Summaries (annotations) in Czech and English expressing the essence of the proposed project and the expected concrete results; the abstract in both Czech and English must not exceed 2000 characters including spaces, and is intended for publication.

In the ISVP, please always state only the general objective of the project (in Czech and English, max. 2000 characters), which must not be changed during the solution. Usually based on the project title, it does not have to include specific methodological approaches to achieving the objective, etc., which may change during the course of the project compared to the original plans.

Within the annex "project description" in the section "hypothesis and project objectives", please elaborate more specifically on the objective of the project, including any sub-objectives, etc.

Eg: To evaluate the diagnostic and clinical utility of rapid whole genome sequencing in neonates and paediatric patients in intensive care units

To develop an optimized protocol for monitoring patients treated for rectal cancer with clinical complete response (cCR) to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) using liquid biopsy and microbiota changes.

In the "Czech keywords" and "English keywords" section, use the "Enter" key or the "+" button to confirm (you must enter at least three keywords in Czech and three in English).

Proposers are requested not to insert "non-standard" characters (e.g. Greek, Russian alphabet, mathematical symbols, etc.) in the abstract, project title, keywords, project objectives, etc. Other database systems will be working with these entities, and when such characters are inserted, their proper functioning cannot be guaranteed.

The birth number must be completed by everyone in the role of co/proposer of the project recommended for funding i.e. investigator. The birth number is required for investigator roles due to the transmission of data to the Central Project Register (IS R&DaI link here https://www.isvavai.cz/). In the case of a foreign national (no birth number has been assigned), the nationality will be filled in and the date of birth will be given in the birth number in the format year, month, day, in the case of women the month +50, followed by the corresponding number of zeros or nines after the slash (e.g. for those born on 29.6.1990, a woman will fill in 905629/0000 and a man 900629/0000). In the ISVP, the birth number or nationality will be entered in the section "Personal settings" -> "Contact details".

No. Under Subprogrammes 1 and 3, only a private researcher who holds a Ph.D., equivalent or a higher recognized degree (CSc., DrSc., Dr., DSc., etc.) at the time of submission of the project proposal to the call for proposals can be a proposer.

Under Sub-programme 2, only a private researcher who, in the year of submission of the project proposal to the call for proposals, is no more than 8 years after the award of the academic degree of Ph.D. or its equivalent, or has obtained it no later than the date of conclusion of the contract/issuance of the project decision, may be a proposer.

These conditions will continue to apply even if support is awarded, throughout the duration of the project and any changes.

In accordance with the Tender documentation and superior legal regulations, a control formula with pre-set limits listed in Table 1 is set up in the application. The intensity of the support is determined according to the type of organisation (the role "Bidder", which manages the "Bidder Detail", will indicate the correct "Organisation Type") and according to the type of research ("Basic Research", "Industrial Research" and "Experimental Development" - terminology according to the EC, for our purposes industrial = applied), or alternatively. It can be increased, subject to the conditions that can be ticked for the project in question on the "Cost summary" tab in the section "Applicant's declaration of facts affecting the maximum aid intensity", i.e. information on publication of results and information on possible collaboration will be provided. The column 'Maximum aid intensity' will show the pre-set % for the maximum rate of support from the provider, the remaining amount must be financed from other sources.

Important note The funds are automatically calculated by the system in the "Basic research" field, so make sure that they are correctly allocated to the "Industrial research" (applied research) or "Experimental development" fields, 100% basic research cannot be accepted within the AZV .

All costs are to be filled in including the co-financing indicated (i.e. from other public and non-public sources).

In the section "Project financing (in thousands of CZK)", in the line "Eligible costs from all sources of financing", add up the funds you have indicated, in the lines "Support from other public sources (domestic and foreign)" and "Support from non-public sources (own funds, private subsidies)", indicate the amount that amounts to co-financing (this will calculate the earmarked support in the line "Total donation from the provider for the project".

In case of co-financing of the project, it is always necessary to attach a PDF of the affidavit, i.e. "proof of co-financing from other sources by affidavit of the applicant or confirmation of the intended sponsor".

The co/proposer shall provide information on all ongoing and thematically close projects completed and proposed, addressed under Act No 130/2002 Coll. with dedicated support from all providers, including the MoH ČR, in the solution of which the proposer or co-proposers are involved or have been involved in the past three years at the time of submission of the project proposal and in what role (investigator, co-investigator, expert collaborator). Similar information is also provided on applications for targeted support submitted by the proposer or co-proposers and in what role (proposer, co-proposer, expert collaborator).

The amount of support used by the proposer's (or co-proposer's) department for the part of the project for which the proposer's (or co-proposer's) department is responsible shall be indicated in accordance with the ToR. The 'Applicant/Grant Recipient' field should be filled in with the actual applicant or grant recipient, i.e. it does not have to be the same as the institution for which the co-proposer is currently submitting the project. In the field 'Grant from your institution (CZK thousand)', enter the part of the funds intended for the institution where you participated in the project.

Mandatory and optional annexes are to be attached to the project proposal in PDF format only. The names of the attachment files must not contain diacritics or unauthorised characters (e.g. / : * ? " ). Attachments are only uploaded to the application. Only the project proposal created by the application, without attachments, is delivered via the data mailbox.

The annex "Project Description" - justification of the project proposal - is limited in the Tender documentation to a maximum of 10 A4 pages using standard font size 11 point and line spacing 1. The maximum size of the annex is 3 MB.

