GRANT AGENCIES

CZECH SCIENCE FOUNDATION (GRANTOVÁ AGENTURA ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY)

The Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR) is a government agency and the only institution in the country to provide targeted (special-purpose) aid for basic research projects from public funds.

Under the announced programmes, GA ČR finances scientific projects for both seasoned scientists and teams and young and up-and-coming scientists and scholars. In its activity, it is governed by Act No. 130/2002 on the Support of Research, Experimental Development and Innovation, and it is an independent accounting unit. As such, it independently manages special-purpose and institutional funds allocated by the state budget. GA ČR commenced its operation in 1993.

GA ČR is an independent governmental institution that provides targeted aid for the following types of grant projects:

• Standard grant projects – support for basic research projects.
• JUNIOR STAR – supporting excellent basic research and providing early career researchers with an opportunity to achieve scientific independence and to build their new research group with several collaborators, modern equipment, and an independent programme on the top global level.
• International grant projects – supporting basic research projects under bilateral agreements between GA ČR and various international grant institutions.
• International projects (LA grants) – evaluated on the basis of the Lead Agency principle, aimed at supporting international cooperation in basic research. GA ČR works on this type of support for international cooperation between research with Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF), Austria.
• Support for ERC grant applicants – projects supporting ERC grant applicants aim to provide scientists an opportunity to obtain experience and improve their success rate in obtaining funds from the European Union structures, and strengthen excellence in basic research in the Czech Republic.
• EXPRO projects – the goal of EXPRO projects is to create favourable circumstances for the development of excellent research, set the standards of excellent science, and help to overcome barriers limiting success rate of ERC project proposals, in effect providing an opportunity to obtain valuable knowledge and experience that will yield value in submitting high prestige European grants.
• POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP – INCOMING – the objective is to motivate outstanding scientists with long-term international experience in their early careers to undertake their own high quality scientific project at an institution in the Czech Republic.
• POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP – OUTGOING – the objective is to make it possible for excellent Czech scientists in their early careers to pursue their own scientific aim involving a long-term fellowship abroad, followed by the completion of the project at a Czech institution.

GA ČR supports scientific projects throughout all fields of basic research. The scientific fields are broken down into 40 assessment panels, and for EXPRO projects in to 8 discipline committees defined by the Statute of the Czech Science Foundation. Project applicants can choose which panel or discipline committee should assess their projects. The project proposal is evaluated in a public competition by the panel or discipline committee chosen by the applicant.

Information on the current dates: Important Terms and Deadlines – Czech Science Foundation (gacr.cz)
More information: Types of grant projects – Czech Science Foundation (gacr.cz)

TECHNOLOGY AGENCY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic is an organisational unit of the state (government agency) that was founded in 2009 by Act No. 130/2002 on the support of research, experimental development and innovation. The establishing of TA CR was one of the cornerstones of the Reform of the Research, Development and Innovation System. The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic centralises the state support for applied research and experimental development which was previously fragmented and implemented by providers.

Pursuant to Act No. 130/2002, activities assigned to TA CR are:

• preparation and implementation of applied research, experimental development, and innovation programmes including programmes for the purposes of the government, public competitions in research, development and innovation, and public procurement;
• evaluation and selection of project proposals;
• provision of targeted aid for programme projects under grant agreements or grant decisions;
• review of observance of grant agreements or grant decisions and drawdown on targeted aid;
• evaluation and review of the programme projects and reviewing their achieved outcomes;
• preparing proposals for TA CR expenses and reports on its activity;
• counselling (primarily legal, financial, and IPR) for researchers and users of the outcome of applied research, development and innovation;
• communication support between research organisations and the private sectors, and shared financing of programme projects;
• negotiations with institutions in the Czech Republic and European Union on the issues of assessing the compatibility of the aid provided with the single market;
• cooperation with similar international institutions.

Current programmes and calls : Programmes & Calls – Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (tacr.cz)

Guide for the applicants: Guide for Applicants – Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (tacr.cz)

Project proposals are to be submitted in electronic form through the ISTA applicatio n at https://ista.tacr.cz

The current schedule of public applications in research, development and innovation (“VaVal”) of the TA CR for 2023 will be added.