István Ormos is an Arabist and Semitist. His interests include Arabic philology, the history of medicine among the Arabs, Ethiopian studies, Arabic sources on the early history of the Hungarians, and the history of Oriental Studies. In recent years he has been involved in researching the life of Max Herz Pasha (1856–1919) and his work on the conservation of Arab-Islamic and Coptic monuments in Egypt. His monograph on Herz was published by IFAO in 2009.