Annex "CV of the proposer and co-proposers" - is limited in the Tender documentation to a maximum of two A4 pages using standard font (or a maximum of two additional pages per co-proposer). Other team members may be included in the CV, but the length must always be limited to two pages per proposer and, where appropriate, two additional pages per co-proposer. The maximum attachment size is 1 MB.

The personal expenses shall be completed separately for the tenderer and for each co-tenderer.

For proposers or co-proposers, professional collaborators (including students who act as professional collaborators), the name, date of birth, job title, work capacity (registration time) and amount requested.

For administrative, technical and support staff (ATPP, including students in this position), the job description, the total work capacity (registered hours) planned for the year and the total amount requested. Where appropriate, these persons may be listed by name, but must always be identified by a flag indicating that they are ATPP.

In the case of other personal costs (agreements) , the name and surname, date of birth, number of hours, amount requested and job description if they are professional collaborators. For other technical, auxiliary and administrative staff, indicate the job description, the number of hours and the total amount requested (including an indication that they are ATPP).

If the project proposal plans funds for students (full-time or agreement), the funds so marked can always be used only for students, and a change is only possible after the approval of the change request. Students shall be indicated with the appropriate designation and, unless they are taken as technical, support or administrative staff, shall be mentioned by name including date of birth.

HEIs can then, for a particular student, claim a research, development and innovation grant under the Higher Education Act, followed by the student's name, date of birth, job title and the amount claimed (grant).

No, the same individual can only act as proposer and co-proposer for one project proposal and one project proposal respectively in this call for proposals (the call for proposals covers both sub-programmes).

1. Example: I submit a project under Sub-programme 1 as proposer and Sub-programme 2 as co-proposer,

1. Example: I submit two projects in Subprogramme 1 in the first project as proposer and in the second project as co-proposer, etc.

The role of a team member or other project participant is not limited by the number of projects.

The minimum time commitment of the proposer (investigator) must be 0.2, the minimum time commitment of the co-proposer (co-investigator) must be 0.1 (the minimum time commitment has been reduced since VES 2025), and the total time commitment of all persons must not exceed 1.00 or the maximum amount of the extraordinary remuneration of CZK 100,000. 100 CZK/year for all projects.

When publishing the project results, it is recommended to carefully consider the choice of the professional journal and not to publish in dubious journals that show features of poor publishing practice, do not respect publication standards and ethics (e.g. high number of self-citations, poor quality or fictitious peer review, fictitious names of editorial board members, fictitious quality indicators, etc.), for more information see for example https://openscience.cuni.cz/OSCI-37.html.

It is not possible to submit proposals for projects that consist in clinical evaluation of medicines according to the provisions of Act No. 378/2007 Coll., on Medicinal Products and on the amendment of some related acts, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the Medicinal Products Act), or clinical testing of medical devices according to Act No. 268/2014 Coll., on Medical Devices and on the amendment of Act No. 375/2022 Coll, on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the Medical Devices Act) and Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2017 on medical devices, amending Directive 2001/83/EC, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 and repealing Council Directives 90/385/EEC and 93/42/EEC ("MDR") which are not approved or duly notified/registered or which would require substantial changes/alteration of the registration including a variation procedure (i.e. change of the medicinal substance, form of administration, strength, pack size, use of an approved medical device other than as declared by the manufacturer, etc.), except for clinical evaluation / trials conducted by non-commercial sponsors. The sponsor of the clinical evaluation/ trial must be the applicant/co-applicant. The health service provider does not have to be the sponsor of the clinical evaluation/clinical trial, but must always be the applicant/co-applicant (or future beneficiary/co-beneficiary).

For example, VES 2024 allocated projects from highly innovative preclinical research to non-commercial clinical evaluation.

1 - Advanced pre-clinical progression of new highly selective inhibitors of kinase DDR1
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-08-00280

2 - Polymer-based supramolecular radiosensitizers for anticancer radiotherapy
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-03-00387

3 - Brain organoids for target detection for precision treatment of schizophrenia
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-04-00158

4 - Dissecting the role of bone marrow microenvironment behind chemoresistance development in acute lymphoblastic leukemia
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-03-00376

5 - Predictive value of vascular, metabolic and inflammatory parameters for development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in postmenopausal women: longitudinal study
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-02-00116

6 - Psilocybin - a rapid antidepressant response strategy in depression comorbid with cancer, a randomized, double-blind study, with the possibility to enter to open extension
https://www.isvavai.cz/cep?s=jednoduche-vyhledavani&ss=detail&n=0&h=NW24-04-00413

Eligibility is demonstrated by completing and submitting the "Affidavit of Eligibility of the Candidate/Co-Candidate", which is part of the tender, depending on the type of institution, i.e. either for legal entities or natural persons. This declaration is now extended to include a declaration on the budgetary rules (previously a separate affidavit).

Complete the affidavit, no signature required, and send it via data mail (preferred alternative). Electronic signatures may be accepted via data box, but physically signed affidavits can only be delivered by post or in person.

The affidavit is not required for research organisations, institutions that are on the list of research organisations of the Ministry of Education and Science (https://msmt.gov.cz/vyzkum-a-vyvoj-2/seznam-vyzkumnych-organizaci) do not have to provide any document related to research organisations, an institution that meets the definition of a research organisation and is not on the list of research organisations (Ministry of Education and Science) sends a declaration that it meets the definition of a research organisation and proves it by the activities carried out, e.g. business register, articles of association, etc.

