The Česká hlava Project was launched in 2002 with the aim to support scientific and engineering intelligence. There are several categories, of which the most prestigious is the National Prize of the Czech Government – “Česká hlava”.
Currently, the competition comprises the following categories:
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the Czech Government “Česká hlava” National Prize
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the Kapsch Invention Prize
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the Veolia Voda Patria Prize
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the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade Industry Prize
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the Česká hlava Foundation Fund Doctorandus Prize
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the Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna (VZP CR) Gaudeamus Prize
The Česká hlava is linked with the
České hlavičky (Czech Little Heads) Contest, which is a project aimed at encouraging talented secondary and primary school students who are interested in research and sciences. The winning works are selected by a professional jury.
Every year, the announcement of Česká hlava winners is connected with a very important social event – a gala soirée attended by, among others, members of the government. The ceremony is broadcast in prime time by
Czech Television, the main public Czech TV station.
In 2012, the most prestigious Czech Government Česká hlava National Prize was awarded to internationally recognised Czech
Professor Pavel Klener from the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, who is an expert in the field of chemotherapy of malignant tumours.
The Kapsch Company Invention Award for extraordinary breakthroughs in previous years was given to Professor
Jan Pirk. He was awarded for his innovation in the area of implementing a two-piece long-term heart support system called Heartmate-II as a fully-functional substitute for the human heart. He led the
team that performed a heart replacement surgical procedure with a two-pump system in a Czech patient. The patient unfortunately died in October later in the year due to liver and kidney failure. The only similar operation previously conducted was carried out by the Czech doctors’ American colleagues in Texas, whose patient however died after only one week.
Another traditional category is the Patria Company Veolia Voda Award given to scientists or managers who have experienced important success abroad. In this category, professor
Ervín Adam was acknowledged for his contribution in the fight against polio.
The company
ELLA – CS, s.r.o. received the “Industrie” award for innovative companies awarded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the CR for their research of covered self-expanding metal oesophageal stents, which are used for stopping acute bleeding in oesophageal varices.
Information about other prizes and their bearers can be found
here.