Reaction Kinetics and Photochemistry Working Group of MTA
The Reaction Kinetics and Photochemistry Working Group works within the Section of Chemical Sciences, Committee on Physical Chemistry of MTA (Hungarian Academy of Sciences).
Tibor Nagy (chair)
Gábor Schuszter (vice-chair)
News
If you have any information to be shared, please contact Tibor Nagy or Gábor Schuszter (e-mail: nagy.tibor@ttk.mta.hu or schuszti@chem.u-szeged.hu).
Ágota Tóth has been awarded the JATE Prize founded by Katalin Karikó
Katalin Karikó, a former student of the University of Szeged’s legal predecessor, József Attila University (JATE), announced on October 12, 2023, that she would donate a replica of her Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with the accompanying monetary award of more than 500,000 USD, to her alma mater. Based on this donation, the researcher and the University of Szeged established the JATE Prize to honor the memory and prestige of the former JATE, and to recognize excellence and scientific achievement in Szeged.
In the faculty category, Prof. Ágota Tóth, a member and former chair of our Working Group, will be the first to receive the JATE Prize on November 14, 2025. Congratulations!
A new member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from the Reaction Kinetics and Photochemistry Working Group
Among the corresponding members elected to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2025 is Prof. István Fábián, a member of our Working Group. Congratulations!
The newly elected members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences were introduced at the 199th General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Following the election, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has 294 full members, 71 corresponding members, 201 external members, and 191 honorary members.
The publication presenting the members elected in 2025 can be read here (in Hungarian).
Polányi Prize 2025
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2025 Polányi Youth Prize has been awarded to Dr. Gergely Ferenc Samu (University of Szeged). The award ceremony will take place on June 4, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in the Small Hall of the Headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Election of new Chair, March 2024
The working group eleced Dr. Tibor Nagy from the HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences to be the new Chair.
Polányi Prize 2022
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2022 Polányi Youth Prize was awarded to Dr. Norbert Lihi (University of Debrecen). The award ceremony took place on May 16, 2023, in the Great Hall of the Headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Election of new Chair, March 2021
The working group eleced Prof. Ágota Tóth of from the Deparment of Phyisical Chemistry and Materials Science to be the new Chair.
Polányi Prize 2020
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2020 Polányi Prize was awarded to Prof. István Bányai (University of Debrecen).
Polányi Prize 2018
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2018 Polányi Youth Prize was awarded to Dr. József Kalmár (University of Debrecen).
Polányi Prize 2017
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2017 Polányi Prize was awarded to Prof. László Biczók (TTK).
Polányi Prize 2015
Based on the decision of the Board of Trustees, the 2015 Polányi Prize was awarded to Prof. István Fábián (University of Debrecen). The award ceremony took place on March 29, 2016.
Video summary of the Spring 2015 meeting
The Working Group meeting held in Debrecen at the end of March also served as the closing event of the ENVIKUT project of the University of Debrecen. A short, three-minute video compilation of the event is available below:
Meetings
The working group has two-day meetings twice every year. Below you will find the program of the meetings in pdf format (in Hungarian).
Meeting programs (in Hungarian)
The earlier history of the Working Group
What happened
When
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Photo gallery
The working group has two-day meetings twice every year. Photos of the meetings can be downloaded below:
- All
- Spring
- Fall
- Balatonalmádi
- Balatonvilágos
- Budapest
- Mátrafüred
- Veszprém
- on-line
Research groups working in reaction kinetics and photochemistry
The meetings of the Reaction Kinetics and Photochemistry Working Group of MTA provide an opportunity for researchers working in the fields of reaction kinetics and photochemistry to share research results and to develop collaborations. The working group brings together the following research groups:
The research conducted in the group covers the production and conversion of renewable energy sources by thermal, photo-, electrochemical, and catalytic methods.
Renewable Energy Research Group
HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences
Budapest
They are looking for answers to how photoinitiated reaction steps in a complex redox reaction are coupled with other thermally activated reaction steps. Another major area of their research is the synthesis and characterization of functionalized aerogels.
