The first three Dioscuri Centres open in the Czech Republic

May 1st 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic joining the European Union (EU). The past 20 years have profoundly changed the Czech research landscape, German-Czech research cooperation and the European Research Area. “Science has greatly benefitted from the possibilities that Europe offers during the last decades. Mobility is a striking example, funding opportunities are another,” says Max Planck President Patrick Cramer at the opening ceremony for the first three Dioscuri Centres in the Czech Republic on 17 May 2024. “The European research area offers great opportunities to work together across borders. Strong collaborations throughout the entire EU are needed to advance European science as a whole,” Patrick Cramer continues. This is where the Dioscuri Programme comes in.

Counteracting brain drain from the Czech Republic

In order to even out the existing performance gap between EU-13 and EU-14 member states, the Max Planck Society (MPG) is pursuing the people-centred funding programme as a top priority. Initially, three innovative research groups in the Czech Republic, called Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence, will support promising young researchers on their path to excellence and independence - and thus strengthen Czech science and the European Research Area as a whole. One of the aims of the Dioscuri Programme is to reduce the so-called brain drain. This is the term used when highly qualified researchers leave certain regions and migrate to others.

The opening ceremony in Prague was organized by the MPG together with the partners involved in the Dioscuri Programme and the host institutions of the first groups: the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) is funding the Dioscuri Centres together with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); the first three Dioscuri Centres in the Czech Republic are being established at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and at Masaryk University. "On behalf of the Czech Republic and the Czech scientific community, I can say that we are sincerely grateful for the expansion of the Dioscuri Programme into our country. This is a unique opportunity to attract excellent young researchers with international experience who will further advance not only Czech research. The first call confirmed the attractiveness of the programme, and the Czech Republic is ready to continue developing it," stated Radka Wildová, Director General for Higher Education, Science and Research Section of the MEYS.

More information can be found here.