Category: News

The visit of the Hungarian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (MHTE) to Sopron was made possible through the organization of our research group members Eszter Békési, Márta Berkesi, and Tamás Spránitz.

The event focused on natural hydrogen research and the opportunities it offers.

We are grateful to the representatives of the research, innovation, industrial, and policy-making sectors for their participation!

On February 16, our research group had the pleasure of hosting two outstanding postdoctoral researchers, Manfredo Capriolo from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and Simon Schorn from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, at the Sopron headquarters of the HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science.

Our invited speakers addressed highly topical issues, including the carbon cycle, geological CO₂ fluxes, latent heat release, and modelling during metamorphic reactions.

During a focused consultation held the following day, we outlined potential directions for future collaboration with both colleagues, looking forward to successful joint research.

The seminar was supported by the Lendület Research Group and the Research Grant Hungary RGH_L 151351.

Márta Berkesi accepted an invitation from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, where she gave a presentation at the Institute of Geosciences on the research group’s latest results, focusing on mantle degassing research and modelling in the Pannonian Basin.

We are grateful to Sonja Aulbach, an outstanding figure in mantle research, for this honouring opportunity, and to all participants for the engaging discussion!

We are pleased to announce that Márta Berkesi, head of our research group and member of the HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science, has been elected to the prestigious European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) Council, where she will be the sole Hungarian researcher representing the domestic geochemistry community. Council members are elected directly by EAG members for a three-year term; they participate in council discussions, decision-making, and initiatives, including the largest international geochemistry meeting, the Goldschmidt Conference.

The 1st Circular of the IAVCEI Volcandpark 2026 Conference is ready. Our research group plays a significant role in organizing the conference. The conference provides an opportunity to communicate scientific results to society, to protect and emphasize our geological heritage (including xenoliths and other deep-Earth geoheritage), which is also an important consideration for the MTA-EPSS FluidsByDepth Momentum Research Group. The 1st Circular can be downloaded by clicking here:

 

1st Circular of the IAVCEI Volcandpark 2026 Conference

The III. TOPO-EUROPE meeting was held in Sopron between September 29 and October 2, 2025, once again hosted by HUN-REN EPSS. The meeting focused on the current status and international relevance of lithosphere research. We were particularly honored to present the latest results of our research group at the workshop in the form of presentations and posters. The title of Márta Berkesi’s presentation was “Quantifying geological CO2 accumulation in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle during post-rift evolution of a sedimentary basin (Bakony-Balaton Highland Volcanic Field, Pannonian Basin, Central Europe).”

Mátyás Hencz represents our research group at a prestigious conference on “Lithosphere Evolution and Earth Habitability” in Beijing, China. At the meeting, where the most pressing issues in lithosphere research were discussed, there was also an opportunity to visit laboratories (nanoSIMS, MS). In addition, Mátyás Hencz represented our institute and the Hungarian earth sciences at the scientific workshop marking the 50th anniversary of EU-China cooperation.

The biennial ECROFI conference, the most prestigious international forum for fluid and melt inclusion research, is an extremely important meeting for our research group. Previously, members of the research group organized a successful conference in Budapest in 2019, and this year the University of Torino hosted this fantastic event. 
It is no exaggeration to say that we successfully concluded the meeting by strengthening existing international collaborations and establishing new ones. The research group has a secure place in the ECROFI community. 
Presentations were given by:
 – Thomas Lange 
–  Tamás Spránitz 
–  Justine Myovela
Tamás and Justine also gave poster presentations. Details: https://ecrofi2025.unito.it

Márta Berkesi had the honor of being elected to the ECROFI Scientific Committee starting in 2025, so from now on she will also help put together the professional program for future ECROFI meetings.