News: Faculty of Science

Students of the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) work on marketing plans for firms and institutions as part of their studies. Students of the Department of Economic and Managerial Studies at the Palacký University Faculty of Arts (UP FA) have given them a large hand in this as part of one of their option courses. And because it is an option course, other UP students also have the chance to learn marketing in cooperation with UNK.

The marketing plans for the course are tailored to a specific organisation, institution, or firm, including those in the Czech Republic. “The subject is officially called International Academic Exchange Workshop. I chose it because I’m interested in the theme of marketing, as well as having an opportunity to cooperate with American university students. I was also attracted by the American perspective on the development of marketing skills plus the chance to practice conversation in English,” said Tatiana Hantáková, a second-year student in the Economic and Managerial Studies department. She spent a full day with students from UNK during their recent week-long stay in Olomouc and took part in a presentation by two firms and one organisation which expressed interest in students creating marketing plans.

“Nebraska students worked for example on SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses, and a marketing plan for a real project of the Brazzale company, which would like to broaden their portfolio of global activities. We helped them fulfil this goal. Together we discussed market research and target groups, and because the American students are strangers to the Czech market, we familiarised them with it and its regional connections,” she added. In addition to the Brazzale dairy firm, American students this semester worked on plans for the apiculture start-up Apis Innovation, which focusses on innovative approaches in the battle against honeybee pests via its Thermosolar Hives, and for the Olomouc Regional Museum.

“I think the subject which the department offered is excellent for practising marketing abilities. American students have a different mentality: they’re more hands-on, and they bring a different perspective on marketing to Olomouc. I would like to recommend this course to all students, even those from other majors, if they are thinking of going into business. Or even if they would like to just improve their English, broaden their horizons, and encounter different thinking and perspectives, this is an excellent opportunity,” she added.

The guarantor of the course, David Kosina, agrees. “Students learn to think conceptually in this course. It is offered in a hybrid in-person and online form and the idea is to develop students’ practical marketing skills through cooperation with specific clients. UP and UNK students work together to create marketing plans – one of the key elements of a business plan – for the participating companies. The course results can then be put into practice by those companies to realise their marketing goals,” he said, and added that the department would like to expand the project.

“We’re trying to get students away from PowerPoint slides and educate them in the real world. Thanks to cooperation with the College of Business and Technology (CBT UNK), the endeavour has huge crossover,” said Kosina.

The broader conception of the option course was emphasised by the department head, Ondřej Kročil: “It comes out of years of cooperation with CBT UNK. The principle of the course, where our students and selected companies meet students from abroad – both in-person and online – is something we’d like to expand. We’re also preparing other projects of this ilk, to which we’d like to connect other partners, for example from Slovenia, Slovakia, and Italy. We expect it to bring benefits to all parties,” he said.

This is the second time American students from UNK have come to Olomouc for the course. Last year, they visited Oracle, one of the biggest corporations in the Czech Republic, as well as local firms such as the Šufan nut processors and the Chomout brewery. The rest of this year’s course will be completed online via Zoom by students of both countries. Their results will be put to the test under Prof Tim Burkink of CBT UNK in their final presentations in May.

A unique look into the investigation of war crimes was given to students and the public by the Olomouc Faculty of Law’s Centre for International Humanitarian and Operational Law (CIHOL). A film screening of The Investigator: Demons of the Balkan War and follow-up discussion with Vladimír Dzuro, the main protagonist of the film, attracted an audience of over two hundred at the faculty.

Vladimír Dzuro took an active part in UN peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia starting in April 1995, and then spent more than nine years in the post of Chief of the Office of Internal Oversight Services at the UN in New York. In the documentary The Investigator: Demons of the Balkan War, which is inspired by the book of the same name, he returns to the places of his investigations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. At the screening, Petr Stejskal of CIHOL, the main coordinator of the event, explained the legal aspects of arresting Slavko Dokmanović, the mayor of Vukovar.

The organisers were able to invite another VIP guest to the programme – Michal Vývoda, Senior Advisor OSINT (Open Source Intelligence Tools), European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine – who shared his fresh experiences on investigating war crimes in the era of modern technologies. He also explained the intersections of international humanitarian law, in-country prosecution, and war crimes. 

This was Vladimír Dzuro’s second invitation to Olomouc by CIHOL. In 2011, he gave the lecture “Deadly Propaganda: Fake news in the post-conflict environment”, which is still available on the faculty’s YouTube channel (in Czech).

At this time of rapid technological development and the ever-expanding possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI), it is imperative that Palacký University Olomouc is at the forefront of innovation while maintaining ethical standards and integrity. This document reflects a commitment to balance the potential of AI to improve teaching, research, and administrative processes with the need to protect personal data, intellectual property, and academic honesty.

The following recommendations should serve as a guide for all members of the UP academic community and contribute to the development of a safe, transparent, and innovative environment in which AI can support our academic goals and missions.

This text should be perceived as a work in progress, i.e. it will be updated periodically to reflect the latest developments in AI and to ensure that our work practice remains consistent with the latest knowledge and best practices. The text is in line with the conclusions of the UP Pedagogical Committee on the use of AI in teaching.

All AI systems (generative or otherwise) at UP must be used in such a way as to comply with the ethical principles of UP as defined by the Code of Ethics for UP staff and students, as follows:

(a) Artificial intelligence must be used in a meaningful and responsible manner – so that it serves as a tool to improve our knowledge and skills and to make our teaching and research activities at UP more effective. This means using AI as a learning, managerial, administrative, and editorial tool, not as a full replacement for creative activity. Therefore, it is not recommended to use generative AI tools to formulate the text itself, i.e. the author’s own claims, conclusions, arguments, etc.

(b) AI must not be misused for plagiarism. The use of generative AI in professional texts and other creative work, including artistic output, must be declared.

(c) Neither staff nor students may claim to be the authors of texts and other creative outputs generated using AI.

(d) AI must not be used to deliberately misrepresent the results of science and research (e.g. purposeful modification and falsification of data).

(e) AI must not be misused to create and disseminate misinformation.

(f) All AI-generated outputs must be verified.

(g) Liability always falls upon the human being who misuses AI in this way.

