On paper, research and development in the Czech Republic today is exactly where it needs to be. The country's industrial contribution now exceeds that of government, meaning that private enterprise has embraced R&D and isn't waiting around for public handouts.

So why is Jiří Drahoš, the president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, looking so gloomy?

"The problem is that industry spends almost all of its money on itself," Professor Drahoš tells DW. "They don't invest in joint research with universities, or in government research, or research with the Academy of Sciences."

It's an ad hoc approach to R&D which may suit companies in the short-term - particularly when it delivers the outcomes the industry needs.