Institutions outside the ČR must prove their eligibility by means of an affidavit included in the competition announcement.

Professional competence is demonstrated according to the nature of the project, these annexes are inserted directly to the project in the ISVP.

The result must be dedicated only to the given project and not to any other project supported by the Ministry of Health – AZV ČR, where dedication means dedication in the publication output itself and also in the Register of Information on results of the VaVal Information System.

E.g. only one MoH (AZV) project is mentioned in the dedication, as well as other providers, including institutional support or foreign sources – "Supported by the programme project of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic with reg. no. NW24-0x-00xxx, by the grant GA CR reg. no. ....... and institutional support of the MoH CR....", i.e. it is an exclusive dedication (exclusive dedication is not the mention of two or more MoH (AZV) projects, e.g. "Recommended format for the text of the dedication of MoH projects: in CZ "Supported by the programme project of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. NW24-xx-00xxx.", in AJ "Supported by Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. NW24-xx-00xxx."

Unspent funds from a given calendar year, if not transferred to the Special Purpose Vehicle Fund (SPVF) by eligible entities, may be used by the beneficiary or other participant in subsequent years of the project in accordance with the approved Project Proposal, i.e. for the same purpose for which they were approved by the provider (NUP). The same rules as those set out in the ToR apply to the use of unspent funds.

If the beneficiary (and the next participant) is not interested in using the unspent funds in the following years of the project, they will inform the provider and return the unspent funds to the state budget according to the provider's instruction, namely:

* a beneficiary which is an organizational unit of the state or a territorial self-government unit, returns the unused dedicated support to the receiving account of its founder;

* other beneficiaries shall return the unspent funds to the foreign funds account of the Ministry of Health at 6015-2528-001/0710.

Yes, in the event of changes in generally binding legal regulations concerning personnel costs in the project (e.g. changes in salary tariffs, changes in the mandatory allocation to the FKSP, etc.) and their impact on economic indicators, it is possible to make transfers between individual items (from other operating costs to personnel costs) even above the limit of CZK 100 thousand. They do not require an amendment to the contract or a new decision on the change in the budget structure, but only in the year in which the legislation was changed (the change can also be announced in the future). However, it is necessary to contact the AZV ČR Office (via the official channel, preferably ISDS) with specific requests, as the project needs to be modified for the next report (partial or final), and the beneficiary must describe and justify these changes.

No, unspent dedicated support from the investment costs cannot be transferred to another item, i.e. operating or personnel costs (as it has been approved for the use of a specific investment). The amount can be used in subsequent years of the solution for the same purpose (under investment costs).

The beneficiary can request a postponement of the submission of the final report by completing the final report form part of the ZO, the postponement is usually possible for a maximum of 2 months (specified in the given guidelines for completing the final report), due to the following external and internal evaluation. The final report form will be attached to the project in the ISVP application (in the "Other attachments" section) and sent simultaneously to the data box of the AZV ČR (f7eike4), however, this final report is not finalized in the ISVP (a test printout of the final report is not sent by data message together with the final report form).

According to the Government Regulation No. 397/2009 Coll., on the information system for research, experimental development and innovation, the period required for documenting the results of the project is set to 6 months from the date of completion of the project. Within this period, it is possible, for example, to add results to a completed project that have not been applied until the proper completion of the project (or submission of the final report). However, the deadline for submission of all results within 6 months from the end of the project, i.e. from 31.12. or 30.6., is also valid for projects with a postponement of the submission of the final report. Results can be delivered by data message or by email to info@azvcr.cz  (scan of the result, confirmation of printing including information about the result, i.e. title, authors, IF, description, etc.) or physically by mail/personally.

Please indicate the number of hours of work as recorded (not as calculated).

Without a request for approval of the change, but after proper justification in the partial or final report, it can be implemented (no contract amendment or new decision is needed):

• transfers within other operating costs or personnel costs,
• transfer between other operating costs x personnel costs up to the limit of '100 000. CZK/year/project",
• a change in the research team (except for the person of the investigator, co-investigator see below),
• increase in the time of the researcher or co-investigator,
• Changes according to generally binding legal regulations concerning personnel costs in the project (e.g. changes in salary tariffs, changes in the compulsory allocation to the FKSP, etc.), however, it is necessary to send the information to the data box, a change without approval can only be implemented/reported in the year when the legislative change occurred (it is also possible for futuro).

Changes for which approval must be requested via the "Request for Project Change Approval" form(EN) (once the change is approved, an amendment to the contract or a new decision will be made):

• change in recognised costs, including increases from other sources, change in the amount of special-purpose support granted (transfer of special-purpose support from year to year or reduction), change in the cost structure (i.e. transfer between the items other operating x personnel costs above the limit of "100 thousand EUR"), change in the cost structure (i.e. CZK/year/project'),
• change of the person responsible for the research,
• change of co-researcher,
• Reduction of the amount of time of the researcher or co-investigator,
• change of another participant (co-recipient),
• significant methodological changes,
• reallocation of personal costs intended for students,
• change in the duration of the project (extension), but without entitlement to further earmarked support,
• change of beneficiary from VES 2025.

Request for approval of a project modification form (EN) is sent by the beneficiary via the data box AZV ČR .

Substantial changes must be notified no later than 7 calendar days from the date on which the beneficiary becomes aware of such a change. As it may take longer to process a change request, please notify the change earlier by letter, preferably by data message, with a short description of the change (e.g. a new co-/co-manager, etc., may not be specified).

