Innovative Prague XVII
Prague is not only an amazing historical city with a wealth of monuments, excellent gastronomy, cordial residents, and a wide range of events. It is also a modern and innovative science hub. Prague excels in many fields, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, biomedicine, low-carbon technologies, data technologies and selected creative industries, providing ideal opportunities for holding conventions and conferences with the matching topics.
In the seventeenth edition of Innovative Prague, we will take you to a new Prague's high-tech institution and on a trip to space to search for innovations. You will learn, what great achievements we´ve accomplished in science and what news to expect in this research area.
Prague Opens New High-Tech Centres and Welcomes Foreign Innovations
New cutting-edge laboratories will be opening in Prague´s Harfa, they are expected to bring new hopes for research and development of medicines. The new high-tech centre Pharmtheon will help with bringing science accomplishments into practice. The first announced project of Pharmtheon is the development of substances with an ability to slow down spreading of cancer cells mutations.
One of other research institutes that will be opening in Prague is the first international chip design training centre. According to the news website E15, Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) made a decision to invest not only in this specific branch but plans to start two more. TSRI will cooperate with the Czech Technical University in Prague and thanks to this project hundreds of new Czech specialists will be trained.
The American company Amazon has also expressed interest in collaborating with Czech firms. The website Newstream.cz reported about the fund, that launched back in 2022, and currently holds an amount of 24 billion Czech crowns. The Amazon fund already invested into multiple foreign startups and has the ambition to expand its activities into the Czech Republic this year, where Amazon operates some of its centres, including its headquarters in Prague. The fund is primarily interested in companies that are established in the same business field as Amazon itself, i.e. in robotics and AI.
Czech Innovators are Successful not Only at Home, but Also Worldwide
Innovators of the year 2024 were once again awarded by Hospodářské noviny for their accomplishments. Top 10 Czech projects were honoured by UMPRUM Technologic Centre. One of the prices was awarded to the Aireen project, that is based on AI, which enables retina screening and detects early signs of visual impairment. Other discoveries in artificial intelligence, space research and agriculture also received awards.
Scientific talents were also successful abroad, specifically in Luxembourg at the European Olympiad of Experimental Science. Two three-member teams of scientists under 17 years old took part in representing the Czech Republic. Apart from the gold and silver medals for subject-specific Olympiads, the Czech team won the entire competition among the 45 participating teams.
New Accomplishments Attributing from the Space Research
Following Luxembourg's example, the Czech Republic will focus on an attractive field of space mining, with a promising perspective. According to the website VědaVýzkum.cz, the purpose of mining is efficient utilizing of resources from space. The Czech Republic has unique equipment for space mining, which it intends to utilize in future missions.
A clear example that space research is a field worth of investments not only financial but also energetical as well, is a prestigious international Conrad Challenge competition at the headquarters of the space agency NASA. Website ČT24 reported that a group of five high school scientists were the first ever Czech team to make their way to the finale in Houston, where they subsequently won two out of three competition categories. Their project Lasar solves the issue of remote fixing of dysfunctional satellites with laser use.
At the beginning of June, space project and start-up investors will have an opportunity to meet in Prague at a business event CASSINI Entrepreneurship Days 2024, annually organised by the EU Space Program Agency. On 3rd and 4th June, different projects will be introduced, and the best of them will be awarded appropriately. Participants can look forward to two days full of space innovations.
Science for Everyone
It has been three years since the launch of the "Ask a scientist!" project, where the public can connect with scientists via social media and ask various questions. To comply with the project funding conditions, its founders had to formalize, so they established a non-profit organization - The Institute for Science Communication. According to the website VědaVýzkum.cz this institute will help not only this specific project but also other future scientific ideas.
Experts from the scientific field will also showcase their projects and experiments at the largest Science Fair. Universities from all around the republic and research institutes will meet at the PVA EXPO Prague complex, to attract investors for their projects and also to spark interest in science among young people.
Would you be interested in learning more interesting facts? Browse through the previous three issues of Innovative Prague: