Sir

Your News story “Hungary's science academy slammed as 'obsolete'” (Nature 441, 1034–1035; 200610.1038/4411034b) describing some of the practices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, with respect to the requirements for its doctoral degree, only touches the tip of the iceberg. There are many chronic problems with the academy (see Nature 427, 94–95, 2004), such as the ageing leadership, lifelong tenure and funding allocations heavily favouring academy members and their institutions.

Although I did, as your News story reported, return to Hungary after 10 years of working in the United Kingdom and the United States, I stayed for only one year because of these outdated practices. I called for an internationally competitive science-management system and spoke out against the state-funded privileges and the lifelong compensation system the members of the academy enjoy. Two days later, I was told by the head of my department at Semmelweis University to look for another job.

A radical change in Hungarian science administration is overdue. The recent removal of the criticized sections from the academy's webpage is not going to change anything. I seriously doubt that the new ‘internal reform committee’ of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences is what the country needs.