The Czech Science Foundation (GACR) is announcing calls for proposals for tenders in the area of Standard Projects, JUNIOR STAR, POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP, and International and Lead Agency projects. The submission deadline is 4 April. The winners will be announced in November this year. Projects which win funding after passing the multi-stage evaluation process will be launched in 2024.
“The aim of the Czech Science Foundation is not only to promote basic research, but mainly to increase its efficiency. The fact that scientists compete with each other for support is motivating – they have to submit an excellent project to receive funding. Even the preparation of the Project Proposals results in a thorough reflection on the scientific topics they can further address,” said the President of the Czech Science Foundation, Prof. Petr Baldrian. “The evaluation of the projects is carried out by experts on the given topics – over 400 of them work for GA CR from various fields and institutions. Thousands of foreign scientists then evaluate the projects that make it to the second round of selection.”
One of the upgrades in the new tender terms intended to facilitate the work-life and work-family balance is the option to pause the project for 6 to 18 calendar months, or to extend the project for up to 18 months. “This is yet another measure to help our investigators during difficult times – not necessarily maternity or parental leave, but also long-term illness or caring for a loved one,” added the President of GACR.
For this year, several rules have also been modified to allow for greater flexibility in the use of funds allocated – transfers of funds between items of the basic structure up to CZK 100,000 will be possible without submitting an request.
The submission deadline for Proposals for projects starting in 2024 is 4 April 2023. The winning proposals will be announced in November this year, except for international tenders, which will be announced in coordination with the partner agency abroad. GACR has brought on board a new partner agency, the HRZZ of Croatia, and joint international projects involving HRZZ may now be submitted. The new EXPRO tender will not be launched until next year.
Standard projects
Standard projects are the backbone of targeted aid for basic research in the Czech Republic, with GACR having financed hundreds of them each year since its founding in 1993. Through these projects, the best basic research in all areas is supported. Standard projects are usually worked on for three years and their proposals may be submitted by all researchers and their teams without limits on the length of their scientific careers. Project proposals are evaluated on the basis of a multi-level selection process.
- Tender Document – Standard Projects 2024
- Practical Information – Standard Projects 2024
- THINGS TO WATCH FOR – Standard Projects 2024
JUNIOR STAR
The JUNIOR STAR tender is almost always met with great interest by applicants from the ranks of excellent scientists in basic research who are at the beginning of their career (up to 8 years after being awarded their Ph.D. titles) who have had their work published in prestigious international journals and have significant foreign experience. The goal of these five-year projects with a budget of up to 25 million CZK is to give the applicants a chance to gain scientific independence, including potentially founding their own research group to bring new topics into Czech science. Similarly to EXPRO projects, the review of JUNIOR STAR project proposals is carried out solely by external reviewers.
POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP
For the third time, GACR is announcing the POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP (PIF) tender this year. This type of grant is aimed at scientists who have finished their doctoral studies in the past four years. It can take two forms – either allowing a Czech scientist to carry out two years of research at a prestigious research centre abroad (with the condition of spending a third year at a research centre in the Czech Republic) or allowing a Czech postdoc or foreign scientist to come carry out research and begin their career at a Czech research centre.
- Tender Document – POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP – INCOMING 2024
- Practical Information – POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP – INCOMING 2024
International projects
Projects worked on by scientists and their teams in cooperation with researchers from partner states are a separate category of grants. Project proposals are either evaluated by both agencies (bilateral cooperation), or they are recommended for funding by one agency and the other adopts its recommendations (Lead Agency cooperation).
Bilateral-cooperation
- Taiwan – National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
- South Korea – National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
- São Paulo, Brasil– São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
- Tender Document – International-bilateral projects 2024
- THINGS TO WATCH FOR – International-bilateral projects 2024
Lead Agency
- Austria – Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
- Germany – German Research Foundation (DFG)
- Poland – National Science Centre (NCN)
- Slovenia– Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS)
- Switzerland – Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
- Luxembourg – Nation Research Fund (FNR)
- USA – National Science Foundation (NSF) – GACR is always a partner agency
For reasons on the side of the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ), a decision on the launch of this year’s call, in which GA CR would be the evaluating agency, will be made in the coming weeks.
Further international calls based on Lead Agency cooperation may be launched during the year.
