BIOLOGICKE CENTRUM AKADEMIE VID CESKE REPUBLIKY VEREJNA VYZKUMNA INSTITUCE

Their core work

The Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences is a leading life sciences research institute based in České Budějovice, specializing in insect biology, ecology, and evolutionary research. Their core strength lies in understanding how insects interact with their environments — from chronobiology and seasonal timing mechanisms to tropical-temperate diversity patterns and plant-insect food webs. They also contribute expertise in fish parasitology, aquaculture health, and more recently in plant epigenetics and soil microbiology. Their work bridges fundamental ecological research with applied outcomes in biocontrol, sustainable agriculture, and environmental management.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), the centre focused on applied biological topics — biocontrol for sustainable agriculture, fish parasitology and aquaculture health, and evolutionary modeling — alongside launching their flagship tropical ecology programme. From 2018 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward insect chronobiology (circadian clocks, diapause, photoperiodism) and plant molecular biology (epigenetics, Polycomb complexes, light acclimation). This represents a move from applied and ecological research toward more mechanistic, molecular-level questions about how organisms sense and respond to environmental change.

The centre is moving toward molecular mechanisms of environmental sensing in insects and plants — expect future work at the intersection of chronobiology, climate adaptation, and epigenetic regulation.

How they like to work

Despite being a mid-sized research centre, they coordinate more projects than they join as partners (7 coordinated vs 5 as participant), showing strong project leadership capability. Their 77 unique partners across 23 countries indicate a broad, well-connected European network rather than reliance on a small circle. They operate comfortably in both small Marie Curie fellowships and larger research consortia, suggesting flexibility — they can lead focused teams or plug into bigger collaborative efforts.

With 77 unique consortium partners across 23 countries, the centre maintains a wide European research network. Their collaborations span well beyond Central Europe, reaching into Western, Northern, and Southern European institutions as well as partners in tropical research regions.

What sets them apart

The Biology Centre stands out for combining deep expertise in insect ecology at the macro scale (tropical-temperate diversity, food webs) with molecular-level understanding of insect timing mechanisms (circadian clocks, photoperiodism). This dual capability — field ecology plus molecular biology — is uncommon and makes them a strong partner for projects that need to connect laboratory findings to real-world ecological outcomes. Their proven ability to win and lead ERC Advanced Grants signals top-tier research quality recognized at the highest European level.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Diversity6continents
  Their largest project (EUR 3.3M ERC Advanced Grant) investigating global patterns of insect diversity across tropical and temperate ecosystems — a flagship programme.
• InPhoTime
  A EUR 2M coordinated project on the insect photoperiodic timer, representing their core strength in chronobiology and environmental sensing.
• BABE
  A EUR 1.5M project tackling the fundamental ecological question of top-down control in plant-herbivore food webs through bird predation experiments across latitudes.