Commercial presentation Update: 2/05/2024 06:35
Issued by: 2/05/2024, 06:35
Prague – TOP 09 candidate Pavle Tuleja will meet with Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) today. The economist and former rector of the University of Silesia also told ČTK that he is currently in preliminary, but at the same time, intensive discussions with people he would like to join his team. He wishes that both deputies Pavel Doleček and Jana Havlíková remain in office after the resignation of Helena Langšádlová (TOP 09) and Dana Bilíková in the position of senior director of the government’s Section for Science, Research and Innovation. Tuleja is to be appointed on Monday. Among his priorities is increasing the budget for science as well as supporting budding scientists and students, and he plans to open a discussion on the public loan system.
“I am now in closer contact with Minister Langšádlová, and I care about her opinions on how and where I would like to direct the Department of Science. I want to complete her ongoing projects, which make sense in my eyes. In particular, this is an increase in the budget for science, further the law on science, research, innovation and knowledge transfer, and certainly also steps leading to the support of young scientists,” said the future minister.
Tuleja stated that Langšádlová provided him with her original schedule. “I’m starting to get to know it. It goes back to October of this year and I already know that I’d like to make some adjustments to it, but I’m definitely not going to ignore it,” he added.
Tuleja intends to try to increase the budget for science as a whole, so that the share of these expenses to the gross domestic product increases. “I am concerned with both the strengthening of institutional support, i.e. the long-term development and concepts of organizations, as well as targeted support, i.e. the support of projects and grants,” he said.
According to him, money for science and research must flow through multiple channels so that it is not dependent on a single source. He talked about it with Langšádlova and her deputies. Next week, he wants to discuss the possibilities in detail with the vice-chairman of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation, and only then start taking further steps.
He considers increasing the budget one of his priorities because the higher amount can, among other things, support doctoral students and other budding scientists. “This is a matter that should be the subject of public discussion and it would certainly be the content of the meeting between me and the Minister of Education,” he said. According to him, however, there is a need to develop other support tools as well.
“Therefore, I would like to open a discussion about the possibility of introducing a public system of loans that would be administered by financial institutions. The repayment of these loans would occur in a similar way to mortgages, i.e. in the form of fixed installments that graduates would pay over a certain period of time either at regular intervals, or in the form of gradually increasing installments, which would reduce their burden in the first years of their active working life,” Tuleja described.
If a graduate had a life situation in which he would not be able to temporarily repay the loan, he could postpone the repayments. The state would then enter this system through direct financial support, which would make it possible to provide loans as interest-free, or it would be possible to postpone their repayment. In addition, the second option is also offered, namely the possibility to provide financial institutions with state guarantees for these loans, which would significantly reduce the risk of their provision and thus facilitate their approval, he added.
In order for the Czech Republic not to be “run over by a train”, Tuleja considers the topics of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies and the field of semiconductors to be absolutely essential. “What I can personally do for this before the end of the election period is, first of all, to build on the work of my predecessor and participate both in the updating of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy of the Czech Republic and in the preparation of the National Quantum Strategy and the National Semiconductor Strategy,” he said.
“Coordination with Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) must continue, in the case of AI and semiconductors, close cooperation with the Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (STAN) is necessary. These topics in particular cannot be a matter of politicking, and as far as I’m concerned, they certainly won’t be.” added Tuleja.
According to him, it is absolutely essential for the success of Czech science that it is talked about more in the public space. For her minister, this means a clear task of presenting to the public the results that science has achieved in recent years and promoting its good name, he said. It was the shortcomings in the presentation of science that Langšádl’s fellow party members blamed.
“I would like to meet scientists from important Czech scientific institutions, and not only present their outputs, but together with them also explain what benefit these outputs have for the Czech economy and for Czech society. For example, there is a need to work intensively with the winners of the Prize of the Chairman of the Council for research, development and innovation, because this award is intended for both scientific workers and journalists, entrepreneurs, educators and other personalities who contribute to the popularization of science and research,” Tuleja explained the way in which he wants to present science.
CR science government Tuleja
