On Friday 14 November 2025, a regular meeting of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation, chaired by Minister Marek Ženíšek, was held at the Straka Academy. The agenda included, among other items, the approval of a call for nominees for the Government Award for Gifted Students, election of a member of the Research Council of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR), and information on the preparation of tripartite meetings as part of the evaluation methodology or recommendations of the ISAB International Advisory Board.
At the beginning of the meeting, the members of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation (RDI Council) welcomed Ing. Silvie Skyva, a new member of the RDI Council as of 6 November 2025. Silvie Skyvová is the Chair of the Executive Board of the Czech Optical Cluster and a seasoned manager with over 20 years of experience in development and innovation.
As the first item on the agenda, RVVI members proposed to vote, by secret ballot, pplk. doc. Ing. Jiří Štoller, PhD., from among the total of eleven nominees, member of the Research Council of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, in the field of departmental research. At the time being, one-third of the Council members are appointed from among nominees proposed by ministries, academia and the business sector. The proposal will subsequently be submitted to the government for consideration.
A Call for nominations for candidates for the 2025 Government Award for Gifted Students was also approved. The award is presented to one student from each of the (a) secondary and higher vocational school students, (b) bachelor’s or master’s students and (c) doctoral degree student’s categories. The call, which will be launched in December this year at vyzkum.gov.cz and vlada.gov.cz, will remain in force until 28 February 2026.
RDI Council members were informed about the preparation of the so-called tripartite meetings between the providers, the RDI Council/RDI Support Department and representatives of expert panels, which will take place before the end of the calendar year with the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health. In the CAS segment, an evaluation is also being carried out at the provider level this year in accordance with the 2017+ Methodology.
Council members also adopted the conclusions of the International Advisory Board (ISAB) meeting held online on 15 October – based on a document entitled National priorities of oriented research. ISAB recommendation, which summarises the recommendations of this advisory body of recognised international experts.
“The group of experts associated in the ISAB declared the need to build on the strengths of Czech research. Materials science, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence or modern biomedical research were identified as areas where Czech institutions are competitive on a global scale. At the same time, the foreign experts emphasised the need to link science with industry and society, support talent, start-ups, international cooperation and preserve academic freedoms to bolster trust in science and democracy,” Adéla Gjuričová, Vice-Chair of the RDI Council, summarised the results of the working meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the RVVI reviewed a document entitled Analysis of support for the start-up environment in the Czech Republic, which had been prepared by the Government Analytical Unit of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic in collaboration with the Czechinvest Agency, the Czech Start-up Association and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in order to provide an initial insight into the issue of forming and developing start-ups.
Source: RDI Council press release – Office of the Government of the Czech Republic | 14 November 2025
