New Czech Academy of Sciences head aims for closer cooperation with government

Radomír Pánek, the new president of the Czech Academy of Sciences (AV ČR), says his priorities include strengthening cooperation with public administration, boosting top-level research, securing more prestigious European Research Council grants, and supporting knowledge and technology transfer. Pánek, who took office in March, sees challenges in the current funding model, where only 30% is stable institutional support and 70% comes from project-based grants. He advocates reversing this ratio, following examples from Germany. He also calls for higher overall science funding, warning that proposed budget cuts could force significant reductions in institute operations.