When using AI, personal data and other sensitive information (such as potential UP intellectual property) that is fed into AI systems must be handled responsibly. It should be understood that such data is usually made available to a third party and that the owner then loses control over it. It is therefore important to ensure that there is no breach of privacy, no leakage of sensitive information outside the organisation, no discrimination, etc.

Meanwhile, it is also necessary to be mindful of possible leakage of intellectual property and the protection of third-party rights. This concerns e.g. patents, research datasets, project plans, as well as foreign language translations of materials containing sensitive data mentioned above. In the case we want to work with data requiring special protection within AI systems, specific licences must be used to ensure that the data entered into the systems is not leaked outside the organisation/institution.

The use of AI systems in research and education requires a responsible approach. Particularly, the potential ethical, security, and legal issues associated with the creation and dissemination of AI-generated content must be taken into consideration. AI systems may produce compelling but potentially false or misleading content, which may affect the integrity of research results and educational materials. There is also a risk of misuse of technology to create misinformation and manipulative content.

Therefore, it is essential to integrate ethical standards and rules into all phases of the research and educational process, thereby ensuring that the eventual application of AI is transparent, justified, and in accordance with UP’s ethical principles and standards.

When using new (especially generative) forms of AI, one must anticipate that these tools are still flawed and may provide information that is false and misleading. Therefore, AI outputs should always be verified. The quality of AI-generated outputs depends heavily on the way educators/students enter their specifications (requests, commands) into these systems – i.e. the prompts. In the educational process, it is necessary to distinguish situations in which the use of AI is effective and expedient from situations in which the use of AI is ineffective or directly undesirable (e.g. when testing students’ factual knowledge and skills). Similarly, it is necessary to choose appropriate and effective pedagogical methods in educational activities that include the deployment/use of AI.

AI can be used to create tools for testing students’ knowledge and skills, e.g. to create series of test questions and tests of different types. Again, however, the potential for error in these systems needs to be taken into account, and human oversight is therefore essential. Thus, generative AI can be used for self-testing, generating test questions for specific learning materials, as well as for analysing student work at different levels (e.g. based on criteria defined by the educator).

When supervising theses, it should be anticipated that some students may actively use advanced AI tools when writing their theses. Therefore, the use of AI within these types of works must be in line with the principles defined in this recommendation. However, detecting whether students are using AI tools in writing their theses is difficult.

It is thus necessary to introduce a gradual change in the verification of the authorship of the thesis in those fields that require it. This may take the form of ongoing consultations reviewing the text and verifying the student’s knowledge of the topic during the thesis defence.

At the same time, it should also be pointed out that each and every one of us has the fundamental right not to be subjected to a decision that has a significant impact on them when it is be based solely on automated processing. Thus, if an educator decides to use AI in any form of assessment of students’ activities (e.g. evaluation of their written works), it should always include the educator’s own assessment, not one made solely by AI.

Generative AI (and other tools using elements of AI) can be used as an aid to improve the quality of the text, especially stylistically, but not creatively (e.g. not in the formulation of conclusions or arguments based on the results of scientific research, etc.). If generative AI is used so as to directly influence the content of the text (diagrams, graphical abstracts, flowcharts, as well as the structure of the text), this should always be acknowledged. If generative AI is used to modify the form of the text, it is not necessary to acknowledge its use (similarly, we do not mention the use of automatic spell-checkers and reference citation systems).

doc. Mgr. Lucie Plíhalová, Ph.D.
(guarantor, Vice-rector for Science and Research)

Prof. Mgr. Kamil Kopecký, Ph.D.
(for the UP RO AI Committee)

Examples of AI tools use acknowledgement:

• Perplexity AI was used in writing this text when compiling a reference list of academic resources on the subject.
• ChatGPT (GPT4) was used in writing this text, specifically chapters 1–2.

For more information on generative artificial intelligence, please visit our website www.ai.upol.cz.

The international project LESIA: Laser Engineered Surfaces/Interfaces for Advanced Batteries convened its first meeting to gather representatives of the research teams. The four-year project from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme started officially on 1 March and, under the leadership of Aarhus University, will involve European partners from Denmark, Germany, Spain, Italy or Great Britain, as well as colleagues from Hong Kong and China acting as associate partners. The principal investigator for Palacký University is Radek Zbořil from CATRIN.

The aim of the project is to respond to one of the most important societal challenges, which is to find new green sources of sustainable energy. The LESIA project’s research team will be devoted to developing new generation batteries that will store green energy. Existing battery systems still suffer from low stored energy capacity, low recyclability rates and safety problems. The use of new electrode materials is therefore considered to be a necessary step for the development of a new generation of batteries. LESIA aims to create an innovative approach to battery development by laser and chemical treatment of electrode surfaces. On one hand, CATRIN’s researchers have years of experience in this area, on the other, the materials may face various limitations in practical applications.

“Our task will be to test the possibilities of graphene derivatives for electrode modification. In the past, we have demonstrated high efficiency of chemically modified graphene in many energy storage systems including supercapacitors, lithium batteries, but also in modern Li-S batteries. In cooperation with foreign partners, we want to combine new chemical and physical approaches to improve the properties of battery systems. With the help of a number of unique instrumental techniques available in various workplaces, we will study the phenomena on the phase interface between the electrode and the electrolyte, the understanding of which is crucial for the development of new generation batteries,” said the CATRIN-RCPTM Scientific Director Radek Zbořil.

The European Commission estimates that the value of the battery industry may reach €250 billion by 2025. The project, with a total funding of €358,800 and lasting until the end of February 2028, will therefore involve both academic institutions and private companies. In addition to the two universities mentioned above, other project partners are the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Trieste, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and CemeCon Scandinavia A/S. Tianjin University, the University of Warwick and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are associated partners who will also participate in research and exchanges of scientists.

One of the highlights of spring celebrations in the town is the traditional Olomouc Majáles of Palacký University, this year taking place from 6 to 8 May. Majáles offers more than music, film, and theatre programmes: it is also the largest showcase of student and non-profit organisations, accompanied with contests, workshops, and other events for all. This year its motto is Without Borders – to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union.

