Transformation of the Academy of Sciences: From Science in Society to the Responsible Science for Society

The radical changes in the 1990s, including the more or less steep decrease in its financing, initiated major reforms of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). The differences between the CAS and the other RD sectors consisted in the extent of financial threats posed to them and in coping strategies, personnel reductions, forms of institutional transformation, support of basic and applied research, engagement of business and enterprise sector in research activities, and new patterns of international collaboration in research. The transition process involves more stages; its developments up to now have resulted not only in institutional changes, plurality of financial sources, new methodology and procedures of science assessment, but also in the contemporary goal-directed programme “Strategy CAS21 - Top Research in the Public Interest”. This new concept addresses ideas of what are called “Responsible Research and Innovation” and “Science for Society”.