trades/; Ma yar
Textiltechnika Hungarian Textile Technology ; Agrartudomany/Agronomy/; etc.
In 1958, a total of 2500 public lectures were held throughout the country.
The Federation pursues its activity independently of state agencies. It co-
operates with institutions and agencies treating problems related to technical and
scientific development, like the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Council of
Science and Higher Education, the competent departments of the Ministry of Education,
the development departments of the industrial ministries, research institutes, etc.
The nature of this cooperation is such that the scientific and state agencies
give consideration to the opinion of experts engaged in the various specialized
fields as jointly evolved in the scientific societies, e.g., in the societies they
discuss and appraise plans of ministerial decrees and plans concerning technical and
economic problems. They arrange scientific conferences and symposia in conjunction
with the state and official agencies. The Societies popularize new achievements of
research and assist in implementing them in practice through lectures and publications.
The Federation cooperates closely with the Ministry of Education as far as the
training of scientific and technical specialists are concerned. For instance, the
problem of developing technical education was thoroughly discussed by a broad group
of experts active in the societies prior to official measures being taken in this
respect. The Federation submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Education which
gave them careful consideration.
Since the post-graduate training of engineers has become a problem of world-wide
significance, we arranged public discussions on the subject. The official measure
was drafted on the basis of the recommendations arising from these extensive dis-
cussions.
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the scope of our Federation. These problems are handled by the competent unions and
the Engineers and Technicians Council of the TUC, which was organized at our initia-
tive. Our Federation collaborates with the Engineers and Technicians Council.
During 1958, international participation in our conferences was good. Major
gatherings held were the 50-year jubilee conference of the Society of Hungarian
Chemists, the International Measurements Conference, the conference on corrosion,
the leather conference, the symposia on physics, that on elementary particles being
of major interest, the symposia on mathematics, and some others.
There were 977 foreign delegates attending the conferences and symposia,
including 183 from West European countries; 327 foreign delegates read papers.
Our Federation sent 287 delegates to congresses and conferences abroad with
58 of them going to West European countries.
Of course, bodies in Hungary other than our Federation, especially the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, arrange technical and scientific congresses. During 1958,
1113 specialists who are members of our societies visited technical exhibitions and
industrial fairs abroad, as part of group study trips organized by our Federation.
Our societies are affiliated to eight international organizations and take an
active part in their work.
We moved into new headquarters early last year. They are far more suitable
for the activity of our societies since there are several lecture rooms, club rooms,
etc., in the building. We also succeed in convincing factories and institutions
interested in scientific work to allocate, as affiliated bodies, considerable funds
for the work; of our societies. Therefore, we have no financial difficulties and
are well provided for in all respects. Consequently, our scientific societies have
been broadening their activities: apart from arranging lectures, courses and confer-
ences, organizing working groups to study scientific problems, they have recently
organized many more exhibitions and study trips in Hungary and other countries than
ever before. This increased activity has placed great burdens on our full-time
officials so!we are thinking of enlarging our staff. The involvement of young
scientific workers and engineers in activity, is a relatively weak feature of some
of our societies, despite the fact that the number of graduates leaving our uni-
versities has greatly increased during the past few years. Only some of the societies
involve a good proportion of them in activity, e.g., the physicists, mathematicians,
certain branches of chemistry and the textile industry, but few are made use of in
the societies of the building trades and electrical industry.
Although the figures of our membership show a considerable increase over the
past few years, we cannot be fully satisfied with it. We believe it is a major
task in the ensuing years to involve an ever greater number of highly-trained
technical and scientific workers in the activity of the societies so that the work
may be improved.
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