“On Monday 6 May, Majáles will occupy the premises of the Convictorium, where visitors can look forward to open art studios and workshops, an exhibition, a swing dance hall, slam poetry, theatrical performances, the popular impro show performed by O.LI.V.Y., and a talk show with singer and songwriter Michal Horák. The legendary circus tent will also host the announcement of the results of the university literary competition and an afterparty,” said Ondřej Martínek, the event coordinator and head of the UP Marketing Office. Visitors to the Convictorium will enjoy even buskers and a dulcimer band. Travel fans will be pleased by a series of travel talks in the theatre hall.

The Monday programme does not end there. Jazz Tibet Club will host a special Majáles episode of Pub Quiz on the theme Without Borders, and UPoint will host another talk from its Point series, this time on Europe and the European elections.

On the next day, the programme will move to the Armoury courtyard and Biskupské Square, and also to Republiky Square and Mariánská Street, where the university and the city will together commemorate 20 years since the Czech Republic joined the European Union. Republiky Square will belong mainly to Olomouc secondary schools and presentations by EU member countries, while Biskupské Square and Mariánská Street will be filled with six dozen stands of student clubs, non-profit organisations, and university departments, which will provide information about their activities along with thematic workshops and contests. “Visitors young and old will have the opportunity to get a Majáles passport, and after completing a given task at each stand, they’ll get stamps and compete for valuable prizes,” Martínek adds. The programme in the streets will be complemented by workshops in pole dancing, juggling, aerial silks, fencing, and an open-air tearoom. Lovers of street performers can look forward to a dozen buskers.

The main musical programme in the UP Armoury courtyard will feature artists such as Barbora Poláková and Pam Rabbit, both nominated for the Anděl Awards in the category of female singer of the year, singer and songwriter Michal Horák, and the Slovak DJ duo Malalata. “UP’s MedicBand and the Czech band Celest & Charles will take over the stage with their mix of funk and disco. We are also having light and acrobatic shows and, inevitably, the coronation of this year’s King or Queen of May,” Martínek explained. The ground floor of the library will host a Handmade Zone, an exhibition, and tattoo artists; local restaurants will try to appeal to gourmets with delicacies in their stands, while a swap library and exhibitions will please all art-loving souls.

On day three, Majáles will move a few hundred metres further to the premises of the Open-Air Cinema Olomouc (Letní kino), where smaller concerts by local bands, workshops, and a film screening will be held. “The open-air cinema belongs inseparably to student life in Olomouc, which is why we’ve decided to join forces with the university under the banner of Majáles and thus launch the summer season in our venue,” added Radka Rennerová, its production manager.

Since 2009, the Olomouc Majáles has been organised by Palacký University as one of the last traditional student May celebrations in the country. It is organised by the UP Marketing Office and two dozen students from across the faculties, for whom it is a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in organising a large cultural event. For more information, please visit www.olomouckymajales.cz.

AMADEUS, a breakthrough technological platform developed by the renowned chemist Alexander Dömling at Palacký University Olomouc thanks to a prestigious grant funded by the European Research Council (ERC) with a budget of €3.4 million, is intended to make drug discovery more sustainable, cost-effective and time efficient. The AMADEUS platform aims to revolutionize the process of drug discovery and optimization by enabling autonomous, AI-driven, highly miniaturized automation for compound identification.

The five-year project entitled Automated, Miniaturized and Accelerated Pharmaceutical Discovery (AMADEUS) aims to accelerate the development of new drugs, reduce the financial costs and environmental burden of the process and increase its safety. The use of miniaturization and automation is proving to be the right approach.

“Using current tools, such as artificial intelligence or miniaturization, brings new possibilities to research. I am glad that we are among the universities that, thanks to cutting-edge research, are helping to find ways to save time and money in such important processes as the development of new drugs. Success in this area will have a clear societal impact,” said Martin Procházka, Rector of Palacký University.

Unlike the current industry practices that rely on larger-scale synthesis, researchers will operate at 100,000 times smaller scales.

“We will design and validate a comprehensive AMADEUS technology platform, which will be capable of synthesizing thousands of small molecules per day in nano- or picolitre-scale volumes based on hundreds of chemical reactions that we can effectively investigate and improve their properties using artificial intelligence. Thanks to this reduction, we will also significantly reduce the amount of toxic waste, hence the increase in sustainability, and speed up the whole drug discovery process. My ambition is to fundamentally change the early phase of drug discovery, which has been used in pharmaceutical companies around the world for more than half a century,” said Dömling, who works at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN) of Palacký University.

The idea of the AMADEUS project dates back more than 30 years ago when Dömling, as a then postdoc, initiated his first start-up company. In the forefront of technology development is the integration of chemistry automation, high throughput screening and compound optimization using artificial intelligence aimed to dramatically accelerate early drug discovery. In the new version of AMADEUS, highly miniaturization and automation of synthetic chemistry through acoustic droplet ejection technology is a key point, which was introduced by Dömling and his group in 2019.

AMADEUS (Automated, MiniAturizeD, and acceleratEd drUg diScovery) can find application in not only medical chemistry, but also catalysis and the tuning of materials or plants properties.

The issue of miniaturisation and automation, which lead to sustainable chemistry and at the same time contribute to more efficient development of new pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials or for example plant protection substances, is also addressed by Professor Dömling at CATRIN within the European ERA Chair ACCELERATOR project. The main pillar of his research is multi-component organic reactions, which allow preparation and testing of tens of thousands of chemicals in a highly economical and diverse fashion.

“The two projects are complementary and will enable me to accelerate my research. I believe AMADEUS will represent a significant step towards achieving sustainability in research and development and will support innovation and progress in various scientific fields,” added Dömling.

Professor Dömling is the first recipient of the prestigious ERC Advanced grant at Palacký University. This grant focus on supporting internationally recognized experts who have already established themselves in the field and have demonstrably influenced it. Besides, the physical chemist Michal Otyepka has been successful in the stiff ERC competition in the past, even four times (three of them in the Proof-of-Concept category, which supports successful ERC grant awardees in the earliest phase of commercialization of the outputs of their research activities). Both scientists work at CATRIN.

Prof. Alexander Dömling, Ph.D.
In the first decade of his professional life, he studied chemistry and biology at the Technical University of Munich. He received his doctorate under the supervision of the world-famous scientist Ivar Ugi. Then he spent his postdoctoral period with the two-time Nobel laureate K. Barry Sharpless at the Scripps Research Institute in California.

