The 2026 Jedlik Ányos Awards have been presented

The Jedlik Ányos Award was first presented in 1996, the centenary year of the Hungarian patent system, and this year the award was presented for the 30th time.

Szabolcs Farkas, President of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, highlighted at the award ceremony: “A double anniversary makes today memorable: in the 130th year of the foundation of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, we are presenting the Jedlik Ányos Awards for the 30th time. These two milestone anniversaries further underline the rank of the award and the historical continuity of the protection of domestic innovation.

Since the award was founded, a total of 147 professionals – including the five outstanding individuals recognized today – have received this prestigious recognition. They are inventors, researchers and legal professionals who not only shape the present with their work, but are also worthy heirs to the 130-year-old Hungarian industrial property protection tradition and set an example for future innovators.”

Bayer was awarded the Jedlik Ányos Award in 2026 Gábor, an electrical engineer, a defining figure in Hungarian medical diagnostic instrument manufacturing. His area of ​​expertise is the development of optical measurement technologies, intelligent evaluation algorithms and medical devices based on them. Since 2004, he has been building the future of modern diagnostics as the development director of 77 Elektronika Kft. As a leader and inventor, he played a key role in the development of automatic and semi-automatic urine sediment analyzers and the UriSed Technology that forms their basis, which product family also received the Hungarian Innovation Grand Prize in 2016.

The Jedlik Ányos Prize was awarded to dr. Balázs Gulyás, a Széchenyi Prize-winning research professor and president of the HUN-Ren Hungarian Research Network, who has done pioneering work in the fields of visual neurology and functional brain mapping using PET imaging. His research later expanded to molecular neuroimaging, neurological and psychiatric diseases, and humanized animal models, and he is currently investigating the neurobiological basis of the extraordinary abilities of the human brain. He has published more than 300 scientific articles, written or edited 14 books, and contributed to the creation of more than 20 patents.

This year, the Jedlik Ányos Prize was awarded to prof. dr. Ferenc Krausz, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. His research focuses on the generation and measurement of attosecond light pulses. His results not only contribute to a more thorough understanding of the operation of electrons, but also open up new possibilities in the further development of modern electronic devices and data storage technologies. He is the inventor of patents registered in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia; several of his European patents are still valid in Hungary today. His work opens up new dimensions in the world of quantum physics and laser technology.

The 2026 Jedlik Prize winners include dr. Péter Lábody, Deputy President of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office for Legal and International Affairs. He is an educator, publishes in English and Hungarian, regularly presents at national and international conferences, and is a researcher at the Information Society Research Institute. He is a member of the Presidium of the Copyright Expert Panel, and his activities were recognized with the NEW EUROPE 100 Award in 2016. Since 2019, he has been Vice-Chairman, and since December 2025, Chairman, of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the World Intellectual Property Organization. His activities are decisive at both the European Union and international levels, and his work places him at the forefront of copyright policy-making.

Jedlik Ányos Prize recipient dr. Zsolt Szalay, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Automotive Technology at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, is an electrical engineer and economist. He has been shaping the future of the automotive industry for nearly 30 years, and is a co-owner of several patents. As a leader, he participated in the development and implementation of the ZalaZONE automotive test track concept, which provides a globally unique research and development infrastructure. With more than 200 scientific publications and his role in modern automotive developments, he is a defining figure in the domestic and international automotive industry.