Redox Reaction Mechanisms Research Group
University of Debrecen, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
Evaluation of femtosecond experiments with numerical deconvolution. Kinetics and dynamics of electron solvation. Ultrafast (subpicosecond) electron and energy transfer reactions. Electron transport and thermalization in condensed phase.
Femtochemistry Group
Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Chemistry
Budapest
Mechanism validation and optimization: the performance of a reaction mechanism is tested against a large body of published experimental data. Much of the work involves assessing the uncertainty of the data and eliminating potentially unreliable measurements.
Chemical Kinetics Laboratory
Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Chemistry
Budapest
The research group focuses on the design and study of new types of chemical systems that exhibit periodic behavior in time and space.
Laboratory of Nonlinear Chemical Dynamics
Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Chemistry
Budapest
With current experimental technologies, measurement capacity is often limited or quantitative information is difficult and expensive to obtain. Knowing the results of the calculations, experimental design can be rationalized.
Computational Chemistry Research Group
University of Miskolc, Institute of Chemistry
They deal with light-induced processes that take place under natural conditions (under the influence of solar radiation) or in artificial systems (with artificial light sources).
Environmental and Inorganic Photochemistry Research Group
University of Pannonia, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Veszprém
Their goal is photochemical water splitting in a homogeneous aqueous medium, using various photocatalysts and photosensitive molecules. The reactions are followed by spectrophotometry, which is often the light source of the photoreaction.
Photochemistry Research Group
University of Pécs, Institute of Chemistry
The aim of the research group is to develop mathematical methods for reaction kinetics and to develop and refine mathematical models of chemical systems.
Mathematical Reaction Kinetics Research Group
University of Pécs, Institute of Chemistry
The research group is engaged in the experimental study and modeling of redox reactions with complex kinetic properties. During the calculations, the kinetic model is constructed by fitting several experimental curves together.
Reaction Kinetics Research Group
University of Pécs, Institute of Chemistry
Their research areas are: flow-driven self-assembly, numerical modeling, microgravity experiments, organic oscillator design, determination of diffusion constant in hydrogels, kinetics of heterogeneous processes.
Nonlinear Dynamics and Kinetics Group
University of Szeged, Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science
They are working on potential energy surface developments and they are studying how chemical reactions of fundamental importance proceed step by step using the state-of-the-art methods of quantum chemistry and reaction dynamics.
MTA-SZTE Lendület Computational Reaction Dynamics Research Group
University of Szeged, Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science
Modeling of chemical oscillators. Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. Acid-base diodes. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics. Nonlinear dynamics. Bifurcations. Chemical waves, geometric theory of waves. Models with reaction-diffusion equation.
Group of Chemical Physics
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Physics
The following research topics are covered: dynamics of reacting and diffusing systems, temporal and/or spatial self-organization caused by chemical instability, temporal and spatial symmetry breaking, oscillators, pattern formation, practical applications.
Chemical Dynamic systems
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Physics
Their area of expertise is the modeling and simulation of processes that can be described by differential equations, as well as the solution of other tasks requiring computer modeling (Matlab, Python, Wolfram).
Formal Reaction Kinetics Research Group
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Mathematics
They are working on creating artificial, peptide-based chloride transporters that exhibit protein-like properties, which could be used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and certain oncological conditions.
Artificial Transporters Research Group
HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences
Budapest
Members
Voting members of our working committee are the members of the public body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) who indicated in writing to the chair or the vice-chair their interest to be a member with a voting right. Consulting members are the members of the public body of MTA with voting right in a different working committee.
Anyone with a PhD or a CSc can become a member of the public body of MTA by indicating his/her intent in writing to the appropriate section of MTA, in our case to the Section of Chemical Sciences following the regulations (in Hungarian).
To become an Invited Participant just send an request.