In the next period, he worked at the University of Pittsburgh, where he received several large project grants and gained experience in computational and structural biology, which he used, for example, in drug design. Subsequently, he worked as head of the Department of Drug Design at the University of Groningen, where he assembled a team of about 30 students and co-workers.

Professor Dömling has extensive experience in the commercialization of research results. He has obtained more than 70 patents and co-founded six biotechnology companies.

Dominik Vašinka and Miroslav Ježek from the UP Faculty of Science Department of Optics were able to significantly refine complex quantum measurements using artificial intelligence. As a result, they won the prestigious Werner von Siemens Award, with a first place in the Best Master’s Thesis category. The future practical use of the results of their research focused on the application of artificial intelligence in quantum measurements is broad – it will be applied primarily in the field of metrology and control of complex systems, including quantum devices such as quantum processors and sensors.

A large number of scientific fields and technical applications require precise control of complex physical systems to achieve a desired state or process. The key to their control is the precise tuning of control signals, although the theoretical description of these systems often remains unexplored. “Moreover, the situation becomes significantly more complicated when we move into the world of quantum physics. Here, the demands on the control instrumentation are multiplied by the probabilistic nature of quantum measurements, as well as the complex and multidimensional structure of quantum states and processes,” Vašinka said, describing the complexity of quantum measurements.

An example can be the optimal setting of the electrical control voltages needed to achieve the desired operation of quantum processors or the maximum sensitivity of quantum sensors. Optimizing the control of these devices, which is Vašinka’s focus, is a very difficult part of their development and use. The greatest contribution of his scientific work lies in the universality of the proposed control method, which uses cooperative neural networks. This makes it applicable to virtually any quantum and classical device. The work also practically applies the new method to the precise control of light oscillations, down to the level of individual light particles - photons. At the same time, manipulating the direction of light oscillation is a key element for advanced imaging and metrology applications.

The high quality of Vašinka’s scientific work is evidenced by the fact that he has presented it at several international conferences and the results of his research form the basis of the scientific article “Bidirectional Deep Learning of Polarization Transfer in Liquid Crystal with Application to Quantum State Preparation”, published in the renowned international journal Physical Review Applied. The Optics and Optoelectronics student is currently pursuing his PhD programme and is engaged in research at the intersection of quantum physics, photonics, and artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence has fascinated Vašinka since the beginning of his studies in physics. When he chose a research direction in the field of quantum optics, their combination was an ideal choice. “What I enjoy most about my work is programming. Seeing code being created with my own two hands that can almost work miracles with is an amazing feeling,” said Vašinka.

He entered the competition for the Werner von Siemens Award because he considers it a great opportunity to publish his discoveries and to disseminate them to professional circles that can benefit from them in many other projects. When asked whether this success will help him in his further studies, scientific or professional career, he replied “Certainly. On one hand, it is a great opportunity to establish new contacts and collaborations, but also a great motivation and reminder that our research is meaningful.”

Vašinka’s thesis supervisor Miroslav Ježek most values honesty and sincerity in this student, both professionally and personally. “Dominik is a very capable physicist and programmer and I believe he has a bright scientific career ahead of him. He is also an excellent communicator and is not afraid to give his honest opinion and feedback. I consider this one of the main reasons why Dominik and I work very well together,” said Ježek.

The funding of the research presented in Dominik’s thesis was provided by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 21-18545S), the UP Internal Grant Agency, and the of the Faculty of Science Department of Optics. “The HYPER-U-P-S project within the H2020 QuantERA call, which was funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic, also played an important role in shaping foreign scientific cooperation,” added Ježek.

The US citizen David Livingstone moved eastward in 1990, to former Czechoslovakia, after the Velvet Revolution. He is currently a member of the Department of English and American Studies, Palacký University Faculty of Arts. He decided to move further east once again in the year 2024. His reason is to now provide help to universities in war-torn Ukraine.

When David Livingstone from the Department of English and American Studies, sent not long ago a contribution about his first days at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk to the editorial team of Žurnál UP, I decided to ask him some further questions. What does your typical day look like? What is life like in a country at war? And why did he actually decide to go to this country where the sounds of air sirens are heard constantly? He describes in this interview in some detail not only his current life, but the lives of academics and students in Ukraine. 

How did you end up teaching at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk?

My first acquaintance with this university was through the Ukrainian section of the Slavic Languages department at our faculty, specifically through Drs. Radana Merzová and Uljana Cholodová, the second of which is actually from Ivano-Frankivsk. These ladies introduced me to a visiting professor of literature from Precarpathian National University Prof. Ivanna Devdiuk about a year ago. I offered to teach some of the teaching staff online and this took place for about nine months with around ten participants on average. I shared the teaching duties with my former student and friend Dagmar Pavlov, whose husband is Ukrainian.

I eventually got to know the head of the department of English philology here Professor Yakiv Bystrov and he finally invited me (or to be honest I invited myself and he kindly agreed) and managed all of the paperwork on the Ukrainian side. I was also supported by my own department and head Dr. Ondřej Molnár and the faculty administration, specifically Dean Jan Stejskal and Vice-Dean Pavlína Flajšarová. The most difficult obstacle was to obtain the necessary insurance since Ukraine is obviously a war zone. I also have to express my appreciation for colleagues who took on extra work and teaching in order to cover my absence, specifically Dr. Ema Jelínková.

I was initially given three classes, two classes of British literature for fourth year bachelor students and one of Academic Writing for first year master’s degree students. I also visit the classes of other teachers in the department, provide special lectures at the university and elsewhere: at the local American Window library, at secondary schools and at cultural centers. Finally, I am organizing with the help of a group of students a film club in my dorm building. I will also be teaching online courses to students at other Ukrainian universities, specifically for Karazin Kharkiv National University and hopefully Kherson State University (many of whose employees have moved here to Ivano-Frankivsk and some of which share the same dormitory).     

What actually led you to set off for this war torn country?

I have been organizing English courses for Ukrainian refugees in Olomouc for the last two years. Dean Stejskal kindly agreed to let us use classrooms at the faculty. This is still going on and is being financially supported by the American Embassy in Prague via our American Center at the university headed by Dr. Lukáš Merz. Two of my former students are actually teaching for free at the moment as we have limited financial resources: Mgr. Eva Železná and Mgr. Karolína Cohen (they both teach adults). Two of my current students are also teaching: Mgr. Margo Hordeieva (originally from Odesa, teaching three groups of children) and Matěj Kundrát (two groups of adults). All in all, around eighty Ukrainians are taught per week in ages from seven to seventy.

