The Neuron Expeditions 2026 are starting! We are offering a million crowns for field research

The Neuron Expeditions have discovered the world's largest underground thermal lake and a lost Mayan city, and have set out in search of uakari monkeys, elephants, crocodiles, intoxicating ayahuasca and, most recently, digger wasps in Guatemala. Right now, on 17 March, we are launching another call for applications for support of a Neuron Expedition 2026 of discovery. For field research we have once again set aside up to CZK 1,000,000 for scientists. This unique call is open to research teams whatever their field, and the research can take place practically anywhere in the world. The main media partner of the Neuron Expedition is the television channel Prima Zoom.

The application deadline is 17 April 2026. The Expedition Council of the Neuron Foundation will then evaluate the projects during May and select the best one. The Neuron Expedition 2026 will be presented to the public this summer. "For more than ten years we have been looking for exceptional expedition projects, because top-class science is not done only in laboratories or libraries. Outstanding scientists in a range of fields have to go into the field for their data and their knowledge, and that is what we give a chance to and, thanks to our patrons, financial support as well," says Monika Řasa Vondráková, co-founder and director of the Neuron Foundation.

Scientific discoveries. And with international resonance

The Neuron Foundation has already supported fifteen expeditions that set out into rainforests, mountains, seas and underground caves. Why apply? "The Neuron Expedition supports the scientific work of Czech expeditions without an extensive apparatus for accounting for every crown of the budget. It is fairly free funding — at least by the standards of most research grants," says Petr Horký, the well-known traveller, documentary film-maker and chair of the Expedition Council of the Neuron Foundation.

"For my part I am glad that we lead scientists towards being able to communicate their work to the public. I have great respect for the scientific work of our specialists, and I appreciate it when they are also open to letting the public share the excitement of discovery with them — especially at a time when, among other pillars of modern society, trust in science is being shaken — and to recognising how beneficial scientific work is for society as a whole," adds Horký, who has himself made a number of films.

Excellent additions to the Expedition Council

It is Petr Horký who chairs the reshaped Expedition Council of the Neuron Foundation, which selects the best projects. New members of the council are Barbora Slavíková Literová, editor-in-chief of the magazines National Geographic and Koktejl, and Professor Vojtěch Novotný, a tropical biologist and entomologist known for his research in Papua New Guinea.

The expert council is completed by the polar ecologist Alex Bernardová, the Egyptologist and archaeologist Miroslav Bárta and also Pavel Němec, chief programme editor of Prima Zoom. That television channel, Prima Zoom, is by now a long-standing media partner of the Neuron Expedition.

Neuron has so far spent more than CZK 150 million on supporting and popularising Czech science, has presented 140+ awards and has also supported fifteen scientific expeditions to the value of six million crowns. Among the greatest successes were, for instance, the following expeditions, which produced fascinating findings:

• Neuron Expedition Atmos – Marek Audy's team discovered the world's largest underground thermal lake on the border of Greece and Albania and named it Neuron.
• Neuron Expedition In Search of a Lost Mayan City – a Czech-Slovak expedition discovered one of the oldest cities of the Mayan civilisation in Guatemala.
• Neuron Expedition Dzamba Ya Lobi – the zoologist Tomáš Jůnek and his team mapped the movement of endangered animals in Congo and fought poaching there.
• Neuron Expedition In Search of Tropical Glaciers – the ecologist Marie Šabacká studied glaciers near the equator in Uganda and their connection with polar regions.
• Neuron Expedition In Search of the Longevity of the Greenland Shark – Václav Brázda led research on the shark's DNA in Iceland to uncover the secret of its longevity.

For more about the most recent one, the expedition by the team of Dr Michael Mikát of the Faculty of Science of Charles University, read our extensive article. And take inspiration for a Neuron Expedition of your own!