BERLIN — The Czech Republic is expected to receive "tens of millions of Czech Koruna" (in excess of $1M) from the US for cutting-edge research, regardless of whether the proposed missile shield radar base on Czech territory is realized, according to a report in the daily local newspaper Hospodarske noviny.
The US is expected to finance 24 research areas including defense, robotics, optics, nanotechnology and experimental medicine, Vladimir Marik, head of the Department of Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University in Prague, told the newspaper.
The US originally intended to provide one-time subsidies to Czech researchers on specific projects as part of the radar base deal.
After discovering that Czech researchers have strengths in key areas, they decided to invest in longterm research work in the Czech Republic, he said.
"The [research] money will come, even if the contract for the radar base does not," Marik was quoted as saying.
Czech research efforts in laser technologies, including passive radio locators, and the simulation of certain situations such as terrorist attacks, are some other areas the US has taken an interest in, Marik added.
Most of the R&D projects are focused on the weapons industry, but Marik said the results of the defense-oriented research can be readily applied to civilian industries.
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