Science and research at the geographical institute

In terms of basic and applied research, teams and individuals from the geographical institute investigate a diverse palette of topics, such as geomorphological threats, renewable energy sources, hydrological extremes and stream-flow regimes, water pollution and water protection, research on lakes, changes in land use, landscape ecology, regional development problems of selected areas, urbanization and suburbanization, changes in rural landscapes, internal and foreign migration, current changes in the demographic behaviour of residents, population prognoses, population climate and population policy, demography of the Roma population, the acquisition, processing and analysis of geographic information systems data or the transformation of geographical education.

The research programme “Geographical systems and risk processes in the context of global changes and European integration” (MSM 0021620831) is a significant joint research project fostering cooperation among the various departments in the geographical institute of Charles University’s Faculty of Science.

Research teams, which coordinate the research activities of various sub-disciplines and fields, play an important role in the research activities of the geographical institute. Academic professionals, postgraduate students and external assistants join forces in research teams to focus on exploring common research questions as a part of projects in basic and applied research.

The departments in the geographical institute are actively involved in international and national research projects. We consider participation in international research projects to be significant. At present, the various departments are participating in a number of European research projects, including FP6, COST, INTERREG, IDEA and ESA, as well as other projects with, for example, NASA. Specialists from the geographical institute are also working on research projects in various world regions, including areas of South America or Central Asia. The primary focus of research activities, however, continues to centre on Europe and Czechia. National projects account for the largest portion of funded research. These are primarily grants from the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) or the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences (GAAV) along with applied research and development projects (VaV), etc.