SoMoPro I:
OVERVIEW PAPER
Prepared by: Eva Janů and Barbora Postránecká
Table of contents:
WHAT IS SOMOPRO? ........................................................................................................................... 3
Scientific background of the Region of South Moravia ........................................................................... 3
Reasons for carrying out research training in the field covered by research ..................................... 4
R&D institutions in the region ......................................................................................................... 4
New research facilities funded by the Structural funds .................................................................. 4
Involvement of SoMoPro fellows in the new research facilities ..................................................... 5
Description of the research environment in the Region ................................................................. 6
Innovative Industry in the region .................................................................................................... 6
The overall regional support for research, development and innovation ...................................... 7
Objectives of the programme ............................................................................................................. 7
Mobility patterns ................................................................................................................................. 7
Management ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Management structure ....................................................................................................................... 9
SELECTION OF FELLOWS ................................................................................................................ 10
Appointment of selected fellows ...................................................................................................... 12
2
WHAT IS SOMOPRO?
SoMoPro is a regional grant programme, which aim is to attract researchers from abroad to work
and undertake research training in a research institution in the South Moravian Region for the period
of 1 to 3 years. SoMoPro is co-financed by Marie Curie actions (COFUND) in the period 2009 to 2013
and represents a regional analogy to Marie Curie incoming and reintegration fellowships (IIF, IEF a
IRG).
SoMoPro is a pilot programme and is planned for 4 years (2009 – 2013). The four year long regional
programme has the overall budget of 3 887 158 EUR, 60% of which will be financed by regional
public sources (Region of South Moravia) and remaining 40% is subject to EC support (7th
Framework Programme – Specific programme People – COFUND).
The programme is administrated by the South Moravian Centre for International Mobility, which
carries out all the application and evaluation procedures. The final distribution of grants (signature
of grant agreements) is, however, fully in competence of The South Moravian Region, which is the
Programme Coordinator.
SoMoPro can serve as a good example of a successful synergy between the Structural funds
and the 7th FP.
Scientific background of the Region of South Moravia
South Moravia, with population approx. 1,2 mil, is a region located in Southeast of the Czech
Republic. In the field of innovativeness, the Region’s goal is become the most innovative region in
the country and to be listed among the 50 most innovative regions in the EU.
In order to achieve this goal, it is the priority to make sure 10 per cent of all regional job positions are
in the high-tech sectors. A progressive and high quality academia is a necessary prerequisite for a
strong high-tech presence in the Region. Brno, the regional capital, is without any doubt an
academic hub of the country. With six universities and over 80 000 students it has became a
platform for a number of new large research infrastructures such as International Clinical Research
Centre (ICRC), Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) among others, funded by the
Structural funds (more information below).
3
Reasons for carrying out research training in the field covered by research
Southern Moravia is a perspective region with a good infrastructure of human resources,
entrepreneurial sphere, as well as functional institutional support. The regional capital is Brno with
approx. 400 thousand inhabitants. The Region of Southern Moravia generates GDP in a size of 72%
of EU27 average; consequently it is qualified as the Convergence Region in terms of Structural Funds
support.
R&D institutions in the region
In Brno, there are six universities with 80,000 students, of who over 6,500 are studying for a PhD
degree. Masaryk University, Brno Technical University, Mendel University in Brno, University of
Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno are universities with the best scientific record.
Furthermore, there are 24 laboratories of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Brno,
among them Institute of Biophysics, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Scientific
Instruments, Institute of Physics of Materials, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetic are the
most significant. It is also important to mention the Veterinary Research Institute and Centre for
Transport Research.
New research facilities funded by the Structural funds
Currently there are new research facilities being built which will significantly contribute to an
improvement in the research environment in the region, hence SoMoPro fellows will have the
opportunity to benefit from them. The total size of investment into the new R&D infrastructure is
€680 million, funded from the Structural Funds. There are going to be built four “Centers of
excellence” (e.g. ICRC, CEITEC see below) and ten regional research centers with a strong
application potential (e.g. Netme - http://www.netme.cz/en/home/, CETOCOEN http://www.cetocoen.cz/, etc.). As an example of these activities two biggest centers of excellence
are presented below. These investments do not mean creation of new research centers on a “green
field”; it is more a result of a successful current research and its activities with the aim to more
enhance their effect and quality.
4
International Clinical Research Centre - ICRC (http://www.fnusa.cz/icrcen.php) aims at
establishment of high-level clinical research centre to treat cardiovascular and neural diseases, in
cooperation with the Mayo Clinic, USA. Besides the Mayo Clinic, many other research organizations
will be involved in the project, such as University of Alabama, University College of London,
University Dundee or Medical University of Gdansk. Novel logistics of international research
collaboration, consisting e.g. from concept of the so called dynamic multidisciplinary research teams,
flexible laboratory tract system or pulsed type research, will create new quality in advanced medical
research.
The ICRC develops two research programs (CARDIO and NEURO) and one integrated
multidisciplinary research platform, which will provide necessary inputs to the two research
programmes.
