On February 28th and March 1st, 2023, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports hosted the third Dioscuri Committee meeting within the first call of the Dioscuri Programme in the Czech Republic. The Dioscuri Committee, chaired by Professor Joachim Sauer, is the scientific body governing the Dioscuri Programme and is composed of internationally renowned scientists. It was the Committee’s first meeting in Czechia and, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, also its first in-person meeting in more than three years. The event was opened with a welcome speech by Director General for Higher Education, Science and Research section Radka Wildová. On the occasion of the Dioscuri Committee’s first visit to Prague, an evening reception was held at the German Embassy, where around 30 guests were welcomed by Ambassador Andreas Künne.
The purpose of the Dioscuri Committee meeting were selection interviews with excellent candidates for the position of Dioscuri Centre leader, who were accompanied by representatives from Czech host institutions. On-site presentations of Dioscuri centre proposals were followed by extensive detailed discussions.
Up to three Dioscuri Centres will be established in the Czech Republic within the first call. Each Centre will be funded with up to € 300,000 per annum for five years. Additional funding of at least € 25,000 per annum will be provided by Czech host institution.
The Dioscuri Programme supports the further development of scientific excellence in the Czech Republic and deepens Czech-German research cooperation. It aims to strengthen international standards of scientific excellence and support the on-going transformation processes in the Central and Eastern Europe, thus contributing to overcoming the existing performance gap between the region and Western Europe.
More information about the Dioscuri programme in the Czech Republic can be found here .
*Dioscuri Centre of Scientific Excellence. A programme initiated by the Max Planck Society, jointly managed with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) in the Czech Republic, and mutually funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the MEYS.
