On 29th March 2024, Romania, as the designated host country of the statutory seat of the future DANUBIUS-ERIC (International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems), submitted to the European Commission the so-called step 2 application on the establishment of the DANUBIUS-ERIC. Following the submission, the European Commission will examine the application and the draft statutes. A decision on the formation of the DANUBIUS-ERIC consortium can then be expected within 6 calendar months. DANUBIUS-ERIC shall allow its Members for operating the national components of the European research infrastructure DANUBIUS. Czech Republic is one of the founding members, jointly with Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, and Ukraine. DANUBIUS-RI: A view of the site of the future central HUB in Murighiol, Romania (Media Gallery – DANUBIUS-PP) European Research Infrastructure DANUBIUS The mission of DANUBIUS-ERIC is to enable excellent research within the river-sea systems, to offer the most modern research infrastructure and to provide the integrated knowledge needed for the sustainable development and protection of aquatic ecosystems. The formal essence of the DANUBIUS European Research Infrastructure is a coordinated network of scientific sites spread across Europe. The control function will be fulfilled by a HUB located in Murighiol, Romania, near the Danube Delta. Other important parts of the research infrastructure are the Technology Transfer Office, which is operated by University College in Cork, Ireland, and a data centre based in Bucharest, Romania. The function of expert centers providing equipment and services, data storage and their availability, access to experimental equipment and measurement equipment will be fulfilled by a set of nodes. For example an analytical node that will be functional within the central HUB in Murighiol, or an observation node operated by the Marine Laboratory (PML) in Plymouth, southern England. Last but not least, the DANUBIUS-ERIC structure will consist of so-called Supersites. Under this designation are defined sites with significant scientific potential, serving as a key areas for observation, complex research and modeling of river-sea systems. One of the Supersites, named Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe, will also be located on the territory of the Czech Republic. DANUBIUS-ERIC activities aim to achieve healthy state of river and marine systems and promote their sustainable use so that human society can live within the sustainable ecological limits of planet Earth by 2050. DANUBIUS-RI: Estuary of the Nestos River within the Greek Nestos Supersite (Media Gallery – DANUBIUS-PP) Involvement of the Czech Republic in the DANUBIUS-ERIC The Czech Republic became one of the first countries where the DANUBIUS European research infrastructure project received official support. The Czech partners involved in the creation and operation of the future European research infrastructure DANUBIUS are the large research infrastructure CzeCOS, coordinated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice through the large research infrastructure CENAKVA. Both CzeCOS and CENAKVA offer capacities for excellent research on European river basins, usable within the Czech Supersite Hydrological Nexus of Central Europe. The unique role of the Czech Supersite is due to the Czech Republic’s location as the source area of several major European rivers. As part of DANUBIUS-ERIC, the Czech side will participate in activities with the aim of supporting world-class interdisciplinary research and innovation in the field of freshwater research.
The EOSC CZ (European Open Science Cloud in the Czech Republic) initiative has held its first election of working group leaders. Twelve democratically elected leaders have received mandates to lead the initiative’s working groups toward innovation and progress in research data management. The elected working group leaders will play a key role in defining the initiative’s strategy and addressing specific challenges related to the National Data Infrastructure. Working Group members selected the leaders of the twelve EOSC CZ Working Groups. All of them presented their professional portfolios to the voters, presenting their previous work experience that allowed voters to get to know the candidates better before the election. The leaders not only lead the group but also suggest topics and give direction to the community. They always have a unique opportunity to influence the direction of research data management in the country. The election took place digitally, utilizing electronic voting methods. From 18th to 21st March 2024, every eligible voter had the chance to participate by casting votes. Those eligible included individuals who had officially registered for a particular working group by 17th March 2024. The electoral process followed the Statutes and Rules of Procedure of the EOSC Initiative in the Czech Republic. For a mandate to be secured, it was necessary to receive a minimum of 25% of the votes. According to Michaela Ručková, one of the main organisers of the elections, the elections were an extraordinary opportunity to move the initiative and Czech science forward: “The democratic election process ensures that the EOSC CZ working groups will continue to be led by highly qualified experts who have the necessary knowledge and support from the community. These leaders are not only key figures at the national level but can actively shape European standards and practices in research data management.