Government poised to increase the Academy of Sciences budget by half a billion

“The Government is prepared to increase the amount earmarked for the Academy of Sciences by somewhere in the region of half a billion crowns,” said Prime Minister Fischer. This, he claims, is the underlying outcome of today’s debate, which also involved the Education Minister Miloslava Kopicová and the Finance Minister Eduard Janota. “I applaud this wholeheartedly – these are funds used by the Academy of Sciences for research and development,” added Academy President Jiří Drahoš at the post-meeting briefing.

The Prime Minister maintains that the funding available to the Academy of Sciences in 2011 and 2012 will be contingent on the institution’s transformation. “The Finance Minister stands ready to mitigate the impact of budgetary measures on the Academy of Sciences provided that there is informed debate,” added the Prime Minister.

The dialogue between the Prime Minister and the Academy President was prompted by a Research and Development Council proposal outlining significant funding cuts in the coming years. Funding for the Academy of Sciences next year was to be reduced by almost a billion crowns, followed by cuts of up to two billion crowns in subsequent years. The Academy’s representatives unanimously rejected this proposal.