„Our institute was created in response to Covid-19. Since then, we have had a number of other crises that have had a strong impact on society. We are basically living in a time of permanent polycrisis. Our aim is to identify the causes of inequalities in society and to find solutions to reduce them. In this way, we are helping to build a resilient society,“
says Klára Šeďová, Scientific Director of SYRI
The National Institute for Research on Socioeconomic Impact of Diseases and Systemic Risks - SYRI for short - is a scientific hub that brings together experts from leading Czech universities and academic institutions such as Masaryk University, Charles University, institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and other collaborating institutions. Its aim was to bring together scientists who would not otherwise collaborate and to offer solutions and recommendations in real time. Social scientists analyze risk situations and seek to mitigate the challenges that emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation and rising prices, and climate change have caused or continue to cause. Recent years have clearly shown how risk-prone the current era is. Socio-economic inequalities are widening; therefore, one of SYRI’s goals is to provide data on which policymakers can base their decisions. Bringing together scientists from different institutions enables an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex problems and providing rapid and relevant recommendations.
The activities of SYRI team members are spread over five scientific areas
Their are composed as follows:
- Health
- Education
- Communication and resilience
- Policy
- Economics
Selected experts have been conducting research in all of these areas over the long term, but the SYRI project is the first to focus specifically on systemic risks related to health and other societal threats.
SYRI's mission is:
- To build a Czech center of excellence in a hitherto systematically unexplored area
- To bring together elite scientists from different fields into one functional unit
- To show that research in social sciences addresses current issues in society
- To put systemic risk policy in the spotlight using the example of polycrises
- To formulate real-time scientific outputs and recommendations for politicians
- To show that cutting-edge science can play an important societal role
Organizational structure
Coordination Council
The supreme body of SYRI is the Coordination Council at the level of vice-rectors of both universities (MUNI, CU) and the Vice-Chairman of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Its responsibilities include approving the Institute’s overall concept and overseeing its implementation; approving common rules for human resources development and risk management; reviewing the activity reports of the Steering Committee; ensuring the implementation of project commitments; and resolving issues that cannot be settled by the Steering Committee.
Steering Committee
The joint executive and management body is the Steering Committee, composed of the individual partners. Its chairperson is the scientific director of SYRI, Klára Šeďová. The Steering Committee is responsible for implementing project commitments, preparing common HR rules and monitoring risks, as well as overseeing the project budget. It is also responsible for seeking strategic development opportunities and the grant strategy, for defining the concept of SYRI's relations with major research infrastructures, and for the internal and external communication strategy, as well as for directing all other common SYRI affairs.
Scientific Committee
The primary responsibility for defining and implementing the research focus and staffing the individual research areas lies with their coordinators, who form the Scientific Committee. The individual research areas are based on the principle of inter-institutional teams.