“ The new leaders will take up their posts from 26th March 2024. The next election will take place in two years, in the spring of 2026. National Data Infrastructure Architecture David Antoš CESNET / e-INFRA CZ Metadata Petra Černohlávková National Technical Library Basic services Michal Růžička Masaryk University / e-INFRA CZ Education and Human Resources Radka Římanová Central Library of Charles University Bio/health/food Jiří Vondrášek Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS / ELIXIR – CZ Materials Science and Technology Marek Cebecauer * Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS Data management for artificial intelligence and machine learning Jan Martinovič IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava Social Sciences Jindřich Krejčí Institute of Sociology of the CAS Physical Sciences Jiří Chudoba European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Humanities and Arts Jan Hajič Charles University / LINDAT / CLARIAH-CZ Environmental Sciences Jana Klánová Masaryk University / RECETOX Sensitive data Zdenka Dudová BBMRI.cz / Masaryk Cancer Institute ABOUT EOSC CZ: The initiative EOSC CZ is a part of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), dedicated to foster Open Science by enhancing research data management infrastructure. As part of this broader European effort, the EOSC-CZ IPs project has been established at the national level. It is responsible for the implementation of this initiative in the Czech Republic. The main goal to EOSC CZ’s mission is to design a domestic version of the European initiative alongside the promotion of optimal practices in research data management traversing various scientific domains. The direct objective of EOSC CZ is to establish a National Data Infrastructure (NDI) pictured as the future hub for sharing, administering, and accessing research data. The NDI supports multidisciplinary research, covering a various scientific fields and disciplines. Involvement in supporting the EOSC initiative in the Czech Republic is open to everyone through the twelve EOSC CZ working groups. Press release: EOSC-CZ
The new programme, CERN Venture Connect, aims at support of deep-tech startups in all of CERN´s Member States, including Czech Republic. The programme will help the startups succeed by giving them access to selected CERN technologies and partner investor companies or venture incubators that will provide further possibilities for investment, expert mentoring and service providers. In the Czech Republic, CERN cooperates with three important players in local startup support environment – Tensor Ventures, Startup Kitchen and Business and Investment Development Agency CzechInvest. (CERN Venture Connect, Image: CERN) The technologies developed in CERN have applications in various areas like metrology, interferometry, telecommunications, finance, quantum computing and smart grids which may be used to create game-changing solutions in the domains of healthcare, aerospace or environment. For the moment, following state-of-the-art CERN technologies spanning a wide range of fields, from laser technology and cryogenics to data management and precision-synchronization are available under CERN Venture Connect programme (CVC): * Structured Laser Beam * Ultralight Cold Plate * Single Mode Laser * RUCIO – data management solution * White Rabbit – ultra-precise synchronization tool * Accurate chip – ASIC to measure smallest currents (Femto Amperes to Atto Amperes) Czech startups seeing potential in using CERN technologies are invited to apply on a continuous basis. Selected applicants will benefit from access to CERN technologies and a CVC support ecosystem – network of venture capitalists, incubators, mentors and service providers. (The Timepix3 chip developed by the Medipix3 collaboration and used by several Czech startup companies, Image: CERN) In the Czech Republic, there are already several examples of commercialization of CERN technologies and knowledge transfer from CERN. The company Advacam is using the Timepix/Medipix detectors developed in CERN in imaging cameras for industrial and academic applications. Radalytica, a provider of portable robotic 3D computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound scanning, is using the same technology, as well InsightArt which uses x-ray imaging technology to assist art restoration experts and to unmask forgeries. The Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences is co-developer and co-owner of licence for the generation of special optical structured beam (laser), which is already exploited by a Dutch start-up for developing technologies for a next-generation telecommunication links. CERN is an international research and development organisation, which operates the world’s largest laboratory in the field of particle and nuclear physics. The Czech Republic is a Member State of CERN since 1993, resp. Czechoslovakia as of 1991. CERN currently has 23 Member States. The Czech contribution to CERN amounts to approximately 14,5 million CHF per year (i.e. approximately CZK 380 million), while its payment is ensured by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which is also responsible for the Czech membership in CERN.