I have also done my best, along with my colleagues, to support the Ukrainian students at our department who are often overwhelmed by the new environment and system. Around six months ago, however, I realized that it was all fine and good to help Ukrainians on this end, but perhaps more important in the long run to help universities back in Ukraine. The country has already lost millions of talented people, not only as soldiers, but as refugees. There is going to be a tremendous problem with the brain drain phenomenon in the future, if and when peace is finally achieved. I think it is important for those of us in the West and specifically in academia to try to support our colleagues in Ukraine in order for them to maintain academic excellence and retain talented students and researchers in the country. I hope to contribute in my small way to this effort.      

Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University is a large institution with 12 faculties and institutes. In addition, it has become the temporary home for a number of administrative employees and members of the academic community of Kherson State University. What is it like to live in that kind of environment, what kinds of feelings do you have, how do you perceived that kind of life?

The university here is by no means wealthy. I share an office at the university with around thirty other colleagues, which makes me appreciate the excellent conditions we have at Palacký. The classrooms and buildings could also use some investment, but this is obviously not the top priority at the moment. Having said that, the university and the city here are an oasis of calm and peace for people living in the East in or near the war zone. National Precarpathian University has provided some of the teaching and administration staff of Kherson State University with office space and accommodation in the student dormitories for the last two years and there is, of course, no end to the war in sight. Kherson Students are all taught online, which is not ideal but certainly better than nothing. I have only begun to get to know some of the Kherson faculty, but my impression is one of courage and determination. One of the Vice-rectors of the university has been living with his wife and daughter in a room the same size as mine, of around ten square meters, for two years. 

What does your typical day look like?

I live in a student dorm and have my own room with a desk and the basics: shower, toilet and fridge. I have a fifteen minute walk to either the university or the city center. When I am not teaching, I work at home, either preparing my lessons and lectures or doing my own work. I am still running a lecture series at my department and have about ten students writing their theses with me, in addition to my own research of course. So plenty to do. I go out for a meal usually once a day. The restaurants here are on a very good level, as is some of the beer. I occasionally meet with colleagues for a meal or drinks. I have also been to the impressive local theatre and even seen an innovative modernized version of Hamlet set in a bomb shelter and staged in the basement of the building. I am currently working with a colleague from the theatre studies department here on a conference paper about this, and other Ukrainian Shakespeare productions which reflect the current reality. The city itself is lovely and I am looking forward to exploring the countryside when the weather improves.

Are you planning to visit other universities during your semester-long stay?

I will be spending four days in Lviv where I will be giving talks at three different universities. I will also be visiting Kyiv again and plan to give a talk at Taras Shevchenko National University and visit other cultural institutions. I also have scheduled visits to universities in Ternopil and Chernivtsi.

Which of your experiences do you view as most powerful? Is there something from Ivano-Frankivsk which you will always deeply remember?

There are air sirens and bomb scares on average twice per week, sometimes more often. Everyone has an App which tells them about the threat. Several times, this has gone off in the middle of one of my classes. Students and faculty are supposed to leave the building and classes are cancelled until the threat is officially over, usually around 90 minutes. University students just leave the campus and either go home or go for a coffee (Ukrainians are coffee maniacs, by the way). Students at primary and secondary schools, however, have to move to provisional classrooms in bunkers. This creates a constant uncertainty amongst both teachers and students, which is handled with humour and resignation, but obviously takes its toll. The threat is of course much more serious the further East you go.

I also admire the way people improvise, despite the obstacles placed in their way. We had our first film night last Sunday in the dorm and five minutes before we were about to launch the film, we had a complete blackout. I was ready to give up, but the earlier mentioned Vice-rector from Kherson excused himself and came back with a power box/generator, obviously used to situations like this. Due to lack of power, the Internet also kept dying, and various students provided their own routers to keep us online. In the end, we were able to watch the film and the experience (at least for me) was intensified by how much work it took in order to make it happen. 

Practically everyone I have met has either lost a family member in the war or to immigration or to separation in Russian occupied territories. I expect to hear much more.

What would you like to communicate to people at Palacký University?

First of all, we have a great deal to be grateful for, not only peace in our country, but a stable economy and an excellent education system (not perfect of course). Cities in Western Ukraine especially look a great deal like our own cities (having a shared history of Austria-Hungary). Czechs and Ukrainians have a lot of shared history with colonization and the struggle for maintaining sovereignty and identity. The Ukrainian language and culture is very much alive and well (the war as most of us know has actually helped unify the country and spurred added pride in their language as opposed to Russian) and the people are very much deserving of our support and friendship. I am proud that my adopted country and our university has done, and is doing, so much to support Ukraine. The struggle, however, is far from over.

I came to Czechoslovakia in 1990 and have lived in Olomouc and worked at Palacký University since 1992, after my initial stay in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. I have obviously seen a great deal of changes, mostly for the better. We are where we are thanks (not only of course) to support from the European Union and the United States and others. Although a happy converted agnostic, I am the son of a preacher man and will end with a verse from the Good Book, Gospel of Luke 12:48: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall me much required.” I believe it is our duty to begin to pay back what we have received and do our utmost to help our sisters and brothers in Ukraine, not only militarily and financially, but also intellectually.

For the first time, the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) presented scientific diplomacy to foreign diplomats as one of its priorities. Michal Otyepka presented the research activities and accomplishments of CATRIN, Palacký University Olomouc, to almost 100 ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions on Wednesday, February 28, at the Czernin Palace.

“I am glad that I was able to talk about our research in front of diplomats and demonstrate that international cooperation is one of the pillars of CATRIN. Of course, I expressed my interest in further development in this area as well. I’ve made useful contacts at the meeting and agreed on further communication with several ambassadors. I commend the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the development of scientific diplomacy. As the meeting disclosed, the modernization of the country cannot be done without quality cooperation in the field of innovation and science. Only in broad cooperation can research adequately respond to the current burning global challenges,” said Michal Otyepka, Head of CATRIN-RCPTM.