Any changes or transfers should be efficient, cost-effective, effective and supported by the approved project activities and be in accordance with generally applicable rules.

The amount of eligible costs and the related amount of support granted for the project for the entire duration of the project may not be changed during the course of the project by more than 50 % of the amount of eligible costs or the amount of public support specified in the grant agreement or the decision on the budget increase.

Changes that are not allowed and cannot be requested:

• change of the main objective,
• change in the subject of the project,
• Change of beneficiary (VES 2020 - VES 2024),
• increase in additional (overhead) costs,
• transfer to or from capital expenditure.

Eligible costs may include additional (overhead) costs incurred in the direct time and material context of the project (e.g. administrative costs, support staff and infrastructure costs). The maximum amount of such costs is 20 % of the total eligible project costs requested from the MoH excluding the cost of acquisition of fixed assets, i.e. only non-investment costs. The additional (overhead) costs foreseen in the project proposal cannot be exceeded or requested to be increased during the course of the project. If these costs are not requested in the project proposal, they cannot be included among the eligible costs.

The overheads incurred must not exceed 1) the original amount planned in the approved project proposal and 2) 20 % of the total non-investment designated funds drawn from the MoH within the project.

Yes, specialised professional computer tools necessary for the implementation of the project and its objectives can be included in the eligible costs. However, the purchase of such computer equipment must be specified and properly justified in the project proposal, including the justification for its use.

The individual accounting units follow the set thresholds set out in the implementing decrees according to the type of entity (or as modified in the institution's internal guidelines).

Under Sub-Programmes 1 and 2, exceptional remuneration (for personnel costs specified in points (a) and (b) of point (2), Article 5.4.1 of the Tender documentation) can be paid from the provider's funds (from the earmarked expenditure of the MoH) if the salaries to which the exceptional remuneration is related are paid from sources other than the provider's earmarked funds and at the same time these other sources are indicated in the project proposal.

he total cost of the project will then be higher by these salaries than the costs covered by the provider's special-purpose funding, even for projects carried out exclusively by research organisations. It is not possible to include only exceptional remuneration, without salary (time), in the project proposal. The provider limits the amount of exceptional remuneration to a maximum of EUR 100 000. CZK/employee/year for all projects supported by the provider.

Illustrative example: Mr. Smith is to receive an extraordinary remuneration of CZK 10,000/year from the provider's special-purpose funds, therefore the project proposal must still include funds for his salary/salary – paid from other sources, including the amount of time spent on the project.

There is no % limit on personnel costs in relation to the amount of grant requested. When approving the amount of recognised personal costs for all applicants, the provider always takes into account the Labour Code and Government Regulation No. 448/2011 of 7 December 2011 and other relevant applicable legislation or practices in the workplace. It is only necessary to comply with the limits set out in the contract (min. and max. hours, amount of extraordinary remuneration).

The amount of time must correspond to the objectives, role in the project, results and evaluation of the person. Zero hours are not allowed. The Provider sets the minimum amount of full-time employment per project per employer for the proposer at 0,2 and for the co-proposer at 0,2 (VES 2021-2024) and 0,1 (from VES 2025) respectively. For the purposes of the project proposal, the sum of all the person's full-time employment covered by the Provider's earmarked support cannot exceed the threshold of 100 %, i.e. 1,00. In the event of multiple projects being accepted, a reduction in the project's FTEs to the maximum sum of all FTEs of 1.00 is subsequently necessary.

Examples:

1. Option: the proposer has a running project where he has 50% time commitment. It is possible to submit several project proposals (in different roles of proposer, team member), where he will have 80% time commitment in each, however, in case of acceptance of several projects, it is necessary to reduce the time commitment on the projects to a maximum of the sum of all time commitments of 100%! In this case, an explanation must be provided in the project proposal as to how all projects will be dealt with simultaneously at the appropriate scientific level without adversely affecting the progress and output of the individual projects.
2. Option: the proponent has no running project. In this case, again, if more than one project is accepted and the total time commitment is more than 100 %, the proposals for such projects must again explain how they will be able to ensure that they are dealt with without adversely affecting their quality. In both cases, the volume of FTEs and their efficiency are part of a comprehensive evaluation.

There is no financial limit on the requested subsidy per project, except for Sub-programme 2 (support for young scientists), where the amount of the possible eligible costs of the project is limited to EUR 7 million. The maximum amount of the grant is CZK 7 million.

If the applicant or co-applicant is a private individual, the amount of his/her financial remuneration for the work on the project will be included under the heading of personnel costs for the purposes of cost accounting, even if it is not a cost incurred for the payment of wages and salaries in the context of employment relations under Act No 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended.

The annexes to the project proposal must be delivered during the competition period in paper form by post or in person to the AZV ČR office at Ruská 2412/85, 100 00 Prague 10 in an envelope marked "DO NOT OPEN – VES 202X" or signed with a qualified electronic signature in accordance with a special legal regulation to the AZV ČR data box with the subject line "DO NOT OPEN – VES 202X".

