Despite nearly 30 billion in financial support, Czech research still lags behind Europe
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 24/17 – 28 July 2025
Although the Czech Republic has set itself the goal of becoming an innovation leader in its innovation strategy for 2030, it is failing to meet this target compared to other European Union countries. Between 2021 and 2023, the state supported research, development, and innovation through the Grant Agency (GA CR) and the Technology Agency (TA CR) with almost CZK 30 billion. Nevertheless, the Czech Republic still ranks among the so-called moderate innovators on a European scale. Since 2019, the number of patents has been declining, and the citation rate of basic research results in renowned scientific publications still does not reach even half of the European average. Financial support for basic research is not directed towards strategic areas and thus does not contribute to solving specific significant societal and economic problems. The two agencies, which are among the most important providers of targeted support for research, development, and innovation in the Czech Republic, do not cooperate with each other. This was revealed by an audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) focused on this issue.
“We already criticised the last two reservations, namely that financial support is not targeted at strategic areas and that agencies do not cooperate, in our previous audit from 2017 (Audit No 16/19). Although GA CR and TA CR declare the need to link basic and applied research, they have not taken any concrete steps in this direction. In 2018, they signed a memorandum of cooperation and set up a working group to find ways to link these areas. However, by the end of our audit in March this year, the agencies had not achieved any concrete results. The creation of an effective system of cooperation could support innovation and increase the Czech Republic's competitiveness at the international level," said Petr Neuvirt, a Member of the SAO Board who led the audit.
The auditors found that although the number of applied results is growing slightly (by 527 in six years, i.e. just under 31%), the number of patents is declining. While 113 patents were created in projects supported by TA CR in 2019, only 65 were created in 2023. Yet, the number of patents is one of the key indicators of the level of applied research and innovation. They can be used to protect and commercialise original research results.
The quality of basic research is measured primarily by the number of citations of publications. Publishing activity is almost the exclusive output of basic research. The SAO found that the number of citations of Czech basic research results in renowned scientific publications still falls short of the global average and is less than half the European average.
Although TA CR set conditions for supporting cooperation with the private sector, financial cooperation between TA CR and the private sector did not strengthen. On the contrary, since 2017, the amount of TA CR support has grown, while the level of private sector participation has decreased from 32% to 23% in 2023.
Although the number of institutions providing support to Czech research has fallen from the original 22 to the current nine, the system remains fragmented. This increases the costs of providing this support. The SAO has verified that TA CR has the necessary know-how and a modern information system that enables the effective administration of programmes and projects for other providers, while also reducing costs. Despite the progress made, the fragmentation of the state support system for Czech research remains a problem.
Although the shortcomings listed above reduce the effectiveness of the financial support provided, the SAO audit showed that both agencies spent funds on supporting research, development, and innovation effectively and in accordance with legal regulations. In addition, GA CR and TA CR selected projects transparently, thereby eliminating one of the shortcomings identified in previous audits.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office