At the invitation of its longstanding partner organisation the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), the DFG took part for the first time in a nationwide information event for Czech researchers held at the Czech Technical University in Prague at the end of February. The aim of joining this well-attended event was to strengthen and expand bilateral research cooperation, while also marking more than twenty years of institutional collaboration between the DFG and the GAČR. The DFG is the first foreign funding organisation to have been invited by its Czech partner to a GAČR Info Day. 

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Numerous researchers attended the information seminar in the large lecture hall of the National Library of Technology at the Czech Technical University in Prague, and the event was also streamed online throughout the Czech Republic. The aim was primarily to inform Czech researchers about current national research funding opportunities and developments in the national research system, while also fostering dialogue between the GAČR and the national research community. Moderated by GAČR spokesperson Renata Třísková, the programme featured presentations by GAČR President Milan Jirsa and the Head of International Cooperation at GAČR, Kamila Pětrašová. The DFG’s contribution followed on from GAČR’s presentation of international research funding opportunities, additionally presenting DFG programmes dedicated to supporting research cooperation. This supplementary programme feature was well received by the audience and attracted numerous expressions of interest in intensifying or initiating bilateral cooperation. The GAČR Info Day reached a total of some 840 participants across the country.

The Czech Republic has traditionally been one of the most important partner countries for DFG funding activities in Central and Eastern Europe. The DFG and GAČR began their institutional cooperation based on a cooperation agreement (MoU 2005), initially with annual joint calls for bilateral research projects. Since 2021, the DFG and GAČR have cooperated within the framework of the multilateral European Lead Agency Procedure Weave, which allows researchers from participating countries to submit not only bilateral but also trilateral project proposals. The expansion of joint funding activities goes hand in hand with the continued development of stable research cooperation and demonstrates that German and Czech researchers have long collaborated at an excellent level in many fields. 

Further Information

• About GAČR(externer Link)
• Information on theWeav Lead Agency Procedure(interner Link)