Strengthening Our Research Security Activities

Robert Jára, Director of CTU UCEEB, and Erika Langerová, Head of Department VO2 participated in a closed workshop held on 7–9 April 2026, focused on strengthening institutional resilience and research security. The workshop served as a platform for sharing best practices across universities and opened a number of current issues, particularly related to the implementation of Act No. 328/2025 Coll., on research, development, innovation, and knowledge transfer.

UCEEB has long been actively engaged in advancing the research security agenda at both national and international levels, with this area being professionally led by Erika Langerová. Participation in the workshop thus naturally built on previous activities aimed at raising awareness and sharing experience.

At the beginning of 2026, UCEEB also contributed to the international conference Strengthening Research Security & Protecting Innovation in Europe’s Academic and Research Institutions, held on 19–21 January 2026 at Charles University in Prague. As part of a plenary session dedicated to foreign interference, Erika Langerová shared insights on approaches to safeguarding the academic environment. Further expert contributions were presented alongside representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports at a conference focused on risks to institutional resilience in academia, held on 18.2.2026 at the University of Ostrava. Erika Langerová delivered two presentations addressing current security challenges in research, specifically the issues of radicalisation and extremism, and the functioning of influence operations in academic settings.

These activities built on a series of invited international trainings and workshops, as well as her presentation at the European Flagship Conference on Research Security in 2025. UCEEB considers research security a key topic and a long-term priority. It therefore continues to actively focus on both internal education and strengthening institutional resilience, as well as on developing international cooperation and sharing best practices in this area.