Economic and social changes occurring in Hungary and all over the world mean new challenges for sciences. This trend goes also for agriculture; globalization, climate change, the increase in population and food demand, and the decrease of land used for food production at the same time cause problems that can be solved by means of sciences. The year 2007 was the beginning of a new era in agriculture and rural development. The financial period of 2007-2013 presents an essentially new situation in the European Union, so agricultural universities, high schools and research institutes, as well as market operators must undertake serious changes. As Hungary is basically an agricultural country; agriculture plays an important role in national economy, therefore the involved research activities must also be given priority.