According to the MFA representatives, it is also necessary to build bridges across countries in the area of research and innovation. “In its Programme Declaration, our government has committed itself to supporting the modernisation and raising the competitiveness of the Czech Republic. The Foreign Ministry contributes to the fulfilment of this goal mainly by supporting Czech research, development and innovation abroad. Last year, we therefore integrated scientific diplomacy into the scope of our diplomatic network and we will continue to strive for a greater connection of Czech science with the world,” said First Deputy Foreign Minister Jiří Kozák at the beginning of the meeting with diplomats.

Deputy Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Jana Havlíková also confirmed this priority on behalf of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. Chief Director Kateřina Sequensová presented the MFA’s tools to support the internationalisation of Czech research, development and innovation and offered opportunities for cooperation with the network of Czech embassies to connect institutions with their foreign partners.

The MFA also supports universities or top research centres within the framework of scientific diplomacy; its representatives mentioned nanotechnology, biotechnology and computer sciences as very successful fields. That is probably why the research institutions were represented at the meeting by Michal Otyepka from CATRIN as well as by the Rector of the University of West Bohemia Miroslav Lávička.

The Science and Research Centre at UP Faculty of Health Sciences (UP FHS) represented the Czech Republic during a special study visit to the IBEC (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia) research centre in Barcelona. The three-day event provided a unique opportunity for sharing knowledge and building international partnerships in science and research.

The prestigious event brought together twenty research managers from various European countries that are facing specific challenges related to the development of science and research. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Malta, Armenia, Tunisia, Romania, Greece, Poland, and other countries were represented in Barcelona. The Science and Research Centre at UP FHS was represented by its project manager Marika Svrčková.

 “Participation in the study visit was a great opportunity for us to gain insight into the functioning of top research centres in Western Europe, share our knowledge, and establish valuable collaborations across the continent and beyond. Cooperation and mutual learning are key factors in the development of science and research. For our centre, participating in this event was an invaluable experience,” said Svrčková.

During the three-day programme, research managers were acquainted with best practices in research management, innovative training programmes, participation in competitive funding for science and research, and support for technology transfer. Institutional initiatives, large-scale projects, and issues of open science and ethics in research were also discussed.

The study visit took place under the auspices of the Technology Centre Prague as part of the ongoing NCP_WIDERA-NET project, which aims to provide researchers and research managers from “widening countries” with access to practices and networks of excellence.

The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the Treaty on the EU, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU are three fundamental documents governing the European Union, and the Commentary on these is now also available in Ukrainian. Experts from the UP Faculty of Law in Olomouc have contributed significantly to its publication.

The documents governing the functioning of the European Union are the cornerstones of the European community which Ukraine would like to join. Even some Member States have not yet published the Commentaries on the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the Treaty on the EU, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in their own languages. However, a team of experts from the law faculties of Charles University in Prague, Masaryk University in Brno, Palacký University Olomouc, and the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen published its Czech translation on the occasion of the Czech EU Presidency in 2022. The same team also came up with the idea of approaching experienced translators and publishing the Commentaries in Ukrainian. The project was then taken under the auspices of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

 “At the time, we unanimously agreed to translate the work and make it available online free of charge, without any royalties, to all Ukrainian readers, academics, students, and practicing lawyers. The work – we can rightly say opus – of 1780 pages, has been successfully prepared and the Commentary has just been published,” said Ondrej Hamulák, one of the co-authors and Vice Dean for Science and Research at the UP Faculty of Law. Along with him, five other Olomouc experts – Michal Petr, Václav Stehlík, Helena Kopa Bončková, and Ondřej Dostal, all from the Department of International and European Law, and Martin Kopa from the Department of Constitutional Law – contributed to the creation of the Commentary.

This comprehensive scholarly work was published by Wolters Kluwer publishing house on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The official launch took place at the end of February in Carolinum in Prague and was christened by the expert guarantor of the project, Michal Tomášek from the Prague Faculty of Law, Charles University Rector Milena Králíčková, and the Czech Minister for European Affairs, Martin Dvořák.

The Olomouc faculty was represented at the ceremony by Dean Václav Stehlík. “This event belongs to the mosaic of everything that our faculty and university have been trying to do in support of Ukraine in the last two years. The publication of the Commentary in these days is symbolic and should become instrumental for Ukraine to take the next step towards its integration into Western structures. I would like to wish Ukrainian legal academics and practitioners alike that the new Commentary will serve them well in bringing Ukrainian and European law closer together. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the Department of European Law in Prague for their hard editorial work,” said Dean Stehlík.

Michal Tomášek emphasised the “legal” proximity of the two countries during the launch. “It is very valuable that Ukraine, on its way to the EU, receives a commentary prepared by Czech authors, because our legal thinking is very similar. The more similar the legal thinking is, the more digestible it is for the reader than if Ukraine received a British or German commentary. Our historical experience and approach to many concepts and institutes is very similar,” said Tomášek, adding that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has already enthusiastically welcomed the Commentary.

The Commentary in Ukrainian is freely available on the publisher’s website.

The local level of politics, which is essential in shaping and especially strengthening pro-democracy thinking, is the focus of a new publication entitled Challenging Citizens: Democratic Innovations at the Local Level. The Case Study of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The book was written by a team of authors led by Pavel Šaradín from the Department of Politics and European Studies at the Palacký University Olomouc Faculty of Arts and is the first-ever comprehensive work to reflect this part of Central Europe in that respect. It is published by Palgrave/Macmillan.

The book is one of the results of a three-year research project supported by the Czech Science Foundation. On behalf of the authors, Assoc Prof Pavel Šaradín from the Department of Politics and European Studies at the UP Faculty of Arts was interviewed by Žurnál Online.

Mr Šaradín, could you briefly introduce the book? What is its aim?

The crisis or erosion of democracy, its decline, is an oft-discussed theme. Sometimes rightly so; sometimes the situation is underestimated, other times overestimated. The local level enables active participation of citizens in politics, through various tools and innovations. We have evidence that if such tools are introduced and used correctly, they can indeed play a very important role in the positive meaning of democracy. In our book, we focus on clarifying these tools, how they work, what experiences we have with them, and how we evaluate them. Our aim was not to write a theoretical book, but rather conduct empirical research; we wanted to back up our findings with data.

