We are happy to present our Annual Review of 2025. The document summarizes all of our highlights from last year, including publications, policy briefs, research grants, events and public outreach.
Foreword from PRCP Director Michal Smetana:
At the PRCP, 2025 will likely be remembered as a year that was busy, challenging, but also rewarding in many different ways.
As early as January 2025, our researchers began their work on several new grant projects, including the prestigious ERC grant on military alliances & collective defense, the collaborative Horizon Europe project examining democratic backsliding in Europe, and the EU-funded project on foreign interference INTERFER —the largest project the PRCP has ever coordinated. All these projects are closely aligned with our research priorities for the 2024–2029 period and provide us with important sources of funding for cutting-edge interdisciplinary scholarship.
I was very happy to see that our PRCP team has further expanded since last year. Importantly, we were able to open new doctoral positions in our center, something that is particularly critical given the change of Ph.D. funding rules in the Czech Republic and the resulting scarcity of funded Ph.D. positions at Czech universities.
With 26 peer-reviewed publications —half of which were published in the most Q1 journals and one-fifth in the most prestigious Q1D1 outlets —we have maintained our high publication standards in both quality and quantity. At our bi-weekly research seminars, I have also had a chance to read some extremely interesting new drafts coming from our researchers, which gave me hope that we will be able to maintain these standards in the years ahead.
I would also like to highlight one collaborative effort that has received a lot of attention: a finalization of an almost two year-long project on mapping Russia’s nuclear threats with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), with the resulting 500-page report being a unique contribution to the debates on the nuclear dynamics taking place in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Together with our growing collection of policy briefs and working papers, these special, open-access reports available on our website represent a fast and effective alternative way of disseminating the findings of our research beyond the traditional peer-reviewed formats.
Finally, our center maintains an active engagement in the public discussions on pressing issues in international politics, among other channels, through media appearances. With more than 1,300 media interviews and commentaries on issues ranging from the war in Ukraine and Gaza to Czech foreign policy and defense planning, our researchers continue to be highly visible contributors to these important debates, thereby fulfilling the so-called “third role” of universities.