KRECon 2026 - Excellence that Pays Off: Applied Research on the Hunt for Unicorns

KRECon 2026 builds on last year's conference, which explored scientific excellence from various perspectives. In the context of European developments, it is evident that insufficient emphasis is still placed on cutting-edge applied research, particularly regarding its path to technology transfer and the commercialization of its outputs. The main objective of the conference is to initiate an expert debate and formulate recommendations on prospective goals, the identification of top-tier applied research, and "state investment," drawing on both international practices and Czech experience with successful sales and investments.

Date 12. 11. 2026 - 12:00 - 13. 11. 2026 - 14:30

Location NTK, Technická 2710/6, 160 80 Praha 6 - Dejvice

Contact E-mail: kre@techlib.cz

Link Registrace zde:

KRECon 2026 will therefore provide a space to discuss these questions:

What goals should applied research aim for?
How can commercialization potential be identified, evaluated, and supported?
The State as an Investor: How does it manage and capitalize on its investment?

About KRECon

The annual Knowledge, Research, Education Conferences, KRECon for short, have been held in the National Library of Technology since 2010. The intention of the conference is to provide an open space for international and national experts, and other relevant actors in the Higher Education and R&D&I sector to freely discuss new, not yet unresolved topics (at least in the Czech Republic) and to ask open provocation questions.

Details

The first day of KRECon is held in English, the second day in Czech.

The KRECon 2025 conference is free of charge.

Program for two days here.

Speakers here (profiles in CZ).

Venue here.

Conference Board

Martin Svoboda (National Library of Technology) - chair
Pavel Doleček (Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic)
Martin Fusek (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
Markéta Přenosilová (CzechInvest)
Radek Špicar (The Confederation of Industry)
Martin Jiránek (Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic)
Michal Pěchouček (Czech Technical University in Prague)
Eva Dibuszová (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague/National Library of Technology)
Petr Kuneš (National Library of Technology)

The KRECon 2026 Conference is organised by the National Library of Technology in Prague (NTK) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.