THE SOUTH MORAVIAN REGION
The South Moravian Region with its 1.2 million inhabitants lies in the southeast of the Czech Republic and borders with Austria in the south and with Slovakia in the east.
The South Moravia is a perspective region with good infrastructure, human capital, functional institutions as well as entrepreneurial sphere. Main regional city of Brno (370 thousand inhabitants) is judged as having the best economic potential in the Central Europe. It is predicted that the city’s rapid economic growth will continue due to a favourable structure of university graduates, especially in biotechnological and technical fields.
In Brno, there are six universities with 75,000 students, of which over 6,000 are studying for a PhD degree. Masaryk University and Brno University of Technology are the universities with the best scientific record.
The region has nearly 11,000 people employed in the research and development sector, of which 7,000 are researchers.
Furthermore, in Brno there are 24 laboratories of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, among them Institute of Biophysics, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Scientific Instruments, Institute of Physics of Materials, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics are the most significant ones. As for the rest of research institution in the region it is important to mention the Veterinary Research Institute.
South Moravian Region will also benefit from new research infrastructures (esp. in the life science domain). The most important is the almost finished Masaryk University Campus in Brno-Bohunice for the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Science and ILBIT (Integrated Labs of Biomedical Technologies). Another project, the ICRC (International Clinical Research Centre), is realized in co-operation with Mayo Clinic, USA. And the last but not least is the CEITEC project (Central European Institute of Technology) focused mainly on biomedical research, molecular and cellular biology and high-speed computing facilities.
Further information about the South Moravian Region:
World press release about Brno:
Reuters 4.9.2008: Czech city bids to be global biotech hub
Websites about the region:
Brno Tourist Information Centre
South Moravia - Travel Booking Portal
Tourist Authority South Moravia
A film about Brno: