The Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR) has announced the results of the EXPRO and JUNIOR STAR competitions for 2027. A total of 51 projects received funding. Two of them will be carried out at Palacký University in Olomouc—Alexander Dömling (CATRIN UP) and Soňa Krajčovičová (Faculty of Science, UP) were successful with their projects.
Starting next year, GA ČR will support 16 EXPRO projects and 35 JUNIOR STAR projects. A total of 521 project proposals were submitted to both competitions—the highest number in the past five years. Approximately one in ten proposals received funding.
EXPRO Competition
The goal of EXPRO grants is to create conditions for the development of excellent research, set standards for scientific excellence, and help overcome barriers that hinder the success of project proposals in the highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant competition. One of the principal investigators’ obligations is to submit an application for an ERC grant. Funding for EXPRO projects, which are primarily intended for experienced researchers, can reach up to 50 million CZK over five years.
Funding was awarded to a project by Prof. Alexander Dömling, Ph.D., from CATRIN UP, titled ATLAS: Mapping and Engineering Transformationally Linked Multicomponent Reaction Space.
The JUNIOR STAR Competition
JUNIOR STAR grants are intended for outstanding early-career researchers within 8 years of earning their Ph.D. who have already published in prestigious international journals and have significant international experience. Thanks to this five-year project, which offers funding of up to 25 million CZK, they gain the opportunity to become scientifically independent and, if desired, establish their own research group, which can introduce new research topics to Czech science.
The successful applicant was Mgr. Soňa Krajčovičová, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Science, with the project Synthetically Engineered Polyvalent Bicyclic Peptides for Next-Generation Therapeutics.
UP’s Participation in the GA ČR EXPRO and JUNIOR STAR Competitions
Palacký University submitted a total of 20 proposals as the lead applicant in both competitions, including 4 for the EXPRO competition and 16 for the JUNIOR STAR competition. It participated as a co-applicant on four additional EXPRO proposals.
Overview of proposals submitted on behalf of UP in the table
More information: Exceptional Conditions and Exceptional Interest: GA ČR to Support 51 EXPRO and JUNIOR STAR Projects - Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.
Source: GA ČR