INSTITUTE OF SOCIOLOGY OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC PUBLIC RESEARCH INSTITUTION

Their core work

The Institute of Sociology (ISAS CR) is the Czech Republic's leading public research institution for social science research, specializing in gender equality policy, European social surveys, and the study of inequalities across European societies. They design and implement tools for gender mainstreaming in research institutions and universities, and contribute to major pan-European survey infrastructures like the European Social Survey and European Values Survey. More recently, they have expanded into studying gender-based violence in academic settings and analyzing the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through an intersectional lens.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015-2018), ISAS CR focused heavily on gender mainstreaming policy implementation — coordinating GENDERACTION to advance gender equality across the European Research Area through national roadmaps, NCP training, and structural change in institutions. From 2019 onward, their focus broadened in two directions: they deepened their gender work into more concrete and operational territory (gender-based violence prevention, certification systems) while also strengthening their role in European social survey infrastructure and pandemic-related inequality research.

Moving from policy-level gender mainstreaming toward operational tools and evidence-based interventions on gender-based violence and social inequalities — expect future work on institutional safety and inclusive research environments.

How they like to work

ISAS CR primarily operates as a contributing partner rather than a consortium leader — they coordinated only 1 of 10 projects (GENDERACTION), but that was their largest and most visible effort. With 111 unique partners across 32 countries, they maintain an exceptionally broad European network for an institute of their size, suggesting they are well-connected and a trusted partner in social science consortia. Their mix of third-party and full-partner roles indicates flexibility in how they join projects.

With 111 unique consortium partners spanning 32 countries, ISAS CR has one of the widest collaborative networks among Czech social science institutions. Their partnerships span Western, Central, and Southern Europe, with connections reaching well beyond the typical Central European cluster.

What sets them apart

ISAS CR combines two capabilities rarely found in a single institution: deep expertise in gender equality policy for research systems AND involvement in Europe's core social survey infrastructures (ESS, EVS). This dual positioning means they can both generate large-scale social data and translate it into actionable policy for research organizations. For consortium builders, they bring the Czech perspective to gender and social policy discussions — a valuable Central European voice in a field often dominated by Nordic and Western European institutions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GENDERACTION
  Their only coordinated project and largest budget (EUR 695K) — positioned them as a leader in ERA gender equality policy implementation across EU member states.
• RESISTIRE
  Their second-largest funding (EUR 412K) and a rapid-response project analyzing COVID-19's unequal social impacts through gender and intersectionality — shows capacity to mobilize on emerging crises.
• UniSAFE
  Addresses gender-based violence in universities with operational tools for prevention and response — represents their newest and most applied research direction.