Central European Institute of Technology CEITEC (www.ceitec.eu) aims to become the European
centre of excellence in the field of life sciences and advanced materials and technologies (CEITEC
Research Programmes are: Advanced Nanotechnologies and Microtechnologies, Advanced
Materials, Structural Biology, Genomics and Proteomics of Plant Systems, Molecular Medicine,
Brain and Mind Research and Molecular Veterinary Medicine). CEITEC is being jointly undertaken by
Brno universities and research institutes. Strategic partnerships between CEITEC and leading
international research institutions are just being negotiated and are supposed to be signed by 2012.
Examples of already established strategic partnerships: Electra Synchrotron Laboratory, Vienna
University of Technology. Other strategic partnerships are under negotiation.
Involvement of SoMoPro fellows in the new research facilities
SoMoPro programme is an excellent example of combined use of the Structural Funds and the
European research programmes (in case of SoMoPro - 7FP). So far, majority of supported SoMoPro
fellows joined groups of researchers who stand behind the new research facilities (such as ICRC,
CEITEC, etc.).
5
Description of the research environment in the Region
There are several research institutions with the high quality research in Southern Moravian region,
especially in the field of life sciences, material sciences and information technology and other
related research fields. Altogether there are 3000 researchers in the field of engineering and life
science in the region. For both research areas mentioned above, it is characteristic that the
cooperation with industry is steeply widening and number of patents produced yearly increases
significantly - especially material sciences are witnessing a dramatic increase in number of patents
announced.
In the spring 2010, an extensive field research among ninety R&D teams in the region was carried
out under the umbrella of the Regional Innovation Strategy platform (see report on www.risjmk.cz).
The key specialization of the research sphere in the region is the sector of molecular biology,
including closely related branches and applied fields. Within this network of research activities a
critical volume of resources is concentrated (including cooperation networks and partnerships with
companies). Basic research in molecular biology and its closely related branches (structural biology,
bioinformatics, protein engineering) represents a key source of new knowledge within the
framework of the regional innovation system of Southern Moravia. It is a great stimulus for an
applied research, both within biology studies and outside of them (research outputs are applied in
local companies). Aside from this key specialization of research activities in the region, very high
quality was also documented in the sectors of material research, instrumentation production,
mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and IT.
As far the regional research performance is concerned, there are approximately 2,200 IF publications
generated per year in the region.
Innovative Industry in the region
In so far as the research performed by the private sector in the region is concerned, there are several
examples such as: ABB, ADM, ALPS ELECTRIC, BioVendor, Chirana, BVT, BMT Delong Instruments,
Emerson Copeland, FEI Czech Republic, Flextronics, Honeywell, Metra Blansko, Tescan, BOC Group,
Tyco, VF, Erba Lachema, Unis, etc. Besides manufacturing, these enterprises concentrates more and
more on R&D, in particular in hi-tech areas involving material sciences, medical devices, energy,
scientific instruments, engineering and information technologies. It is important to mention that
many of these companies participate in the Framework Programme and some of them are partners
of local R&D institutions. This fact proves significant collaborative connections within the regional
system. Moreover in last ten years, there have been dozens of R&D based startups created, such as
Enantis, Invea-tech, Phonexia, Y Soft, Elisabeth Pharmacon, Optimsys, ADM, Bender Robotics, LTR,
Mendel Therapeutics and others. Most of these companies are spin-offs of local R&D institutions
and have been supported by the regional incubation programme.
6
The overall regional support for research, development and innovation
The overall regional support for R&D and innovation is structured in the Regional Innovation
Strategy of The Southern Moravian Region (RIS) for 2009-13 - see also www.risjmk.cz. RIS acts as
the main coordinating platform to formulate regional intervention in order to maximize the benefits
of research and development for the regional competitiveness. Creation of RIS is strongly based on
benchmarking with other relevant regions in the EU in the area of research and innovative potential.
- The vision of RIS 3 is: “The region of Southern Moravia will rank among first fifty innovative regions
in Europe in 2013”. It is important to say, that the scope and size of the Southern Moravian regional
intervention in R&D&I cannot be compared to any other region in the Central and Eastern Europe.
On the public administration side there are two main implementation agencies of the interventions
defined by RIS. These are:

The Southern Moravian Centre for International Mobility (= the administrator of the
SoMoPro programme) which is responsible mainly for the area of human resources in S&T. Beside
SoMoPro, there are EURAXESS services, Brno PhD Talent Scholarship scheme, Scholarship scheme
for students from Third Countries, establishment of Science Learning Centre Also, several specific
programs are carried out to increase capabilities of talented high-school students and motivate
them to take up research career.

The Southern Moravian Innovation Centre, which is responsible for areas of commercial
exploitation of the scientific results (technology transfer, services for innovative companies) and on
internationalization activities.
Objectives of the programme
There are two main aims of the SoMoPro programme:
1) Provide training and career development to researchers
2) Build on the growing activities and projects in the field of R&D and innovation in the region of
Southern Moravia and enhance their effect by attracting top-class researchers to work and
undertake research training in the region from 1 to 3 years, with a view to developing mutuallybeneficial research co-operation.
