Stop tunneling Czech science and culture! August 25th

STATEMENT OF THE "SCIENCE LIVES!" FORUM ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN SCIENCE AND RESEARCH IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

As a result of the approved proposal by the Council for Research, Development, and Innovation (RVVI), an advisory body of the Czech government, the basic budget of the Czech Academy of Sciences is expected to be reduced by approximately 20% year-on-year, meaning a more than half reduction over three years. This is a perspective that almost certainly spells disaster for any organization, and even more so for the Czech Academy of Sciences, as its competitiveness in competing for targeted support and its capacity for cooperation with the applied sector will be significantly limited.

In response to the planned reduction in the basic research budget in the Czech Republic, forums for scientists from individual institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences have begun to establish, uniting into the "Science Lives!" forum. The goal of this informal initiative is to inform about the current situation and provoke an open discussion in both the broader and professional public.

WE DECLARE:

1. We reject the plans of the Council for Research, Development, and Innovation (RVVI) aimed at the destruction not only of the Academy of Sciences but ultimately all basic research. We protest against efforts to divert significant funds out of the field of science under the guise of supporting so-called applied research. We welcome the Prime Minister's willingness to at least partially address the underfunding of the Academy of Sciences for the year 2010 and appreciate his offer for serious negotiations at round tables. We demand systemic solutions for the organization and funding of science and research in the Czech Republic.

2. We ask the Prime Minister for the immediate dismissal of the current RVVI, which is fully responsible for the current crisis and has failed in many conceptual issues and has not met its own declared goals. In the newly appointed Council, we demand genuinely representative representation of science and research, not subject to partial lobbying interests. At the same time, we demand the dismissal of the current RVVI secretariat, which is responsible for the absurd application of the methodology for evaluating science.

3. We condemn the RVVI's attempts to artificially pit the Academy of Sciences against universities. Plans to drastically limit the basic research budget come alongside the invasion of pressure groups into the reform of higher education. We support universities in their criticism of the so-called White Paper. We will not reconcile ourselves to attempts to sacrifice the future of education and culture in the Czech Republic for the prospect of short-term gains.

The Science Lives! forum fully supports all the official positions and statements of the Czech Academy of Sciences and its statutory bodies.

In Prague, August 13, 2009

Representatives of the "Science Lives!" forum
www.vedazije.cz
contact: forum@vedazije.cz