Prague, Oct 12 (CTK) – The state will support cooperation of Czech and Chinese scientists by providing subsidies for research organisations and small and medium-size firms to finance the exchange of experts in 2017 and 2018, the Education Ministry said yesterday.
The ministry has launched the subsidy programme in cooperation with the Chinese ministry for science and technologies.
Czech Education Minister Katerina Valachova (Social Democrats, CSSD) is on a working visit to China these days.
The subsidies are designated for international projects in the areas of either the basic or applied research, or innovations.
The Czech state will finance the flights to China for Czech scientists and maximally a two-week stay of maximally four Chinese scientists in the Czech Republic.
It will also cover their accommodation, catering and expense allowances.
The Chinese ministry will reciprocally cover Chinese experts’ flights to the Czech Republic and Czech experts’ stay in China.
Each project may be subsidised with up to 270,000 crowns.
The Czech-Chinese scientific teams will focus on the areas of common interests as defined by the bilateral memorandum of understanding in research and development, signed in March.
These areas include the development of materials, energy, environment protection, engineering, food procession, astronomy, biology, medicine and agriculture.
While research organisations will see their spending on experts’ exchange fully covered from the programme, business companies will have to contribute to its financing.
The share of their contribution will depend on the type of the research concerned.
Czech Deputy PM for Science Pavel Belobradek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said during the March visit by Chinese academicians in Prague that some 20 Czech-Chinese projects have been launched every year.
Most recently, they mainly focused on new energy storage materials, nano-particles for biological and medical purposes and new types of fuel for aircraft.
China also shows growing interest in environmental studies including anti-flood measures, Belobradek said.
($1=24.387 crowns)
