Basic Research, Information Technologies, and their Perspectives
in the Czech Academy
by Milan Mares
Like in other countries in Central Europe, the research in the
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovak
Academy of Sciences), its management and the position of researchers
after the early nintees display significant changes. Among the
general and generally known conditions being valid in the former
regime, there existed additional problems connected specifically
with the R&D in the informatics, information sciences and information
technologies. Namely, the embargo on advanced technologies forced
the researchers to ‘repeat’ the work already done in developing
even simple elements of high electronic technology. Certain ignorance
regarding the copyrights of software products led to the existence
of their uncontrollable illegal ‘import’. General unconcern on
the industrial production of advanced information technologies
essentially limited the career possibilities of young gifted specialists
outside the universities and basic research facilities, demand
for them was rather limited. That all has changed almost overnight.
However these changes are beneficent, from the general point of
view, they bring qualitatively new problems to be solved by the
managers of the research. The grant system of the financing of
research projects led some researchers to a feeling of lower stability
of their position.
Their ability and readiness to start risky research in quite new
fields connected with the possibility of failure or, at least,
with relatively long period of decrease of the publication outputs
(with all the consequences for the success in the grant competition)
becomes much lower. The ‘safety’ research in well-known areas
seems to be more attractive. The mobility of researchers and research
teams, as a natural reaction on the flexibility of supports, is
rather difficult in a small country like the Czech Republic and
this difficulty is even increased by the extremely limited possibilities
to find adequate accommodation for researcher’s family. Last but
far not least, the demand for information and computer specialists
in the industry, business and banking has rapidly increased. The
salaries offered by these new potential employers are much higher
than those ones, which can be achieved in an academic institute
or university. In the situation of young families this argument
becomes very cogent.
Gifted postgraduate students frequently understand their study
as an opportunity to increase their price on the labor market.
It is not wrong, generally, but it would be desirable to keep
at least some (desirably the most gifted ones) in the institutes.
All these new circumstances met the managements of the research
institutes (also usually new) and confronted them with the problem
to cope with the instability of research staff and guarantee its
fluent regeneration. The way to manage this situation is both,
simple in its general formulation and difficult in the practical
realization. It is expectable that the labor market in the field
of information science and technology will turn more saturated
and that this can contribute to the equilibrium between the supply
and demand for researchers in the institutes. But this expectation
cannot be the starting point for the management of IT research
in the next years.
First, it is necessary to built stable core of tribal researchers
in the institute. This need not be very large, but it must be
currently completed and its members have to be creative personalities
being sure that the institute reckons with them. This core can
be surrounded by a staff of researchers moving between institutes
and applied research even with the risk of irreversibility of
some moves or increasing their qualification. Such system cannot
be effective without mobility of researchers - in the case of
the Czech science also the international one in both directions
- including the joint solution of research and grant projects.
Also the narrow cooperation with universities and participation
on the education is necessary for a sound life of the research
institute of the considered type. Cooperation with industry and
other consumers of applied results is effective only if it concerns
original non-standard solutions of very specific problems. Academic
institute cannot (and should not) compete with routine products
of specialized firms. The achievement of such dynamic stability
of the research system in Academic institutes is not solvable
in short time and by simple tools, but it must be at the horizon
of our endeavor if we want to manage the IT basic research on
the level demanded by the contemporary world.
Please contact:
Milan Mars - CRCIM
Tel: +420 2 6884 669
E-mail: mares@utia.cas.cz
