Dr. Freund was chosen by a committee that included the President of the Republic of Hungary and many well-known internationally recognized scientists, many of whom are members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Freund is currently the Head of the Department of Neurosciences, P zm ny P ter Catholic University, Budapest, the Head of the Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Institute of Experimental Medicine, and the Deputy Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. He was named an HHMI International Research Scholar in 1995. The British equivalent of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society each year elects up to 42 distinguished scientists from Britain and the Commonwealth, and up to six foreign fellows, to its ranks, which now number about 1,300. The Royal Society, which was founded in 1660 and is credited with instituting, in the 17th century, peer review of journal articles, today plays a leading role in promoting science and technology development in Britain.
Membership is considered a signal honor.