INTER-EXCELLENCE

Programme of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to support international research cooperation.

MEYS

About the programme

The INTER-EXCELLENCE programme is directed toward supporting the initiation and further development of international research cooperation, and the involvement of Czech research teams in global research structures in the period 2016–2024. The programme aims to create the conditions for Czech research teams to access international results, knowledge, and skills, and to enable them to participate in their creation and exploitation.

The INTER-EXCELLENCE programme will be followed by the INTER-EXCELLENCE II programme, whose duration is 2021–2029, and which will support international projects in both basic and applied research categories. The new INTER-EXCELLENCE II programme will use the revised mechanisms of the three sub-programmes INTER-ACTION, INTER-COST and INTER-EUREKA to achieve its objectives.

Basic information about INTER-EXCELENCE:

Submitted projects should ideally last 3–5 years.
The maximum aid intensity can be up to 100% for a public higher education institution.
The programme pages can be found on the MEYS website here.

The INTER-EXCELLENCE programme is divided into 6 sub-programmes, through which three objectives are pursued:

Objective 1 - development of international bilateral and multilateral cooperation in research and development (Subprogrammes INTER-ACTION, INTER-COST, INTER-TRANSFER)
Objective 2 - providing support services for the Czech Republic’s participation in ERA and other multilateral activities in the form of indirect support for research and development (INTER-INFORM, INTER-TRANSFER sub-programmes)
Objective 3 - involvement of Czech entities in the applied research of the international EUREKA programme (INTER-EUREKA sub-programme)

INTER-ACTION

Support cooperation between Czech research institutes and their partner institutes in other countries. The expected benefit of the INTER-ACTION sub-programme is to improve the competence of Czech research institutes by intensifying international cooperation with countries outside the European Union (although not exclusively).

This sub-programme is a follow-up to the KONTAKT II and GESHER/MOST programmes.

The Czech Republic has bilateral intergovernmental or interdepartmental agreements on cooperation in research and development with some major countries outside the European Union. Without direct support, such bilateral cooperation would exist only on paper, which would negatively impact both the further development of R&D and the bilateral relations concerned. It is necessary to exploit the potential of cooperation with countries outside the European Union that are natural partners for the Czech Republic – given its location and similar cultural backgrounds and traditions.

INTER-COST

Support for the involvement of Czech scientific teams in European multilateral COST research cooperation.

The international COST programme provides a platform for scientists from COST member states and other COST cooperating states to meet and exchange information. The INTER-COST sub-programme should support projects that arise as a result.

INTER-TRANSFER

Support for the participation of Czech researchers in international research and development projects.

The expected outcome of the support in the INTER-TRANSFER sub-programme is further growth and development of Czech scientific capacities through their involvement in the international environment and an increase in outcomes within a given field in the form of high-quality scientific knowledge and other measurable results.

The INTER-TRANSFER sub-programme synergizes with the INTER-VECTOR sub-programme.

INTER-INFORM

Support for the building and sustainability of information networks and services in research and development to increase the participation of Czech research institutes in international research and development programmes.

The programme will contribute to the dissemination of information on available international support programmes, support the provision of advisory and consultancy services, and thus contribute to securing funding for research projects that have the potential to compete internationally for limited financial resources.

INTER-VECTOR

Strengthening the active representation of Czech researchers in the governing bodies of top international non-governmental organizations engaged in research and development.

Funding aimed at strengthening the representation of Czech scientists in the governing bodies of international research and development NGOs will help our researchers influence the decision-making processes and strategic planning of these activities at the supranational level.

The expected result of support in the INTER-VECTOR sub-programme is an increase in the share of prestigious representation of Czech scientific capacities in such bodies, achieving better links between the Czech and foreign scientific community and increasing awareness of the Czech scientific scene and its prestige abroad.

The INTER-VECTOR sub-programme synergizes with the INTER-TRANSFER sub-programme.

INTER-EUREKA

This promotes closer links between industrial undertakings of all sizes and research organizations.

Improving cooperation between industry and research organizations/higher education institutions, increasing the attractiveness of the Czech Republic for foreign investors as a country with an educated workforce, and the related development of industries with higher added value will help overcome any negative socio-economic phenomena. Cooperation between Czech companies – especially small and medium-sized enterprises – and Czech research organizations in the field of applied research with foreign partners synergizes the above trends. The INTER-EUREKA sub-programme is directly linked to the international EUREKA programme.

In this sub-programme SMEs are the applicant, and Masaryk University can only be a partner.

Call schedule

Current calls are published in the News tab.

Contact

Ing. Alžběta Dvořáková

Phone:	+420 549 49 3341
E‑mail:

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