News

Filip Matějka Awarded the Karel Engliš Honorary Medal

5 June, 2026

Professor Filip Matějka of CERGE-EI has been awarded the Karel Engliš Honorary Medal for Merit in the Social and Economic Sciences by the Czech Academy of Sciences. The medal, established by the Academic Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences in 1995, recognizes outstanding contributions by Czech and international scholars in the social and economic sciences.

Professor Matějka is a leading expert in information economics, behavioral economics, and rational inattention. His research focuses on how people make decisions when their attention and information-processing capacity are limited, with implications for economics, public policy, and society.

His work has contributed significantly to the theory of rational inattention, an area closely associated with Nobel laureate Christopher A. Sims. Sims, who worked closely with Matějka in this field, received the same Karel Engliš Honorary Medal at CERGE-EI’s 25th Anniversary Gala in 2016.

Filip Matějka is one of the most internationally recognized Czech economists of his generation. His academic achievements include two European Research Council grants — an ERC Starting Grant and an ERC Consolidator Grant — as well as the Neuron Award, the Exeter Prize, and the Award of the Minister of Education of the Czech Republic.

The Karel Engliš Honorary Medal highlights Professor Matějka’s outstanding contribution to economic research and further strengthens CERGE-EI’s position as a leading center for economics in the Czech Republic and beyond.