Do you know the limits of your decision-making? Study behavioural economics

For representatives of business and for the public, the Neuron Endowment Fund organised a special conference at CAMP in Prague called Science as the fuel of modern business. The guests had a unique opportunity to discuss with the best Czech scientists — Neuron Award laureates — how the findings of basic research can be used in business practice. In four thematic blocks and the debates that followed, the speakers touched on themes such as critical thinking and behavioural economics in relation to investing, the influence of modern technologies on decision-making and the future of artificial intelligence. The conference was organised by the Neuron Endowment Fund, one of whose aims is to connect the worlds of science and business.

In just under five hours, some 150 guests of the conference had the chance to draw inspiration from such fields of basic research as behavioural economics, law, but also chemistry and physics. In the first block the panellists dealt above all with the limits that consciously or less consciously influence our decision-making in investing, for example, or in our approach to modern technologies. The guests had the chance to hear the findings of the behavioural economist Filip Matějka, the legal scholar David Kosař, Petra Rychnovská of the consultancy ASB Group and Petr Šmíd of Google. In the second block the audience could discuss with the scientists Hana Macíčková-Cahová and František Štěpánek the future and significance of RNA research and the possibilities that research at the nanoscale brings, and not only for science. How research into nanomaterials influences and shapes business was explained by Tomáš Těthal of IQ Structures. The conference also touched on fields such as physics and computer science — the physicist Tomáš Jungwirth spoke about the influence of physics on the development of hardware and of artificial intelligence, Tomáš Mikolov presented his view of the future of AI and together with Michal Pěchouček and the audience considered, for instance, the influence of technology on the future organisation of work. The conference culminated in a panel discussion on the theme of the future and the form of mobility here and in the world from the point of view not only of physics, IT or the social sciences but also of the practical business questions presented by Eduard Palíšek, general director of Siemens Czech Republic.

"With the conference we wanted to point out that business and science, even basic research, are closer to each other than may seem at first sight. Science is often the fuel of business and, conversely, business often drives science. The aim was to motivate the conference participants not to be afraid to visit each other in these worlds. We believe that the more this mutual relationship deepens, the greater the benefits it will bring not only for us and our business but for our whole society," says Monika Vondráková, chair of the administrative board of the Neuron Endowment Fund.

Recording of block I: Limits in the process of decision-making

Recording of block II: Molecules and materials for life

Recording of block III: Computer science: beyond the boundaries of human knowledge

Recording of block IV: The mobility of the future

The conference partners were Grow with Google, Abra Software, JHV Group and Hospodářské noviny.

Photo credit: Radomír Mervart, Neuron Endowment Fund.