The Institute was opened in 1927 and since 1951 it had belonged to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Department of Hydrobiology is involved in the ecological research of Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe. Due to the activities of the institute Balaton became one of the most intensively studied lake of the world and has had an ecologically sound water quality protection program. The Department of Experimental Zoology concentrates on the cellular bases of neuronal regulation in invertebrates, combining neuroanatomical, neurochemical and eletrophysiological techniques, but it also deals with the physiological effects of organic polluatants and their effect on neuronal regulation.