"Introducing a new patron: Jaroslav Beck"

It is a great honour and a great joy. The ranks of the patrons who support the Neuron Foundation and outstanding scientists have been joined by a superb name! It is Jaroslav Beck, who after his successes in the music and gaming VR business co-founded the startup BottleCapAI with Neuron Award laureate Tomáš Mikolov. It focuses on the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI). "We are hugely pleased that Jaroslav is coming on board, because what connects us is not only curiosity but also support for young scientific talent," says Monika Řasa Vondráková, co-founder of the Neuron Foundation and its director, or CEO.

"Without science there is no progress"

The Neuron Foundation's new donor, Jaroslav Beck, is a significant figure bound up with the digital world. Beck has been involved in music since the age of six. He also studied it at Oxford and celebrated successes with it in the film and video game industries. He advanced the global phenomenon of virtual reality when, with the 2018 game Beat Saber (as co-founder of the Beat Games studio for Meta/Oculus), he redefined the gaming industry and co-created the best-selling VR game to date.

Besides that he made his name composing music for blockbuster film trailers and for the gaming giants Blizzard and EA Games. Beck knows how to help — some time ago he launched the GivingBeck endowment fund, which provides children's homes with a music studio and tutors. It is no wonder that Forbes magazine placed him in its prestigious 30 under 30 ranking of exceptional personalities.

And why did he decide to support Neuron and young scientists? "Without science there is no progress. And without progress there is no future that I would want to hand on one day to my children... Curiosity is a natural human quality, and we should not let anyone deprive us of it as we get older. Without curiosity there is no progress. All that remains is stagnation," is how he sums up for Neuron his central motivation for supporting science and knowledge. It is Jaroslav Beck who, on the evening of 18 January at the Prague Planetarium, will present the inaugural Neuron Rising Star award, which is intended for exceptional super-talents of science. This year Neuron wants to focus even more on supporting promising students who want to set out on the path of science and scientific discovery.

Never give up!

Beck, who advises young people "never to give up", also sees analogies between excellent research and creative thinking: "For me personally the two areas are very similar. The result is then something new that, ideally, should enrich people and the world in a positive way."

According to Beck, the Czech Republic would "be well served" by more applied research with global reach: "We are not an especially rich country, so we should direct the resources we have towards real impact. If we manage that, a marvellous future awaits us in a rich, promising country. Every scientist and developer takes part every day, consciously or not, in the decision about whether that future comes about or not," notes Beck, who is going out to meet it himself with his new startup.

"AI is only at the beginning. For us this segment is an obvious choice, because we have ideas about how to help in this sector. I also have the feeling that Europe badly needs innovative projects that will help it be competitive worldwide... That is why we founded BottleCapAI."