Attachments that could create a selective advantage for the bidder in the VES will be evaluated as not allowed, these are all attachments that extend the "project description" attachment (10 pages) and the attached "CV" (2 pages). Permitted project annexes include documents listed in the ToR such as:

* documents (according to the nature of the project) and affidavits to demonstrate eligibility (Article 4.2 of the Tender documentation);

* a list of experts who should not be involved in the project appraisal (to ensure objectivity in the project appraisal, you have the possibility to list domestic and foreign experts who should not be involved in the project appraisal);

* an offer identification of the supplier, the subject matter of the supply and the indicative price and rate if the project proposal specifies in detail the asset or service to be acquired as unique;

* evidence of co-financing from other sources by affidavit of the tenderer or confirmation from the intended sponsor;

* a power of attorney to submit the proposal to a third party if the tenderer does not have its own data box;

* an unsigned draft cooperation agreement between the applicant (beneficiary) and the proposed other participants, to be submitted whenever the applicant is not the sole participant in the project proposal;

* the 'motivational effect' attachment – a comparative analysis  comparing the level of activity envisaged with and without support, or comparing the total amount spent by the beneficiary on the project with and without support, or the speed of completion of the project with and without support, if a large enterprise is involved in the project;

* where applicable, the original power of attorney (authorisation) by which the applicant's/co-applicant's statutory body authorises its representative to carry out the acts related to the submission of the project proposal;

* other attachments:

under Sub-programme 2, an affidavit, if the applicant has been on maternity or parental leave, has suffered a long-term illness, or has interrupted his/her scientific career for similar objective reasons, the time limit of 8 years since the award of the academic degree of Ph.D. or its equivalent is increased by this period (to be documented in the ISVP),

in the Bibliography section, a list of research results for the last five years.

A 'project description' and 'curriculum vitae(s)' are an integral part of each project proposal.

The affidavits referred to in Annex 2-5 of the SO and other documents referred to in Article 4.2. (1) a) - e), g) of the SO shall be delivered during the tender period in paper form by post or in person to the mailroom AZV ČR at Ruská 2412/85, 100 00 Prague 10 in an envelope marked "DO NOT OPEN - VES 202X" or signed with a qualified electronic signature in accordance with a special legal regulation to the data box AZV with the subject line "DO NOT OPEN - VES 202X". The original of the power of attorney (authorisation), if any, by which the applicant's/co-applicant's statutory body authorises its representative to carry out acts related to the submission of the project proposal will be submitted in the same way.

All other attachments required by the SO (pursuant to Article 4.2(1)(f) of the SO) shall be submitted via ISVP as a PDF attachment. In the case of a power of attorney to submit a proposal to a third party, if the tenderer does not have its own data box, the tenderer shall attach the power of attorney as an annex in the ISVP application and deliver it in paper form by post or in person to AZV ČR , Ruská 2412/85, 100 00 Prague 10 in an envelope marked 'DO NOT OPEN - VES 202X'.

Is the outline of the "project description" (i.e. the technical part of the project as per the TD) binding?

1. 1. Introduction – a summary of the current state of knowledge of the scientific issues in the given scientific field;
2. 2. Preliminary/pilot data – pilot data supporting the project focus and hypothesis (d);

3. a statement of the nature of the Project and its relevanceto the Programme ; a justification of the necessity and need to address a specific issue at a given time (i.e. the timeliness of the solution) and in a given scope; what is the originality/innovativeness of the research project; if relevant to the project, a description of the implications for addressing possible biological differences (gender) or differences in the experiences and needs of women and men (gender);

1. Hypothesis and objectives ofthe Project - incl. elaboration of the general objective or indication of sub-objectives;
2. 5. Experimental design – a statistical justification of the size of the research population (exceptions may be projects aimed at research on rare and ultra-rare diseases), group definitions and statistically justified numbers of experimental animals, numbers of repetitions for preclinical testing, etc;
3. 6. Methodology – The description of the methodological and methodological approaches and methods used to address the project and to achieve the intended outcome, their analysis, and the proposed statistical treatment;
4. 7. Timetable – a clearly formulated schedule of the planned work and its scope in each year of the project; a Gantt chart is recommended;
5. 8. Expected results – a factual description of the expected results of the project, including their intended practical purpose and the aim of their use in the health sector;
6. 9. Cooperation – indicate if the project involves cooperation between several entities, How it will be implemented (model of future contract as an annex to the project proposal), including specification of their share and responsibilities. In case of foreign collaboration, a signed letter of support or letter of intent on the entity's letterhead should be provided, including the method and amount of funding; the project solution should not be predominantly based on contracted research or paid services delivered by partners outside the research team;
7. Information on the (personnel-wiseand material-technical) readiness of the proponent, co-proponents and their workplaces, on the technological equipment of the workplaces to be used in the solution, on the possibility of cooperation; evaluation of the consistency between the professional focus of the proposal and the focus of the workplace of the proponent/co-proponents;
8. 11. Justification of the participation of all co-proposers and named collaborators, defining their contribution to the problem and specifying their role in achieving the expected results; information on the involvement of junior researchers;
9. 12. Risk analysis – analysis of the risks that may occur during the project, their significance and impact, alternative solutions in case of failure to confirm the hypothesis, etc;
10. a brief description of the research data ('the research data') to be used, collected or generated in the course of the project and how it will be handled; the beneficiary is obliged to have a Data Management Plan (DMP) in place no later than the submission of the first sub-report and to update this plan regularly if necessary and to submit it on request; The DMP should include, inter alia, information on what methods and principles of data management will be used with respect to the FAIR principles (retrievability, accessibility, interoperability and usability);
11. list of literature used ("List of literature used").

For the affidavits for project proposals, specifically under the heading "Type of applicant entity in terms of CEDR", use the codebook of legal forms (see e.g. https://www. mfcr.cz/cs/ministerstvo/informacni-systemy/programove-financovani/zed/metodicka-podpora-k-zed/ciselnik-pravnich-forem-ris-zed-54946). All information on CEDR (Central Evidence of Budget Subsidies) can be found on the MoF website: http://cedr.mfcr.cz/.

