Meeting of SLOVACRIN representatives at the Czech Ministry of Education

    On Monday, August 31, representatives of the national clinical research infrastructure SLOVACRIN based at the Faculty of Medicine of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice together with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic Ľudovít Paulis attended a meeting with representatives of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Czech experts for science, research and innovation at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in Prague.
    The top representatives of both Ministries of Education discussed the future of research in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with representatives of clinical research infrastructures, which are part of the international research infrastructure ECRIN (European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network). The meeting was also attended by the ESFRI chair (European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures) Jan Hrušák. SLOVACRIN was represented by its medical director Beata Čečetková and European correspondent for Slovakia Simona Sonderlichová from the Faculty of Medicine UPJŠ.
    As Beata Čečetková said, “the transfer of experience and information about practical possibilities and forms of support for science and research is currently very topical. The importance of research infrastructures is confirmed precisely when it is necessary to react quickly and flexibly and put the latest scientific knowledge into practice. The current pandemic is clear evidence of this.” According to Simona Sonderlichová, Czech colleagues have clearly identified the difficulties and models of system support for research infrastructures not only in the Czech Republic but also in other European countries; a suitable model for Slovakia will be discussed in the coming months.