Gender equality in research and innovation

Through activities focused on gender equality, we at the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic strive to remove barriers that restrict the assertion of human talent and abilities in the field of research, development and innovation. At the same time, our goal is to support research projects that – in addition to economic or environmental impacts – also ask themselves questions about their social relevance. We strive to ensure that publicly funded research and innovation also address the issues of diversity, inclusion or social justice of research impacts,  thus having a positive impact on society as a whole – men, women or other groups. Through our activities in these areas, we join leading European agencies and participate in harmonizing the conditions for providing support in the European Research Area.

Petr Konvalinka

Chairman of the TA CR Board
 

“The Czech innovation ecosystem must be able to use all available talents – men as well as women. Therefore, TA CR has been for several years actively promoting the attainment of equal opportunities in the provision of funding.”

Kamila Vávrová

Member of the TA CR Board


“Activities aiming to equalize opportunities for men and women in research should be an integral part of funding providers’ policies.”

Martin Bunček

Director of the TA CR Office


“TA CR supports research from public sources, that is from the funds of all of us – men and women. The supported research and innovation also have an impact on all of us. It is therefore important to be able to reflect the gender dimension in research or innovation and to strive to ensure that research and innovation increase to the same extent the quality of life for both men and women.”

Táňa Hálová Perglová

TA CR Section Director
and Deputy Director of
the TA CR Office


 “Parenting must be seen as a natural part of the researchers’ lives. That is why in TA CR we have long supported the culture of equal opportunities and care of human resources – both with our clients and within our own organization.”

HOW DO WE PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY?

GENDER DIVERSITY
IN RESEARCH TEAMS

Diverse composition of the research team, which not only ensures the representation of appropriate expertise, but also provides opportunities for the professional engagement of both men and women,
is positively reflected in the evaluation of project proposals.

MEASURES RELATED TO PARENTHOOD

To mitigate negative impacts of parenthood on research careers, we take into account periods of intensive childcare (or care for other dependent persons) when evaluating project proposals. We also offer flexibility in the event of parental leave during the project.

THE PROCESS OF PROJECT PROPOSAL EVALUATION

We endeavour to eliminate unconscious biases in the evaluation process. We strive for a more balanced representation of women and men in the evaluation bodies, so that the perspectives and expertise of all relevant female and male experts are reflected in decisions on the funding of research projects.

GENDER IN THE CONTENT OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

As the first funding provider from EU 13, we have introduced a criterion for evaluating the gender dimension in research content in order to ensure equal benefits of applied research and innovation for women and men.

PROMOTION OF EQUALITY WITHIN ORGANISATION

We evaluate positively those project proposals where organizations applying for funding promote gender equality among their employees. We also focus on gender equality within the TA CR Office. We use the Logib tool to measure the gender pay gap among TA CR employees.

GENDER STATISTICS
AND MONITORING

We analyze gender-relevant statistical data on supported projects and publish information on gender equality in annual reports.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

We have been involved in several international projects aimed at promoting gender equality in research and integrating the gender dimension into research content, such as GEECCO (2017-2021, Horizon 2020), GENDER-NET Plus ERA-NET Cofund (2017-2023, Horizon 2020) or GENDERACTIONplus (2022-2025, Horizon Europe).