Research Professor Péter Pál Pálfy was director of the Rényi Institute between 2006 and 2018, having first entered its gates as a primary school pupil. With the exception of few years, he has been continuously employed here and is extremely knowledgeable about the history of the building, the many influences that have affected the institution as well as the lives of world-renowned mathematicians who have played a decisive role in the scientific life of both Hungary and the world. In the program Closer to Mathematics, broadcast in Hungarian on Trend FM and Radiocafé, he talked about the institute's past 75 years, new challenges, and what continues to remain constant.
"Many great achievements have been made at Rényi during this time, and many outstanding, internationally renowned researchers work and have worked here. However, the greatest virtue of the institute is the atmosphere that has prevailed here since the beginning, where we work together to help each other and everyone is driven by a passion for mathematics," said Péter Pál Pálfy in the interview, mentioning Alfréd Rényi's merits in connection with the founding of the institute: "He was appointed director at the age of 29. He arrived here already highly successful, having achieved results during his studies in Leningrad that are still widely cited today. The institute was established in 1950 for the purposes of applied mathematics, but Rényi knew that basic research was very important. In 1955, he succeeded in changing the name of the institute to Mathematical Research Institute, where theoretical basic research and practice-oriented, applied mathematical research are united, and this has remained so ever since. "The emphasis has varied in different eras, but both branches of mathematics are present," explained the research professor. Over the past 75 years, only seven directors have led the institute, and internal cohesion and stability have remained unchanged over time. "While we always respond to changes in scientific life, new challenges, new problems, and new areas emerge, but the cohesive force is there and tries to ward off various ad hoc transformations, ideological and other external influences..." — the former director also spoke in the interview about his personal memories of the Rényi Institute, and the adventurous fate of the building on Reáltanoda Street and we learned some interesting anecdotes from the history of the institute.