Czech Republic changes law to facilitate involvement in international projects
The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, has signed an amendment to the country's law on financial support for research and development (R&D), so as to facilitate the participation of Czech scientists in international projects. The new legislation aims to create more opportunities to finance scientists' participation in projects using public funds, and to increase the flow of EU funds to the Czech Republic. At present, state money allocated to research can only be used for the payment of participation fees, and fees for the Czech Republic's membership of international programmes and organisations. However, in some projects, the participant must pay a part of the costs of the research. This situation has meant that certain Czech scientific institutions cannot join programmes due to a lack of financial resources (and the inability to use public funds). The legislation will now make it possible for public monies to cover the Czech contribution to the costs of international projects if such steps are allowed by the relevant rules.
Countries
Czechia