Types of grant projects

• GACR has supported this type of projects since its foundation in 1993.
• Project duration is 2-3 years.
• Project proposals can be submitted from all scientific fields of basic research.
• Intended for applicants in all phases of their scientific career without age restrictions.
• The topic of a project is chosen by the applicant.
• Project is carried out by a single investigator or by research team from one or more institutions.
• The Public Tender is announced annually, usually at the turn of February and March. The evaluation process lasts until autumn and the results are usually announced at the end of the relevant year.
• Evaluation is based on a peer review system – a Panel system and external reviewers.
• The main evaluation criteria of project proposals are quality and originality, the applicant´s previous research and publication record, expected outputs and eligibility of costs.
• The Tender Document
• Succes rates 2020 and succes rates 2019

JUNIOR STAR grants are aimed at supporting excellent basic research and providing early career researchers with an opportunity to achieve scientific independence and to build their own research group with several collaborators and modern equipment. Thus, JUNIOR STAR projects enable starting researchers to realize their own scientific goals at early stage of their scientific career. Their research ideas at top international level can lead to the improvement of current structures of basic research in the Czech Republic.

• GACR has supported JUNIOR STAR projects in basic research since 2020.
• The project duration is 5 years.
• Project proposals can be submitted from all scientific fields of basic research.
• The topic of a project is chosen by the applicant.
• Only one research organisation can be listed in the project proposal.

The applicant, i.e. the research team leader, has to meet the condition that no more than 8 years have elapsed since obtaining Ph.D. or its equivalent as of 30 September of the year the public tender has been announced. The applicant, i.e. the research team leader, may only be a researcher working in the field of basic research.
The applicant must have significant international scientific experience (e.g. obtaining Ph.D. abroad, long-term research stay at a foreign institution during or after Ph.D. studies, short-term repeated research stays at a foreign institution, or cooperation with foreign authors, which resulted in joint publications). International experience will be one of the evaluation criteria.

The applicant must also be the author of publications in prestigious international journals or achieve another comparable result demonstrating his/her excellence.

Evaluation is based on peer review system (International Discipline Committees and external foreign reviewers).

The main criteria for evaluating project proposals are: eligibility of organisation (mainly technical and institutional facilities), professional competence of applicant (especially significant international experience, scientific results achieved so far, taking into account the length of their career); his/her creative contribution in respective scientific field according to the specialization of the project proposal; applicant’s potential to lead the project implementation independently or with an established research group), quality of the project proposal in terms of specialization, proposed method of implementation, project aims and outputs, foreign cooperation, the previous cooperation of the organization and applicant with GACR and adequacy of financial requirements.

 The Tender Document

The objective of the POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP –  INCOMING is to motivate outstanding scientists with long-term international experience in their early careers to undertake their own, high-quality scientific project at an institution in the Czech Republic.

• The first tender was published in 2021.
• The project duration is 3 years at an institution in the Czech Republic.
• The topic of the project is up to the Applicant, who received his or her Ph.D. academic title no more than 4 years ago (excluding career breaks such as parental leave), and who has long-term international experience (i.e. has spent at least 2 of the last 3 years at an institution abroad, e.g. enrolled in his or her Ph.D. programme).
• There is only one Principal Investigator in this type of project.
• The Public Tender is announced annually, usually at the turn of February and March. The announcement of the results of the public tender takes place after the completion of the evaluation process, usually in December of the same year in which the public tender was announced.
• Evaluation is based on a peer review system – a Panel system and external reviewers.
• The main evaluation criteria for project proposals are the quality and originality of the proposal, the Applicant’s professional background qualifying him or her to achieve the aims as declared, and the reasonability of project costs.

 The Tender Document

The objective of the POSTDOC INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP – OUTGOING is to make it possible for Czech scientists in their early careers to pursue their own scientific aim involving a long-term fellowship abroad, followed by the completion of the project at a Czech institution.

• The first tender was published in 2021.
• Project duration is 3 years, of which the first two take place at an institution abroad of the Principal Investigator’s choice, followed by the final year at an institution in the Czech Republic.
• The topic of the project is chosen by the Applicant, who is active at an institution in the Czech Republic, and who received his or her Ph.D. no more than 4 years ago (excluding career breaks such as parental leave).
• There is only one Principal Investigator in this type of project.
• The Public Tender is announced annually, usually at the turn of February and March. The announcement of the results of the public tender takes place after the completion of the evaluation process, usually in December of the same year in which the public tender was announced.
• Evaluation is based on a peer review system – a Panel system and external reviewers.
• The main evaluation criteria for project proposals are the quality and originality of the proposal, the Applicant’s professional background qualifying him or her to achieve the aims as declared, the reasonability of project costs, and the quality and readiness of the institution abroad where the Fellowship is to take place.