To fill in the entry 'Type of entity of the applicant in terms of CEP', use the 'Type of entity' codebook in the 'System codes' section of this website: https://www.isvavai.cz/is?s=prehled-ciselniku.

The Annex to the Draft Cooperation Agreement is to be submitted whenever the applicant is not the sole participant in the project proposal (i.e. whenever the project is a collaboration between the applicant and the co-applicant(s)); it is to be submitted via the ISVP application as an embedded PDF attachment. The draft contract does not need to be signed and one template for a given project is sufficient (even in case of participation of several co-bidders - the basic details of the other party will not be filled in).

In the case of a proposed project involving experimental work with animals , the applicant/co-applicant shall attach:

when submitting the project proposal, at least a copy of the "authorisation for the use of experimental animals" (former accreditation of the user facility) pursuant to Section 15b of Act No. 246/1992 Coll., on the protection of animals against cruelty, as amended, valid at least until the start of the project;

when concluding the contract, a valid approved (original) "experimental project", relating specifically to this project, or an officially certified copy or a document with electronic conversion, with the opinions of the expert committee of the user facility and the departmental committee of the relevant state authority pursuant to Act No. 246/1992 Coll. on the Protection of Animals against Cruelty, as amended, and Decree No. 419/2012 Coll. on the Protection of Experimental Animals, as amended.

It is also possible to attach one experimental project to several projects (but they must correspond thematically). If the title of the experimental project does not correspond to the project title, it will always be accompanied by an Application for Approval of Experimental Project (minimum copy).

The ethics committee's consent statement for a given project must always be submitted by the applicant or coapplicant to whom the legal obligation applies, i.e. in the case of (i) healthcare delivery, (ii) research with human subjects, and (iii) research with questionnaire survey methodology and qualitative investigations with persons affected by or at risk of disease in accordance with the International Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research with Human Participants CIOMS/WHO, 2002.

In the case of research on biological material (patient samples) that was collected e.g. within another project, it is also necessary to attach the opinion of the ethics committee including the informed consent that was used in the collection of this biological material, in this informed consent should then be explicitly stated that the samples will be further used e.g. in subsequent projects, etc.

The Ethics Committee will here explicitly confirm the accuracy of the attached "Informed Consent of the Patient/Subject" and will be responsible for its compliance with the regulations if Informed Consent is required under the relevant law. In addition, in the case of anticipated work with human beings, a statement from the Ethics Committee on the protection of human beings must be provided.

When submitting a project, a copy is sufficient; when concluding a contract, it is necessary to provide the original, a certified copy or a document with electronic conversion.

It is no longer required; instead of this annex, it is necessary to answer two questions directly in the project proposal, namely whether "The project proposal corresponds to the clinical evaluation of medicines according to the provisions of Act No. 378/2007 Coll., on Medicinal Products" and whether "The project proposal corresponds to the clinical trial of medical devices according to Act No. 375/2022 Coll., on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices' (the bidder is responsible for the correctness of the answers).

If the answer is in the affirmative, you must provide the original, a certified copy or an electronic conversion of the document:

The decision on the authorisation of the clinical evaluation for the Czech Republic within the meaning of the Medicinal Products Act and the same documentation that was approved in this decision (or a valid Authorisation of a reported clinical evaluation according to Directive 2001/20/EC including the opinion of the Ethics Committees and the same documentation) in case the proposal corresponds to the clinical evaluation of the medicinal product;

In the case of a project proposal that corresponds to the conduct of a clinical trial of a medical device with a CE marking that will be used in a clinical trial outside its intended use and/or in the case of a project proposal that corresponds to the conduct of a clinical trial of a medical device without a CE marking, the applicant shall attach the Decision on Authorisation of the CP within the meaning of the Medical Devices and MDR Act (if such a clinical trial requires a Decision on Authorisation) or the Confirmation of Acceptance of the submitted notification (if the clinical trial requires a notification of the intention to conduct a clinical trial) within the meaning of the Act on Medical Devices and MDR Act. Medical Devices and MDR.

Only if it is not a clinical evaluation or a clinical trial, it can be accompanied by an opinion of the SÚKL that it is not a clinical evaluation and that it is not a clinical trial.

The motivational effect attachment shall be submitted whenever the project participant is a 'large' undertaking (either as a bidder or as a co-bidder); the format of this Annex is not prescribed, the format is a comparative analysis (comparison of the level of the intended activity with and without support), but the maximum size is set at two standard pages - see Article 5.6 of this Tender dossier; it shall be submitted via the ISVP application, as an embedded PDF attachment.

No. Checklists are only an aid to the proposer and are used solely for its internal process control.

As part of the VES 2024, VES 2025 competitions

The proposer, later investigator, shall meet the condition that no more than 8 years (for VES 2025J, the relevant year is 2016) have elapsed since the award of the academic degree of Ph.D. or equivalent, or will have obtained it no later than the date of conclusion of the contract/issuance of the project decision.

If the proposer has been on maternity or parental leave, has suffered a long-term illness, or has interrupted his/her scientific career for similar objective reasons, the time limit of 8 years from the award of the academic degree of Ph.D. or its equivalent is increased by this period. These facts (award of the degree, parental leave, etc.) shall be documented by the applicant by means of an affidavit.

