At the country’s oldest continuously operating university, one of the key responsibilities is the pioneering application of the latest scientific and technological innovations in the field of the humanities. Today, under the name "digital humanities" (DH), the globally recognized practice of connecting the humanities with information technology—specifically tailored to this field—has become well established, supported by both theoretical research and practical implementation. This includes a worldwide network of DH centers, conferences and summer schools organized by these centers, as well as journals that are also published in print.

The Centre for Digital Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, was established in 2017 under the leadership of Péter Kiszl and Gábor Palkó.

In the autumn of 2020, the Department of Digital Humanities was established within the Institute of History at the Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, under the leadership of Gábor Palkó. The Department coordinates the research activities of the National Laboratory for Digital Heritage.

Thanks to the support of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, Eötvös Loránd University, in collaboration with its consortium partners, successfully launched the National Laboratory for Digital Heritage project on January 19, 2023. The Minister responsible for science policy announced a call for proposals under the title “Establishment and complex development of national laboratories.” In response, a funding application for the establishment of the National Laboratory for Digital Heritage was submitted on June 13, 2022, under the reference number 2022-2.1.1-NL2022-00009. Following the evaluation of the application, the Supporting Authority awarded the project a total of 1,031,074,484 HUF in non-refundable funding from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NRDI Fund).

The establishment and development of the National Laboratory for Digital Heritage project is a joint effort involving Eötvös Loránd University, the Research Centre for the Humanities, the National Archives of Hungary, and the University of Miskolc. The implementation period of the project runs from July 1, 2022, to February 28, 2026.