Mobility patterns
7
As the aim of the program is to attract foreign and reintegrating Czech researchers to work and
undertake research training in a research institution in the Southern Moravian Region, it is
considered as highly important to evaluate motives for scientists’ mobility, to understand, which are
decisive motivations to choose precisely the Southern Moravian region as the new research job
location and SoMoPro Programme as their research funding consequently.
Generally the most significant motive is Job satisfaction and career progression as an important
factor for majority of fellows. This factor is strongly connected to another, “Good working
position” and “Career opportunities at new location”, which was marked as important by 16
scientists respectively. Usually, scientists appreciate the possibility of independence and work on
their own project. Compared to the situation in the US for example, there is considerable chance to
start own career independently and step out from a postdoc position. These factors show us, that
the most considerable factor, both in Incoming and Reintegration groups, is in general the
possibility of personal growth, usually correlated with an opportunity to set up their own research
group, to publish articles about their research and to get the teaching/leading experience.
Therefore the other large-marked factor is a category Prospect to work with leading experts.
There are noticeable connections between strong leading experts/supervisors and factual SoMoPro
fellows. In a sub question, searching for the fellows’ reasons for choosing Brno to be their new job
location, there was a major correlation between strong leader and his connections and final
scientists’ intention to choose Brno.
Regarding personal factors, the highest position keep “Personal/family motives”, “Maintaining
family and personal relations”, and “Life satisfaction of children”,. In these questions we can
observe clear connection between personal factors and fellows from Reintegrating group.
8
Management
Management structure
Distribution of work between the Programme Administrator and Programme:
PROGRAMME FUNDERS
European Commission – 40%
COFUND grant
Programme
Coordinator
(The South Moravian Region)
–
60%
PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION
Steering Committee of the
SoMoPro programme
Programme
Administrator
(South Moravian Centre for
International Mobility)
External independent
evaluators
Ethical issues experts
Grant agreement on
SoMoPro projects
Ethical issue panel
SOMOPRO FELLOWSHIP REALISATION
Host institutions
Employment
contract
SoMoPro fellows
(Researchers)
9
SELECTION OF FELLOWS
OVERVIEW OF THE SELECTION PROCESS AND ITS ORGANIZATION
Eligibility check
The eligibility check is done by the Programme administrator. All applications were checked against
a set of pre-defined criteria (proposal is submitted through the electronic system before the
deadline, is complete, at the date of the Call deadline the researcher fulfils the mobility and
experience conditions, the host institution is located in the Region.
Scientific evaluation
The scientific evaluation itself is done by the independent experts and approved by the Steering
Committee of the SoMoPro Programme and by the regional authority (Programme Coordinator) in
the last phase.
Each proposal is evaluated by three experts. In order to prevent a conflict of interest, Czech experts
are excluded automatically. Declaration of no conflict of interest is checked.
Handling the conflict of interest and confidentiality
All experts were provided with necessary information for detection potential or disqualifying conflict
of interest and Declaration of no conflict of interest and confidentiality was signed by every expert
before the actual evaluation took place.
10
Criteria for selection of the fellows
Five criteria were applied for identification of the quality of the proposal. Also partial and overall
thresholds were implemented. For details see a table below:
Evaluation Criterion
scientific and technological
quality
Training/Transfer of
Knowledge
Researcher
Weighting (in %)
Threshold
25
4
15
N/A
25
4
Implementation
20
4
Impact
15
N/A
Total
100
70%
Before funding, all projects are checked for its compliance with Ethical principles for 7. FP, as well as
with the Czech legislation and the Rules on Ethics in research.
Check of compliance with ethical principles during implementation of projects
Compliance with Ethical principles is an integral part of a Grant agreement concluded between the
coordinator and a host institution. By signing a grant agreement the host institution takes the
responsibility that the research complies with the Ethical principles for 7. FP as well as Czech
legislation and rules on ethics in research; thus they do have all needed ethical approval(s) from
national and/or local committees and regulatory organizations.
Projects selected for funding will have to report to the administrator on handling of ethical issues as
part of the usual reporting procedures in the SoMoPro Programme. Particular attention will be given
to projects which raises ethical issues.
If despite all efforts in evaluation stage a non-ethical research is discovered cancellation of the
fellowship will take place and financial support will be returned.
11
Appointment of selected fellows
The fellows are recruited under an employment contract with full social security and health security
coverage. Depending on the host organization practice also other benefits are provided to the fellow,
such as contribution to pension funds, the provisions for annual and sickness leave, etc.
An integral part of the SoMoPro grant agreement between the host institution and the Programme
coordinator is a condition that the host institution follows throughout the project implementation
the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the
Recruitment of Researchers and that contract signed between the host and the fellow researcher is
in line with regional, national and sectored conditions as well as the "Charter&Code".
The project description becomes a part of the both grant agreement with the host institution and
the work agreement between the host institution and the fellow.
12
Funded projects: some statistics:
13
14