As part of the VES 2021, VES 2022 and VES 2023 competitions

The investigator, co-investigator and all professional collaborators must be at most 35 years old in the year of the competition announcement. Only one exception is allowed per team, one member of the team, i.e. the scientific collaborator, may be aged 45 years or older in the year of the competition.

In the framework of VES 2020

The investigator must be at most 35 years of age in the year of the competition announcement

These rules, according to the VES, continue to apply even if the grant is awarded, throughout the entire duration of the project and any changes.

The proposer/investigator is the person responsible to the applicant/beneficiary for the project.

The Co-proposer/Co-investigator is the person responsible to the Co-applicant/Co-recipient for the sub-project.

An expert collaborator is a named member of the research team with a fixed time and salary or is hired on a contract basis who is not designated as a technical, administrative or support staff member. The name, surname and date of birth must be completed.

For Sub-programme 2 (support for the development of junior researchers), the amount of eligible project costs is limited to EUR 7 million. CZK.

Active participation at the conference means active presentation, not co-authorship of a paper, by one member of the research team, who is mentioned in the project by name, in the form of a lecture or poster, where the topic of the paper must be related to the topic of the project.

To qualify for the costs, at least the invitation letter or acknowledgement of receipt of the contribution and the programme must be submitted with the PPA/PZ. Costs for other team members with a passive form of participation, even if they are co-authors of a paper presented by an active participant, are not eligible and must be covered from other sources, e.g. institutional funds of the VO. Two team members can only claim reimbursement from one project for one conference if two papers with active participation (lecture/poster) are accepted.

In the event that the presenter cannot actively participate in the conference, e.g. due to illness, maternity leave, etc., it is necessary to contact the organizer and request a change of presenter (this should be granted, should the change of presenter not be accepted, this communication will be attached).

No, costs can only be reimbursed to a participant who has confirmed active participation in the conference (for a single paper, only one can be actively presenting even if the paper has multiple co-authors). If the other participant is approved by the employer for this travel, it must be reimbursed from other sources, e.g. institutional funds (passive participation cannot be reimbursed from earmarked funds).

Travel expenses are costs including all costs of business trips in accordance with the provisions of Sections 173 to 181 of Act No. 262/2006 Coll., the Labour Code, as amended, up to the amount provided for or permitted by this Act, for the researchers and other staff members named in the project.

Business trips must always be approved within the workplace (secondments, etc.).

These are costs incurred exclusively in direct, i.e. in time and in kind, connection with the project, including working stays necessary for the project, trips made in connection with active participation in conferences, etc. (however, everything must be duly justified in the proposal or P&L).

It also includes travel and subsistence costs of foreign staff participating in the project ("staff" in this context means the beneficiary's employee or the employee on a temporary/permanent basis).

The provider shall contribute to travel costs up to the maximum amount set for the applicant and co-applicants together: for the first year of the project up to a maximum of CZK 80 000, for the following years up to a maximum of CZK 150 000.

Yes, but only if he/she is an employee of the co/recipient or co/applicant (agreement, part-time).

Yes, but only if they are an employee of the co/recipient or co/applicant (agreement, part-time). This reimbursement must not exceed the daily cost of per diem tables (search for Current EU Per Diem Rates and more… – per-diems.info).

The start and end of the business trip and other conditions of the trip are determined and approved by the employer (see Section 153 of the Labour Code), therefore the employer may also allow the employee to interrupt the business trip (however, it should be internally regulated) on his/her part, i.e. for private reasons (visiting friends, cultural events, etc. in the place or in the vicinity where he/she has been sent, i.e. he/she may leave a day or two days earlier or stay and go home later). It is not an interruption, for example, if the employer sends the employee a day earlier to rest after a long journey. The special purpose allowance can then be used to cover the usual costs directly related to the project (travel to and from the project and the usual travel allowances for the work trip).

If the employer authorises the interruption of a business trip, the employee's entitlement to travel allowances should be defined and the start and end of the interruption should be clearly stated, or the date of the business trip clearly defined.

These costs can only be recognised if they are accrued. In the context of the current year's spending (at the end), they cannot be recognised, as the earmarked support of the year cannot be used to cover the next year's expenditure.

An exception to this would be where the conference fee was paid directly by the participant at the end of the year and would only be charged to the project costs as part of the travel voucher and travel settlement. In this case, it would be appropriate to attach (in addition to the other documents) a bank statement and an affidavit from the participant that the items have been paid.

For this and similar cases, we recommend taking out insurance or supplementary insurance, which can then be claimed from the special-purpose aid, so that the cancellation of the ticket, e.g. due to illness, is recognised.

Open science should, for example, improve the accessibility of scientific results and new technologies and innovations for all, speed up and streamline collaboration and knowledge sharing among scientists, avoid repetition of research, reuse already available data, etc., most often through open access to peer-reviewed publications - Open Access and to research data - Open Data.

Open Access is not yet required by generally binding legislation, so we can only recommend publishing in Open Access and leave the decision in the hands of the researchers of our projects. If practices, the nature of the result and the conditions of the project in a given field allow it, it is appropriate to publish the results in Open Access, or the publication outputs can be submitted to open digital repositories, in accordance with the licensing terms of the publisher.

In contrast, Open Data, i.e. work with research data, is already enshrined in the amendment to Act No. 130/2002 Coll. (from 2022), therefore it will be required that beneficiaries have a plan for research data management (DMP - Data Management Plans).

Yes, the costs of publishing in Open Access and similar costs are deductible, including publication charges (APC - Article Processing Charges).

