Centre of excellence in research and innovation in the Czech Republic
The Regional Innovation Strategy of South Moravia (RIS) aims to ensure the long-term development and prosperity of the region by boosting its international competitiveness. The RIS vision is to transform South Moravia into the Czech Republic's most innovative region and ultimately place it among the top 50 in the EU. With this in mind, the EU-funded SOMOPRO (South Moravian programme for distinguished researchers) project set out to attract outstanding scientists from the Czech Republic and abroad to leading institutions in the region. In all, 27 researchers collaborated with 3 universities and 2 institutes at the Czech Academy of Sciences on projects related to science, medicine and technology for a period of up to 3 years. They exchanged knowledge and expertise with local scientists, supervised PhD students, helped to enhance the quality of education in schools and fostered new ties with other research teams. Thirteen researchers were offered permanent positions or funding sources to continue research assignments in Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city. SOMOPRO helped to support implementation of the RIS by improving the research and innovation potential of South Moravia. Thanks to its success, the 4-year SOMOPRO II was launched in 2013 to fund the scientific research projects of an additional 25 Czech and foreign fellows. This should all but ensure international reinforcement of South Moravian science while gaining a competitive advantage in the coming years.
Keywords
Research and innovation, South Moravia, transnational mobility, researchers, Regional Innovation Strategy
