SoMoPro 3 · South Moravian Programme for Distinguished Researchers 3

South Moravian Programme for Distinguished Researchers 3

SoMoPro 3 is the third generation of a regional fellowship programme established in 2009 after a successful application to the COFUND scheme. The programme incorporates main features of MSCA Individual Fellowships and offers incoming researchers attractive fellowship conditions and environment in Brno, South Moravia. Within this programme, 2 calls for proposals were open, 18 fellows were funded. What is the problem / issue being addressed? The SoMoPro 3 programme was designed to meet the general objective of stimulation of the regional, to foster excellence in researchers' training, mobility and career development and contribute to the Regional Innovative Strategy of the South Moravian Region (below as the RIS SMR) The S 3 programme had all features of the scheme, i.e. international, intersectoral and interdicisplinary research training, as well as transnational and mobility of researchers at all stages of their career, was open to researchers from all countries. Researchers complied with the mobility rules of the MSCA, open and transparent recruitment, with vacancies widely publicised. In case of new research infrastructures in Brno there are synergies with structural funds and with expected impact on leverage funding. The RIS SMR was established to create the conditions for competitive, knowledge-intensive development, in particular through investment in raising standards in education and research. Since 2009 the SoMoPro I, SoMoPro II and SoMoPro 3 has contributed to the advancement of science at South Moravia Region. Without the generous support of EC/REA and the local regional government it would not be possible to attract highly qualified researchers from abroad / accommodate ex-pats in Brno. Why is it important to society? In today’s world, we are constantly adapting. We are constantly demanding new things and new ways to do things. Without research, our demands would go completely unrecognized. Research is what gets us as the human race further. We have created and in SoMoPro we have defined 5 research domains that correspond with the profile of region, its resource, current structure of regional business, configuration of academia and there is a hope that in these 5 domains (material research, information and communication technologies, electronics & photonics, advanced manufacturing technologies, biotechnology and biomedicine) we shall benefit from the regional conditions and settings and reach the highest level of scientific advancement. We hope that namely the projects in medicine will help mankind to cure illnesses and diseases more effectively in the future. What are the general objectives? The reason for creating SoMoPro I, II and 3 programmes is not only the financial contribution obtained COFUND, which enables us to fund the fellows (as there is no such funding available on the Czech national level) - this funding enabled us to bring new and promising high quality researchers to the region, support its competetivness and also gain international recognition as MSCA funding provides a well known sign of quality. The objective was also to support the spill-out efect as the regional host institutions benefited from hosting high-quality researchers and the region itself profited from interaction between high-quality researchers and key industrial players based in the region.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union