The article discusses selected aspects of the EU scientific research policy (research and development policy), important for the development of innovation culture. The study highlights the role of the central administration for science by the European Commission, the function of EU framework programs and its implications for science policy in the Czech Republic. Keywords: EU scientific research policy; science and research policy of the Czech Republic;.
The political and economic transformation of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the 1990s also affected their research system, mainly in the social sciences and humanities. This is the reason why it is very important for Europe to be competitive in R&D, and to find such a research and innovation strategy, which will contribute to sustainable development of the so-called European knowledge society. One of them relates to research in the humanities and social sciences; it is the thematic conglomerate "cultural heritage, climate change and security." In these areas, the member states of the EU should finance projects according to the "Common Pot" method.
2 The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic is a partner in a HERA project (Humanities in the European Research Area, see www.heranet.info), which is financed from the 6th Framework Programme. Unfortunately, the Academy of Sciences of the CR cannot participate in it (asking for finances for the Czech participants in projects submitted in these two programs), since due to legislative reasons it was not possible to contribute financially through the "Common Pot " method. 1,068 Czech teams participated in 876 projects; this is approximately 1.6 % of the participation of all EU member states (but this is less than the share of the Czech Republic's population in the total EU-27 population).
CZ situation: continuous changes of research system
A considerable staff reduction in 1993 (50 percent for ASCR as a whole, some institutes were closed)4 was carried out selectively on the basis of productivity and promising research area;. Thus, in the following stages, namely in the Academy of Sciences, the evaluation system became an important part of the transformation. Therefore, it is quite natural that the key goal of the transformation in the Czech Republic was to significantly raise the share and quality of academic research.
And unlike universities where high-level research can hardly be foreseen and where university education and training are likely to have different functions, clearly research-focused universities are gradually forming in the Czech Republic. Research and development organizations in the new research enterprise sector formed the largest component of the overall research and development (R&D) system. The privatization of research and development (voucher privatization form)5 in the Czech Republic was carried out in the framework of the so-called "big privatization" in two waves.
The old bureaucratic practices of research and development and deformations of its social function in the command economy were generally retained. In the first approach, it was considered appropriate that the transformation process should be led to a clear final conception of the future research and development system, mediated by concrete and narrowly formulated priorities in the state science policy. If we analyze the transformation period of the development of Czech science in the 1990s [Filáček 2009], we can say that after the radical.
In terms of the number of researchers (and generally all R&D employees) employed in the field of research and development per thousand workers, it represents approximately half the average of that number recorded in developed EU countries. Share of the export of products from high-tech industries in the total export of the Czech Republic Source: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Research and Development Council 20097 and Czech Statistical Office, Prague 2009.
On the other hand, the number of applications filed and patents granted in the Czech Republic are relatively high and mostly from abroad (80 %), which indicates an extremely intensive transfer of knowledge. In terms of human capital, the Czech Republic boasts one of the highest upper secondary school completion rates in the OECD. In general, it can be said that in the Czech Republic continuous changes in the field of R&D are continuing until now.
The R&D&I Council of the Czech Republic was formed and the newly established Technology Agency will be established.
Features of Czech science and research culture
Culture of international cooperation: After a long period of isolation (mainly in the humanities and social sciences), the R&D institutions gain experience and "tacit knowledge" of how to cooperate. Evaluation procedures carried out by the State R&D&I Council of the Czech Republic are mainly based on quantitative evaluation (count points for various R&D outputs), which are used directly for budget decisions. As a result of this benchmarking [Filáček 2003], 40 research organizations/institutes in the Czech public were included in the RECORD Map of the International Centers of Excellence.
Moreover, it was verified the possibility of recognizing innovative actions in the framework of different types of research organizations as well as the possibility of identifying good practices that can be repeated and applied and thus lead to the continuous improvement of the evaluation effectiveness. workplaces. The culture of grant proposal evaluation: At the Czech National Foundation (GACR), the ASCR Grants Agency, and other research councils (mainly ministerial agencies) is similar and comparable to the European Science Foundation and other major European research councils. research. The culture of scientific research ethics: In ASCR adopted the Code of Ethics and the Research Code; there is an Ethics Committee at both ASCR and the government's Research and Development Council.
Management culture: Responsibility and main legislative competence for research and development is given to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic; proposing the distribution of short-term and medium-term financing from public sources is the responsibility of the Council for Research and Development and Innovation of the Czech Republic (confirmed by the government of the Czech Republic and the Parliament). There are currently some discussions on the use of the results of quantitative evaluations prepared by the Council for R&D&I (the direct impact of the obtained evaluation points on the state budget support) and the powers and responsibilities of the representatives of the R&D sectors in the government Council for R&D&I. Management culture of R&D&I organizations: Management culture varies according to the R&D sector and type of organization.
At the regional and local level, new types of managers engaged in R&D services had emerged who are engaged in brokering8 of R&D&I activities (optimizing the supply of scientific and technological services, with demand from R&D&I companies and organizations or other actors who use or are interested in using these services, e.g. national or regional stakeholders) [Filáček 2008];. Funding culture: In general, R&D funding is still fragmented into about 12 major research councils. Regarding the allocation of funds from the state budget in ASCR, the information on the scientific performance of the institutes of the ASCR since the years 2000-2001 is reflected from previous evaluations, providing the Academy Council with an up-to-date benchmark for future differentiated allocation of institutional resources to individual institutions.
R&D&I intermediary is defined as a public, private or public/private institution whose mission is to optimize the interface between the supply of scientific and technological services and the demand of an enterprise, groups of enterprises or any institution in this regard. ;. There is some disagreement that the R&D&I Board changes the financial terms and evaluation point tables each year.
Conclusions and challenges
Research and development in a business sector in the Czech Republic is still a weakness of economic conditions. The main reason for this lack can be found in the fact that foreign companies often take advantage of short-term benefits from domestic investment incentives and the existing lower wage level; When analyzing the characteristics of Czech science and research culture, the fundamental knowledge result related to the Czech R&D system is seen: national R&D systems in Europe may differ, but there must be a common vision and concept.
Without this, the EU cannot cope with future challenges, be sufficiently competitive in research and development, and find such a research and innovation strategy that would contribute to the sustainable development of the so-called European knowledge society. Adolf Filáček is the director of the Center for Science, Technology and Society Studies at the Institute of Philosophy (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic). His interests include research policy (in the Czech Republic, . EU, etc.), social functions of science and research, and evaluation and benchmarking of research and development in research and development.
Analysis of the existing state of research, development and innovation in the Czech Republic and a comparison with the situation abroad in 2008. Prague: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Research and Development Council [cit. Available at:
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