Loyalty to tradition and continuous renewal - Annual General Meetings of the Regional Academic Committees

One of the main virtues of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences over the past two centuries has been that while remaining faithful to its traditions, it has been able to constantly renew itself, while cherishing the traditions handed down from its predecessors and successive generations of scientists" - this was one of the main messages of the welcome speeches delivered by the members of the Presidium of the Academy at the annual general assemblies of the regional committees. As the Academy approaches its 200th anniversary, one of this year's main themes was the celebration of tradition and renewal in Debrecen, Miskolc, Pécs, Szeged and Veszprém.

In the last days of February and the first days of March, the MTA regional committees held their traditional annual general meetings. The participants were welcomed by a member of the Academy's Board. Tamás Freund, President of the MTA, opened the meeting in Pécs, Péter László Kollár, Secretary General in Miskolc, Anna Erdei, Deputy Secretary General in Veszprém, Vanda Lamm, Vice President of Social Sciences in Debrecen and Ferenc Hudecz, Vice President of Natural Sciences in Szeged. As they said, the ability to remain faithful to tradition and to constantly renew itself is of particular importance for a community that cultivates and organises science, since "science does not simply follow the spirit of the times, but also plays a decisive role in shaping it through its results".

Following the welcome speech, András Gelencsér, President of VEAB, gave a report on VEAB's activities in 2023, and then briefly outlined its plans for 2024.

After the President's report, Ferenc Lakatos, Professor of the Faculty of Forest Engineering at the University of Sopron, gave a lecture entitled Invasive Insects in Forests, which included a presentation on the research currently being conducted at the University of Sopron on the subject.