Czech Republic: Research Required but Not Supported

Abstract

Even though there is a distinction between university and non-university institutions in the Czech higher education system, research policy and funding make no distinction between the different types of institutions. There is no specific public research policy for the non-university sector that would set objectives and funding mechanisms different from those for universities; correspondingly, no funding sources or programmes are available specifically to non-university institutions. This means that in order to receive research funding, these institutions must fulfil the same criteria as universities and for most funding sources to compete directly with universities. In sum, research in the non-university sector is not greatly supported by public funding. The total amount of public research funding awarded to non-university HEIs is negligible in comparison to the amount received by public universities. All non-university HEIs therefore have to build research capacities in the absence of core funding and many of them also in the absence of public project funding.