 The Tender Document

International projects (LA projects) evaluated on the “Lead Agency” principle are aimed at supporting international cooperation in basic research on the basis of signed Memorandums of Understanding with foreign partner agencies. GACR supports this type of international cooperation with the American National Science Foundation (NSF) agency and as part of the European Weave initiative.

• Project proposals of this type are evaluated on the „Lead Agency“ principle, (ie. projects are evaluated, on the basis of agreements between the individual agencies, only by one agency while the second accepts the results of their evaluation process. GACR support of an international project is dependent on it being accepted by both national providers.
• All participants, based on the call for proposals from partner agencies, draw up and submit only one project proposal, which is evaluated by only one partner agency (the “Lead Agency“). Evaluation is based on the international “peer review” system. After the evaluation has been concluded, the Lead Agency informs the partner agency about the results of the tender. The project proposal may be funded only if both partner agencies recommend it.
• Project proposals can be submitted from all scientific fields of basic research.
• Project duration is between 2 and 3 years.
• The topic of a project proposal is chosen by the Czech applicant in cooperation with the foreign applicant.
• Each provider funds the activities relating to the project in regards to its own territory.
• This type of call is announced every year. The terms and deadlines vary between the various foreign agencies. You may find the current calls here.
• The main evaluation criteria of project proposals are quality and originality, complementary approaches and methods, the professional ability of the applicants to fulfill their declared goals, eligibility of costs and declared research outputs of participating partners.

Bilateral projects are aimed at supporting international cooperation in basic research on the basis of signed Memorandums of Understanding with foreign partner agencies. GACR supports bilateral cooperation of scientists and scientific teams in cooperation with the following partner agencies:
• National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), South Korea;
• Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan;
• Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), Russia – Project calls will not be announced for 2022;
• São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), São Paulo.

• Further information
• Project proposals can be submitted from all scientific fields of basic research.
• Project duration is 2-3 years.
• The topic of a project proposal is chosen by the Czech applicant in cooperation with the foreign applicant.
• The evaluation process is conducted independently in both partner agencies. In case of GACR, the evaluation of project proposals is based on a peer review system – a Panel system and external reviewers.
• Grants are awarded only after approval by both research agencies.
• Each national provider funds only the part of the joint international projects dealt with by the entities (individuals or research teams) of its own country.
• The Public Tender is announced annually, usually at the turn of February and March. The evaluation process lasts until autumn and the result announcement is dependent on the approval of foreign partner agency.
• The main evaluation criteria of project proposals are quality and originality, complementary approaches and methods, the applicants’ previous research and publication record, eligibility of costs and declared research outputs of participating partners.
• The Tender Document
• Succes rates 2020

• The goal of EXPRO projects is to create favourable circumstances for development of excellent research, to set the standards of excellent science, to help to overcome barriers limiting the success rate of ERC project proposals, and to provide an opportunity to obtain valuable knowledge and experience for those interested in submitting highly prestigious European grant projects.
• Support for EXPRO projects has started in 2019.
• Duration of grant projects EXPRO is five years.
• Project proposals can be submitted from all fields of basic research.
• The applicant chooses the topic of the project proposal.
• Project is carried out by one investigator or by a team of investigators from one or two research organisations.
• Evaluation is based on the so-called peer review system (international Discipline Committees and external foreign reviewers).
• One of the conditions for successfully fulfilling the project proposal is to submit an ERC grant project proposal no later than a year after the project’s finalisation, with the parent organisation established in the Czech Republic.
• The main criteria of the evaluation of the project proposal are: eligibility of organisation – mainly technical and institutional facilities, professional abilities of the applicant and co-applicants, their creative contribution in the scientific field based on the project proposal’s focus, and results in research and experimental development to date. The quality of the proposed grant project is evaluated based on the proposed method, aims and outputs of the project, international collaboration, prior cooperation between the applicant and the organisation and GACR, and the appropriateness of the proposed costs. The evaluation process is described here.
• The Tender Document
• Succes rates in 2020 and succes rates in 2019