SYRI conducts first major studies

A conference of scientists in autumn, extensive new SYRI studies with a special focus on practical applicability, evaluation by the international scientific board (ISAB), first results of research conducted by scientists from this unique consortium: according to SYRI’s Scientific Director Klára Šeďová, 2023 will deliver all this.

“Our goal is to raise awareness about research conducted in the social sciences. The information we wish to provide should not only be of interest to scientific journals abroad, but it should be immediately applicable in practice too,” says Klára Šeďová, who has been leading this consortium of scientists from Masaryk University, Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences since the middle of last year.

The SYRI National Institute has nine research groups that address current issues such as the state of the economy, polarisation in society and disinformation. “Many of these issues have not been adequately researched,” says Šeďová. “We know, for instance, that society is polarised, but we need to bring context into the public space to explain why this is happening.”

The researchers are in the process of producing detailed analyses of current issues that will be published as SYRI studies. The first study focuses on why Czech companies tend to employ Ukrainians in low-skilled positions.

“Our current focus is on how Ukrainian pupils are adapting in Czech schools,” says Šeďová, who also leads an SYRI research group addressing matters of education. “Schools have taken different approaches, some more effective than others. School principals and teachers have been left to sink or swim. They have had to cope with a high number of these students without adequate methodological support.”

SYRI researchers will collect and analyse data and make recommendations to ministries and other institutions, so helping them make better decisions. “We wish to produce rapid, high-quality scientific outcomes that will be useful,” Šeďová says. SYRI scientists will publish their first major studies in scientific journals abroad, and a large conference will be held in autumn. The institute’s activities are being monitored by the ISAB international panel, which includes representatives from the University of Oxford.