The Czech Health Research Agency (hereinafter referred to asAZV) is a state agency under the direct authority of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, with its registered office at Ruská 85, 100 05 Prague 10, and ID No. 03009491. It is an independent accounting entity.

AZV established pursuant to a Ministry of Health Regulation—the founding charter issued on April 1, 2014, under Ref. No.: MZDR 10256/2014/VLP, as amended by a Ministry of Health Regulation (hereinafter “MZd”) issued on September 6, 2016, under Ref. No.: MZDR 51831/2016-1/OPŘ.

The primary purpose AZV to support applied research in healthcare in accordance with Act No. 130/2002 Coll., on the Support of Research, Experimental Development, and Innovation from Public Funds and on Amendments to Certain Related Acts (the Act on the Support of Research, Experimental Development, and Innovation), as amended, hereinafter referred to as the “Act”; in accordance with the definition of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development set forth in the document “Frascati Manual 2015: Guidelines for the Collection and Reporting of Data on Research and Experimental Development.”

AZV within the scope of its activities, it ensures in particular:

(a) The preparation of national strategic and policy documents, support programs, and other activities in the field of applied health research, including public calls for proposals in research, development, and innovation to support program projects (hereinafter referred to as “Project”);

b) evaluation selection of project proposals for the provision of targeted funding to support their implementation;

c) Preparing documentation for the provision of project-specific funding based on grant agreements or budget increase decisions;

d) Professional and substantive oversight of the implementation of selected funded projects, and cooperation with the Ministry of Health in monitoring compliance with grant agreements or decisions regarding budget increases and the use of earmarked funds;

e) evaluation monitoring the progress of project implementation and the achievement of project objectives, as well as reviewing the results achieved;

f) Preparing draft budgets for AZV reports on its activities;

(g) Monitoring the achievement of the Project’s objectives within the meaning of Section 13(2) and (3) of the Act;

(h) Activities arising from approved national or European projects in which AZV is AZV grant AZV ;

(i) Activities related to coordinating the ČR participation ČR European health partnerships implemented under the Horizon Europe program and its successor programs;

(j) Negotiations with the competent authorities of the Czech Republic or the European Union regarding the assessment of the compatibility of the aid provided with the common market;

k) Cooperation with similar foreign agencies;

l) Archiving documents during and after the completion of Projects, retaining them for the statutory period, destroying them, and subsequently transferring them to the National Archives for archiving in accordance with Act No. 499/2004 Coll., on Archiving and Records Management and on Amendments to Certain Acts, as amended;

(m) Performing other tasks as authorized by the Ministry of Health.

2.

AZV the basis for the provision of targeted support in accordance with the National Policy on Research, Experimental Development, and Innovation of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Health’s conceptual documents on health research, based on a public competition in research, development, and innovation conducted in accordance with the Act, specifically for projects under Section 3(2)(b) of the Act. Targeted support is provided from the Ministry of Health’s expenditures in the form of grants to legal entities or natural persons, or through increased expenditures by organizational units of the Czech Republic or local self-governing units (Section 4(1) of the Act).