What are these democratic innovation tools? What can they affect, how can they help?

We understand democratic innovation as processes and tools that lead to a deepening of citizen participation in the process of governance with the aim of improving and reinvigorating that governance. It is therefore a matter of improving democracy, a kind of democratisation of democracy. It involves, for instance, participatory budgets, participatory planning, and so on – something that reinvigorates democracy. At the same time, these processes have other functions that are not only related to political effectiveness. For example, citizen participation can improve transparency, increase trust in politics, enhance accountability, and help people learn how politics works and understand it better. These are very important benefits for the perception of national politics, too. The contribution of our book is not only in explaining why these innovations work, but also why they are sometimes abandoned or why they break down. These are usually cases when they are poorly implemented and have no political support, when communication fails, etc.

The book is also a case study of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. So you deal with the functioning of democratic innovation in three Central European countries. What are the differences between these countries in that regard, and what do they have in common?

We didn’t want to write about a single country; the comparative dimension was important to us. However, comparison is not always feasible, as the three countries have different rules for the functioning of municipal politics. In Poland it is obligatory for larger cities to have a participatory budget, unlike in Slovakia and Czechia. Czechia is also where other innovations are the most widespread and used. One thing these countries have in common is that, as in the whole of post-communist Europe, there is less willingness to participate in politics and less trust in it. This is a huge contrast with Western and especially Northern Europe.

How long did you and all the other authors work on the book? What sources did you use?

The book was written as part of a three-year research project supported by the Czech Science Foundation. Its publication was also supported by the UP Faculty of Arts. We spent a year collecting information and doing research, then about two years writing the book, responding to peer review, and doing the usual editorial work. As far as I know, it is the first such comprehensive book that reflects this part of Central Europe; the western countries have already been researched.

The book is published by the prestigious Palgrave/Macmillan publishing house. What is the significance of the involvement of this publisher for you?

Huge. In the social sciences, there are three publishers that are particularly important: Springer, Palgrave, and Routledge. The whole process has been quite demanding, from filling in the initial forms describing the methodology and assessing the academic contribution and innovation, through submitting part of the manuscript, to its completing and editing. The making of this book of ours was equal to the publication of five or six articles in prestigious journals.

An international team of scientists from the Department of Botany at the Palacký University Faculty of Science, Charles University, and Lund University in Sweden has described the early development of a new species of the microscopic alga Synura petersenii from the group of golden algae (chrysophytes), which is mainly related to its long-term adaptation to changing environmental conditions. The scientists came to this conclusion by studying more than a hundred algae samples taken from several lakes in Europe and Canada. The results of their work were published in the journal Current Biology.

“The way in which new species of organisms arise is one of the fundamental questions in biology. Relatively cheap and efficient DNA sequencing has brought about major advances. However, research in this area is still largely confined to animals and plants, despite the fact that the vast majority of species on the planet are microorganisms. Together with colleagues from Charles University (the research was led by Pavel Škaloud) and Lund University in Sweden, we have tried to fill this gap,” said Petr Dvořák from the UP Faculty of Science Department of Botany.

For their research, the scientists chose the alga Synura petersenii, which commonly lives in the plankton of lakes at our latitudes. These are colonial flagellates, whose cells are covered with siliceous scales. With the help of an electron microscope, distinctive ornaments that are species-specific can be seen on them.

“To elucidate the factors that have led to diversification within this species, we obtained more than 100 laboratory cultures from samples from multiple lakes in Europe and Canada. This is the largest dataset of its kind among algae and protozoa. Using DNA sequencing, we obtained a representation of the entire genome of each laboratory culture and subsequently reconstructed the evolutionary relationships between individual samples,” he described.

Population structure analyses have revealed that over the past 100,000+ years, Synura petersenii has evolved into three diversified populations that are on their way to become new species in the future. “Diversification began 125,000 years ago, before the last glacial period, as calculated by molecular clock dating. Significant population radiation took place in the last 14,500 years, after the last great ice age. This suggests that climate change has influenced the diversification of this alga, as it has for plants. Moreover, the diversification of Synura algae was very rapid compared to other algae, where this process takes millions of years,” noted Dvořák.

The diversification of populations of this alga has been driven by adaptation to local conditions, especially different temperatures and the amount of dissolved substances in water. Heavy rainfall has also influenced the evolution of individual populations, causing nutrients to wash up from the bottom, mixing the water and reducing transparency, which affects all planktonic organisms, which must adapt to such events. “Geographical distance at the intercontinental level also played a significant role, although these organisms were originally thought to have an almost unlimited ability to spread across the planet. Populations continue to diversify into new species, even though genetic flow continues to occur between them. This implies that ecological diversification is a stronger factor than genetic mixing of lineages,” said Dvořák.

An international team of scientists, led by Czech physicists, has successfully developed a unique magnetic nanographene for the first time. They combined two concepts of magnetism and were the first to detect their magnetic signal using advanced scanning electron microscopy and quantum mechanical calculations. Graphene nanoparticles have the potential to be used for information storage and processing in quantum computing.

The paper, published in Nature Chemistry, describes an innovative method to design, prepare, and verify the magnetic properties of graphene in the shape of four rounded triangles resembling “butterfly wings”. Each of these triangles contains an unpaired pi electron responsible for the magnetic properties.

“Previous approaches were limited to a single magnetic origin, which limited the number of correlated spins or the type of magnetic ordering in the nanographenes. In this work, we were able to combine two approaches for the first time to create this unique magnetic nanographene with four unpaired electrons. Moreover, by combining experimental and theoretical calculations, we were able to provide irrefutable evidence for its magnetic character,” says Adam Matěj from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Palacký University in Olomouc.

Recipe for making nanomaterials from Singapore

This nanographene was synthesized by scientists in Singapore on the surface of gold by heating a pre-prepared organic molecule to 600 Kelvin, which leads to dehydrogenation and cyclization in the individual “butterfly wings”. The entire preparation of nanographene had to be carried out in an ultra-high vacuum because synthesizing highly reactive compounds in solution is problematic.

The traditional image of magnetism is associated with transition metals such as iron, which contain highly spatially localized unpaired electrons. For a long time, it was thought that carbon-based materials with strongly delocalized electrons could not have magnetic properties.

