The CTU University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings received the best possible evaluation for the implementation of
the international project "Increasing the quality of supporting infrastructure in the field of energy efficient construction"
(Inform EEB-CZ) of the Inter Excellence program of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
The project department of CTU UCEEB participated in the project, which was successfully completed in May 2022. The opposition
committee especially appreciated the results of the project in improving the supporting infrastructure with the aim of facilitating
the involvement of scientists in international cooperation as much as possible.
The solution of the project was divided into four topics dealing with the support of international cooperation in the form
of training in writing projects at an international level and seminars with foreign partners, trips (mobility) of individual
workers to foreign workplaces, intersectoral cooperation, and thus establishing a closer relationship with industry and its
involvement in international cooperation, and infrastructure improvement (modification of processes, tools and establishment
of new positions).
The biggest inspiration for us was trips to foreign workplaces. At the universities of Leuven in Belgium, Twente in the Netherlands
and Amberg in Germany, we mainly investigated the different approaches to technology transfer, which were very different in
many respects. For example, in who is given support, or in the conditions of the university's participation in the ownership
of licenses or spin-off companies. On the contrary, all the universities visited had in common a long-term, decades-long,
systematic support of cooperation with industry and sufficient financial support for the office in charge of this process.
During our visits to universities in Trondheim, Norway, and Dresden, Germany, we learned about different systems and approaches
to project management and support for researchers in the preparation and implementation of projects, which we subsequently
evaluated and introduced some of their elements into the CTU UCEEB system. Another benefit of the foreign trips was the deepening
of cooperation with the visited institutions, which, among other things, resulted in new, jointly submitted project proposals.
Thanks to this knowledge and experience, the number of applications submitted to international calls has increased and their
success rate has also increased. Currently, CTU UCEEB is preparing to implement or is already implementing 22 international
projects, 11 of which fall under the European programs Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
The development and improvement of the support of researchers certainly does not end even after the successful completion
of the project. We continue to work, for example, on expanding mobility options and cooperation with industry. Inform-EEB-CZ
enabled the launch of other opportunities to facilitate international scientific cooperation, therefore we are convinced that
the number of successful international projects will increase in the coming years.
A manual was created as part of the project, which can be found for download zde.