NCK Mestec
The center's main objective is to develop a comprehensive and effective model of cooperation between research organizations and innovative companies in order to develop technological competence in the field of smart components and technologies.
The results of the Centre's research activities lead to the new or innovative production of smart components and systems that enter into a wide range of engineering concepts. These include technological units in the fields of engineering and manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and energy. With its technological competence, the Centre is a partner for new concepts for the design of machinery and systems. At the same time, it covers a wide range of possible applications for non-industrial fields (medical diagnostics, implants etc.).
The National Centre of Competence in Mechatronics and Smart Technologies for Engineering was established to concentrate the capacities of individual departments of research organizations and technology-oriented companies to implement a common research agenda.
The focus of the Centre combines multidisciplinary research specializations (design, mechanical, electrical, chemical, biological, sensory, materials engineering, virtual design etc.), which are directed towards three interrelated technological areas, the application of which is targeted primarily at engineering products for the 21st century.
The Centre consists of the workplaces of six research organizations and nineteen companies. The size of the Centre's expert team is, on average, 60 full-time employees, and the annual financial outlay (budget framework) is almost EUR 132 million. The total budget of the project is CZK 132 million.
TACR - Gama Program
The GAMA Programme of Applied Research, Experimental Development and Innovation (further referred to as the "GAMA Program") was approved by Government Resolution No. 455 of 12 June 2013.
The program is aimed at supporting the verification of the results of applied research and experimental development (further referred to as "R&D") in terms of their practical application, and the preparation of their subsequent commercial exploitation. The main objective of the program is to support and significantly streamline the transformation of R&D results, achieved in research organizations and/or in cooperation between research organizations and enterprises, into practical applications enabling their commercial exploitation and thus supporting their introduction into practice. The program is divided into two sub-programs with different implementation methods and beneficiaries.
Sub-programme 1 aims at supporting the verification of the practical applicability of R&D results that originate in research organizations and have a high potential for application in new or improved products, production processes, or services with high added value and a high probability of strengthening competitiveness. Sub-programme 1 is also oriented towards the systemic R&D phase support, starting with the achievement of a practically usable R&D result and ending with the verification of its commercialization in the form of a model, working sample, or prototype. Only research organizations can be beneficiaries.
Sub-programme 2 aims at supporting applied research projects and, in particular, experimental development projects leading to demonstrable commercialization of the results obtained, but will no longer be supported. That is support for projects involving the completion of a working prototype, its characteristics verification, validation of a test series, and assessment of all technological, economic, social, health, and other impacts of the innovative product or service. Beneficiaries can only be enterprises. Research organizations may participate as additional participants in the project.
The duration of the program is proposed to be 6 years (2014-2019). A public call for tenders was launched for the first time in 2013 with the start of the support in 2014. Thereafter, calls for tenders will be launched annually for sub-program 1 from 2013 to 2016, with the start of support in 2014-2017, and for sub-program 2 from 2013 to 2017, with the start of support in 2014-2018, only if there is no parallel funding of projects with the same subject of support in the Czech Republic under the upcoming operational program 'Research, Development, and Education' or the operational program 'Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness'.
Total expenditure on the program is expected to amount to EUR 2 770 million. CZK 1,798 million, of which the state budget expenditure is CZK 1,798 million. CZK 1,7 million. These expenditures are spread over the years for the duration of the program in accordance with the expected phasing of the public tenders.
Projects supported by GAMA must (under the current Methodology for the Evaluation of Results of Research Organisations and the Evaluation of Results of Completed Programs, and the Results Information Register) lead to the achievement of at least one of the following types of results:
- P - patent
- G - technically realized results - prototype, working sample
- Z - Semi-operation, proven technology
- R - software
- F - industrial and utility design
GACR
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