Large research infrastructures´ funding approved by the Government of the Czech Republic

Prague, 12th December 2018 – Large research infrastructures were approved by the Government of the Czech Republic for public funding until 2022. The financial support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports will be provided to 48 large research infrastructures, including 7 new projects, operated in the fields of physical sciences and engineering, energy, environmental sciences, biological and medical sciences, social sciences and humanities and e-infrastructures.

 Large research infrastructures are unique facilities of high knowledge and technology expertise, which are operated on the basis of open access policy principles. Host institutions operate the large research infrastructures for all their potential user communities, enabling them to achieve cutting-edge results in fundamental and applied research and to develop state-of-the-art technologies with a high potential for application in innovative products and services of a high added value.

The large research infrastructures of the Czech Republic were approved for financing from public funds following the outcomes of an international assessment, carried out in 2017. While the operations of large research infrastructures will be financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports by use of the state budget expenditures of the Czech Republic on research, development and innovation, the investment costs will be covered by the European Structural and Investment Funds in the framework of the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education in a fully complementary way.

The operations costs´ funding, to be provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, will reach the level of 1 890 million CZK yearly in 2020-2022. The budget allocated for covering the investments of large research infrastructures is set at the level of 3 000 million CZK, including 1 100 million CZK for further development of the e-infrastructure of the Czech Republic.

Following the approval of large research infrastructures by the Government of the Czech Republic for public funding until 2022, the Roadmap of Large Research Infrastructures of the Czech Republic for the years 2016-2022 will be updated and submitted for adoption by the Government of the Czech Republic by the end of June 2019.