Applied research at the Czech Academy of Sciences

Institutes of the Academy of Sciences are focussed primarily on fundamental research but their role within the society includes at least support of application of the results of research. It often means to do also applied research in various forms. It can be a result of a direct contract from a company, it may be a collaborative research with a significant contribution of research performed at the partner company and it may be supported by private funding or by projects of the Technology Agency. Statistics show that the Academy as a whole earns not large, but significant portion of its income from national private sector. It is a result of long-term relationships between institutes and partner companies that has to be nurtured gradually. Still, there is a lot to be done to improve the mutual understanding between academia and industry.