Resolution

Czech Rectors Conference (CRC) Plenum adopted at its 187th Meeting the following resolution:

1. CRC, in connection with the discussion on the priorities of the Czech Republic Government and the financing of public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), emphasizes that HEIs are not a cost but an investment with a high social and economic return. The impacts of HEIs underfunding also concern families and young people from the incoming largest population cohorts. The added value of the public HEIs segment is the possibility to serve precisely this significant part of the student population. The new Higher Education Act, currently under preparation, should contribute to the modernisation of HEIs, the strengthening of accountability and the flexibility of governance. An essential prerequisite for the quality functioning of the entire higher education sector, however, is adequate funding.
   
   CRC notes that the budget funds allocated to public HEIs for 2027 are insufficient. CRC points out that the allocated financial resources do not reach the level required to cover the announced increase in the minimum wage and salary increases for employees in the public sector. This effectively leads to a further deepening of the financial pressure on HEIs and to a reduction in their ability to ensure competitive working conditions for both academic and non-academic staff.
   
   CRC also points out that HEIs were in previous years assigned tasks related in particular to the expected demographic increase in student numbers and to the strengthening of education in fields essential for the development of the Czech Republic. The current budget does not, however, reflect these declared priorities. CRC therefore calls on the Czech Republic Government and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) to increase funding for public HEIs so that at least the objective cost impacts of 2027 are covered.
   
   
2. CRC calls on the MEYS and the Research, Development and Innovation Council that during preparation of future revisions of the evaluation system, they ensure the minimization of the administrative burden, that the diversity of HEIs' missions is considered, the support of excellence and development of promising research teams and the international comparability of evaluation results. CRC notes that the quality, credible and, above all, unified system for the evaluation of research organisations is one of the key instruments for strengthening the competitiveness of Czech research and higher education in the European and global context. CRC is ready to cooperate in updating the current Methodology for Evaluating Research Organisations and in preparing the Methodology 30+. Subsequent research funding should correlate with the results achieved across the full range of their types and be proportionate to them. It should reflect both quality and performance, measured by uniform standards. HEIs perceive, in connection with the 2027 budget, an imbalance in their funding compared with the Czech Academy of Sciences, as evidenced by the Czech Statistical Office's 2024 research and development statistics.
   
   
3. We consider the decision to also allow the participation of teams composed of Russian athletes in the Winter Universiade during the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine to be unacceptable. We strongly oppose the participation of Czech university hockey teams in an event that includes teams composed of Russian athletes.

Prague, 2 October 2026