Voting Members:
Bagyinka, Csaba
DSc (2000)
Field of expertise: biophysics
Biczók, László
DSc (1998)
Field of expertise: photochemistry
Bódiss, János
CSc (1996)
Field of expertise: oscillating reactions, thermodynamics
Czakó, Gábor
DSc (2017)
Field of expertise: theoretical reaction dynamics
Csörgei-Kurin, Krisztina
PhD (1997)
Field of expertise: oscillating reactions
Demeter, Attila
DSc (2006)
Field of expertise: photochemistry
Ditrói-Dóka, Éva
PhD (2016)
Field of expertise: solution kinetics
Dóbé, Sándor
DSc (1995)
Field of expertise: gas kinetics
Fábián, István
member of MTA (2025)
Field of expertise: solution kinetics, photochemistry
Gáspár, Vilmos
DSc (2001)
Field of expertise: nonlinear chemical dynamics
Héberger, Károly
DSc (2000)
Field of expertise: chemometry, gas chromatography
Holló, Gábor
PhD (2019)
Field of expertise: chemical patterns
Horváth, Attila
DSc (2018)
Field of expertise: solution kinetics
Horváth, Dezső
DSc (2010)
Field of expertise: chemical patterns
Kalmár, József
PhD (2013)
Field of expertise: aerogels, redox reactions and photochemical reactions
Kawka, László
dr. univ. (1983)
Field of expertise: catalysis, kinetics, biochemistry
Keszei, Ernő
DSc (1998)
Field of expertise: solution kinetics, femtochemistry
Kubinyi, Mikós
DSc (2000)
Field of expertise: photochemistry
Lagzi, István László
PhD (2004)
Field of expertise: atmospheric chemistry, chemical patterns
Lendvay, György
DSc (2003)
Field of expertise: theoretical chemistry
Lente, Gábor
DSc (2013)
Field of expertise: theoretical reaction kinetics
Megyesi, Mónika
PhD (2010)
Field of expertise: photochemistry and photophysics of alkaloids
Miskolczy, Zsombor
PhD (2008)
Field of expertise: kinetics and thermodynamics of supramolecular complex formation
Molnár, István
PhD (2020)
Field of expertise: nonlinear chemical dynamics
Nagy, Tibor
PhD (2009)
Field of expertise: theoretical chemistry, combustion kinetics
Ősz, Katalin
PhD (2004)
Field of expertise: homogeneous reaction kinetics, photochemistry
Schiller, Róbert
DSc (1974)
Field of expertise: radiation chemistry, transport processes, corrosion phenomena
Schuszter, Gábor
PhD (2014)
Field of expertise: nonlinear dynamics
Sebők-Nagy, Krisztina
PhD (2003)
Field of expertise: membrane biophysics
Szabó, Mária
PhD (2020)
Field of expertise: reaction kinetics
Szalai, István
DSc (2011)
Field of expertise: nonlinear dynamics
Szőri, Milán
PhD (2009)
Field of expertise: theoretical chemistry
Tóth, Ágota
DSc (2010)
Field of expertise: nonlinear dynamics
Tóth, János
CSc (1986)
Field of expertise: deterministic and stochastic formal reaction kinetics
Turányi, Tamás
DSc (2004)
Field of expertise: combustion kinetics, mathematical analysis of reaction mechanisms
Valkó, Éva
PhD (2019)
Field of expertise: sensitivity analysis, uncertainty analysis, parameter fitting, numerical optimization
Vidóczy, Tamás
DSc (2002)
Field of expertise: photochemistry
Zádor, Judit
PhD (2006)
Field of expertise: theoretical chemistry, combustion kinetics
Zsély, István Gyula
PhD (2005)
Field of expertise: combustion kinetics
Consulting Members:
Bazsa, György
DSc (1990)
Field of expertise: reaction kinetics, oscillatory reactions
Póta, György
CSc (1992)
Field of expertise: nonlinear dynamics
Invited Participants:
Forgács, Attila
PhD (2018)
Field of expertise: solution kinetics
Kiss, István Zalán
PhD (2000)
Field of expertise: electrochemistry, nonlinear dynamics, synchronization
Mogyoródi, Ferenc
CSc (1977)
Field of expertise: reaction kinetics, photochemistry
Samu, Gergely Ferenc
PhD (2018)
Field of expertise: photoelectrochemistry
Szabó, Rebeka
PhD (2024)
Field of expertise: kinetic modeling of nanoparticle formation
Contact
If you have any questions or comments, please find the chair or vice-chair of the Working Group:
Tibor Nagy (chair)
HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry (room D1.03B)
H-1519 Budapest, P.O.Box 286, Hungary