The Data Management Plan should, as a minimum, include:

• what data will be generated, processed or collected,
• what methods and policies for their management will be used with respect to the FAIR principles (searchability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability),
• how the data will be shared and published,
• how the data will be stored during the solution and retained after the end of the project.

In the framework of VES 2025, the obligation for the beneficiary to have a research data management plan (a brief description of the research data that will be used, collected or generated during the project and how it will be handled) prepared and, if necessary, regularly updated and submitted to the provider upon request, is already enshrined in the ToR.

In the framework of VES 2023 and VES 2024, only a general condition was set, according to the amendment to Act 130/2002 Coll., in the contract, respectively in the contract, therefore, the preparation of a plan for research data management will be required for these ongoing projects as well, at the latest by the PPA for the year 2024.

The beneficiary or co-beneficiary is not obliged to disclose research data in the case of:

• research data protected under laws governing the protection of the results of copyright, invention or similar creative activity, i.e. intellectual property rights,
• trade secret rights, or other legitimate interests of the co/recipient (e.g. commercial exploitation),
• national security,
• there would be a disproportionate interference with the right to the protection of privacy and personal data,
• it is also possible to refuse the provision of research data according to Act No. 130/2002 Coll. in the case where the research or development has not been fully financed from public funds (if the researcher is not obliged to provide information according to Act No. 106/1999 Coll. and Act No. 123/1998 Coll.).

Yes, the cost of creating a DMP for a given project and similar costs for managing research data (anonymisation, processing, storage...) are eligible. In addition, the costs of a Data Steward, i.e. a data management expert or similar professional position, are also eligible to the extent necessary for the project (coordination, creation and management of research data).

National Technical Library - https://repozitar.techlib.cz/entities/publication/b74f172d-5aad-4440-aa3f-7fb3667d401a

Open Data - https://opendata.gov.cz/start

For the institution, you can fill in the method of demonstrating gender equality under the "Org Settings" icon. under "Gender Equality Principles", this information is added by the role "Candidate" (it is valid for the whole institution).

In this section, instead of or in addition to the text, it is also possible to insert a link (to the website) to the Gender Equality Plan (GEP), HR Award, implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2030, internal directive of the VO or other similar document demonstrating an active approach to promoting non-discrimination.

• As this field is subsequently transcribed into the project proposal both in the online version and in the PDF version, the data must be filled in in English and the field is limited to 2,000 characters.

Board for research, development and innovation - https://vyzkum.gov.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=952959

e.g. Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2030, Gender Equality in Research and Development - A Guide for Providers - RVVI, Gender Equality Plan https://vyzkum.gov.cz/FrontClanek.aspx?idsekce=1005967.

National Contact Centre - Gender and Science - www.genderaveda.cz

e.g. https://genderaveda. cz/plany-genderove-rovnosti-geps/, https://genderaveda.cz/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NKC_Jak-na-zmenu-A5_2021_WEB-1.pdf

Within a specific project, the integration of the gender dimension should be described (across the annex "project description"), most often in the section "statement of the nature of the project and its relation to the Programme", if relevant to the project design, a description of the impact on addressing possible biological differences (gender) or differences in the experiences and needs of women and men (gender). Some results of the project design may be less relevant if, for example, physical differences between women and men, etc., have not been taken into account.

It should always be justified why gender equality cannot be applied, e.g. in the "information on (staff and material and technical) readiness" section, when it is not possible to ensure a more balanced representation of women and men in the project (e.g. gender-specific cancers, ultra-rare diseases, etc.), in the "expected results" section, then if the resulting impact of the project does not benefit women and men equally, etc.

For Subprogramme 2 (Support for the Development of Junior Researchers - Junior Projects), the time during which the proposer has been on maternity or parental leave, has suffered a long-term illness or has interrupted his/her scientific career for similar objective reasons may be deducted from the time limit of 8 years from the award of the academic degree of Ph.D. or its equivalent. These facts (award of the degree, parental leave, etc.) must be documented by the applicant by means of an affidavit only.

For evaluation project proposal under the "standard" section (Subprogramme 1), it is advisable to indicate this in the attached CV.

Career breaks due to maternity and parental leave, long-term illness or long-term care for a family member or loved one are taken into account when evaluation designing a project.

Within the framework of the project, we allow for the change of the researcher for the duration of maternity and parental leave, i.e. only for a certain period of time "from-until" (in practice, often the co/investigator/researcher changes only for the duration of maternity leave). As we support applied research, where individual competitions are always announced under a Programme that is time-limited, we do not allow project interruptions.

It is also possible to request a reduction of the researcher's time (within the research team, then without a request for approval of the change) due to parental responsibilities, care for a dependent family member or similar reasons. Alternatively, an extension of the project duration can also be requested (without entitlement to further earmarked support, however, unspent funds under the FUP and NUPF can be transferred to the extended project year).

The return to employment, including any concurrence with maternity or parental leave, must be in accordance with the Labour Code and other labour law provisions (e.g. the additional employment during maternity leave with the same employer as the maternity leave must be based on a different employment relationship and must not be the same type of activity as in the original employment relationship, i.e. the same type of work according to Section 34b(2) of the Labour Code)

Yes, these costs can be included as ancillary (overhead) costs if they are incurred in a direct temporal and material context in the project. The reporting of these costs should be addressed in the beneficiary's internal rules.

The contact person is JUDr. Ivana Reichová: tel. +420 271 019 532, e-mail: .