For the second time, an international researcher will have the opportunity to join the MTA-ELTE RCH Momentum Bioarchaeology Research Group through their project after receiving funding through the Momentum MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. Following epigenetics researcher Chen Kozulin, archaeogeneticist Ana Arzelier was also successful in securing funding under the programme’s second call with her research proposal aimed at tracing the Celtic genetic heritage.

The Momentum MSCA Programme, coordinated by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, aims to enable outstanding international postdoctoral researchers to pursue independent research projects in Hungary. By joining already established Lendület (Momentum) research groups, fellows can further their professional development while acquiring new skills and international experience. At the same time, the programme also contributes to scientific excellence and the expansion of research collaborations in Hungary.

The evaluation process involved both Hungarian and international experts and was carried out in several stages. In the end, 23 out of the 40 valid applications received funding.

Ana Arzelier’s successful proposal is titled: Tracing the Celtic genetic heritage through space and time: Evidence from the Carpathian Basin. The project will examine the relationship between the Iron Age population of the Carpathian Basin, primarily the Celts, and the Roman population, based on a comparison of existing and newly collected data. The latter data will be connected to Károly Tankó’s NKFIH Advanced grant project launching in 2026 (Late Iron Age Communities: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Celtic Cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin).

One of the aims of Ana Arzelier’s research project is to reconstruct biological close and distant kinship networks within selected Celtic cemeteries (5th–1st centuries BC) in the Carpathian Basin using genome-wide ancient DNA data. In addition, the project will assess whether correlations can be identified between kinship ties and the location and architecture of graves, the treatment of the body, or cemetery reuse. Another important objective of the project will be the identification of social patterns observable within these communities (e.g. exogamy, matrilocality/patrilocality), as well as the comparison of biological diversity and social structures. By evaluating continuities and differences between key phases of the La Tène period, the research may provide a clearer picture of the shaping of Iron Age communities, the transition toward the population of Romanized Pannonia, and the survival of Celtic ancestry in the Roman period.