However, research in recent years has shown new ways of making magnetic systems based on nanographene structures. This new concept of magnetism is called pi-magnetism, due to the presence of unpaired pi electrons. One of the unsolved challenges of this new magnetism class remained not only the preparation of nanographenes with a higher number of unpaired electrons but also the direct experimental verification of their magnetic character.

The unique magnetic properties of nanographene were verified by Czech scientists from Pavel Jelinek’s team using scanning tunneling microscopy, which can measure the local magnetic field in a specific part of the molecule thanks to a probe with a nickelocene molecule.

The experimental results determining the electronic structure were confirmed using state-of-the-art quantum chemical computational methods in collaboration with Libor Veis’ team at the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry. “Calculating the electronic structure of molecules with multiple open shells is generally very challenging. However, we have often seen that the computational tools we are developing can solve this problem with great accuracy. In this case, too, we can be confident in the conclusions of our study because of the excellent agreement between experimental and theoretical results. Moreover, theoretical calculations often have the advantage of providing information that is not available experimentally, in this case, the way in which individual electron spins are strongly entangled,” explains Libor Veis.

Scientists from the National University of Singapore, the CATRIN research institute at Palacký University in Olomouc, Nanjing University in China, and two institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences – the Institute of Physics and the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry – participated in the experimental and theoretical verification of the properties of nanographene.

As afternoon turns into early evening, the orange light of day is slowly fading from the windows of the dominant high-rise building of the Rector’s Office of Marie Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. We are walking through the campus, surrounded by student dormitories and the ubiquitous tall trees, leafless now in February. We are approaching Chatka Żaka, a vast cultural centre complex with an impressive cinema, several exhibition spaces, a student bar, and study rooms. This is where the Lublin people invited us to present Palacký University and Olomouc in terms of culture, in a two-day event called “From Olomouc to Lublin”.

Loyal alumni in place

One year ago, in February 2023, the new director of the Czech Centre in Warsaw was appointed. Petr Vlček, a graduate of Polish Studies and Film Studies at the Palacký University Olomouc Faculty of Arts, began developing the idea of a possible close cooperation between Olomouc and the Marie Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (UMCS) soon after he took office.

 “I knew that good personal contacts had already been established here, not only among Polish studies departments, but also at the level of rectors and individual researchers. So I was happy to facilitate the presentation of other cultural and artistic activities conducted at UP that might be attractive to a young Polish audience.”

A large delegation set out from Olomouc, consisting of representatives of the Academia Film Olomouc festival, Palacký University Press, Vice-Rector for Communications and Student Affairs Andrea Hanáčková, as well as partners from the Olomouc Museum of Art (MUO).

Throughout the three-day visit, we were tirelessly accompanied by Bogdan Łukasik, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic and our attentive host. The programme is busy: we are presenting the AFO by means of Czech television documentaries, launching an exhibition with the Olomouc Photographers book series, which is a collaboration between the MUO and UP Press, then opening a debate on queer issues, and organising an evening party. A mini-festival and “cultural diplomacy” in the name of Olomouc.

On the radio, in the cinema, at the opening

We feel at home. We are surrounded by the warm-hearted community of Chatka Żaka, the UMCS management headed by Rector Radosław Dobrowolski, local journalists, students. We speak in Polish and Czech, and when detailed understanding between two Slavic languages becomes difficult, also in English.

There is a large television and radio studio in Chatka Żaka. When we mention we’d like to see it, we’re immediately taken to a live broadcast. Unlike our Olomouc student radio station UP AIR, which has been focusing on podcasts for the last few years, the broadcast here goes the traditional way – “on the airwaves”. Lublin student radio is listened to not only by the community of 60,000 students, but also by drivers and passengers in city taxis and many Lubliners.

 “We have given a lot of thought to what kind of films to bring,” says Ondřej Kazík, the head of programming at Academia Film Olomouc, when opening the series of documentary screenings. The themes of environmental and climate change as well as human sexuality and identity resonated with the audience. “The selection of films from the 2023 AFO Czech Competition corresponds with the diverse interdisciplinary focus of our domestic filmmakers; we have also taken into account which films of the 58th edition were successful with our audience and awarded by the international jury. The meditative winner of the Czech Competition, Invisible Landscapes, encouraged us to listen to the climate, while social themes were unlocked by the colourful and creative Humans showing the lived realities of non-binary and trans* people in the Czech Republic. The themes of films produced in Czechia also resonated well with the local audience. The screening of The Orgasm Chronicles touched on the very lively topic of abortion rights in Poland.”

Rector Dobrowolski and his four-member vice-rector team are present at all screenings of the festival films, discussing them passionately. As a geographer, the rector very much enjoyed their themes of sustainability and climate change. As a researcher, he has himself twice visited Svalbard, the subject of one of the films, and recognised many locations in the film. He raises a glass of wine and makes a toast to the exhibition that has just opened.

On the walls hang carefully selected photographs ranging from the avant-garde through documentary photography and enigmatic female nudes to the postmodern present; a collection that the MUO curator Štěpánka Bieleszová, UP Press director Aleš Prstek, and photographer Petr Zatloukal came to present in Lublin.

The award-winning project and book series Olomouc Photographers maps important art photographers associated with the Olomouc region.

Generous space and the latest technology for research

We admire the diverse environment of UMCS and the new American Center. Wieslaw I. Gruszecki, Vice-Rector for Science and International Cooperation, proudly shows us around and tells me that they have modelled this university facility after Olomouc’s American Center. When they visited us last year at Palacký University, they realised that, just like in Olomouc, thousands of foreign students study in Lublin. Establishing the centre was then a matter of a few months for them.

The local eagerness and energy were evident throughout the next day, too. The Lubliners admire our 450-year history and ask a lot of questions about our faculty system, science evaluation, and public relations. However, they are not lagging behind in anything, considering their size and national importance. The fifth largest university in Poland will celebrate its 80th birthday this October, so the long history of Palacký University seems impressive to the local academics. On the other hand, our delegation immensely appreciates their hospitality, the generous design of the university campus, and the facilities of its faculty buildings.

The practical study of journalism combines all the best parts of an interdisciplinary approach, the use of multimedia, mastery of all the necessary skills, and a great deal of encouragement towards personal inventiveness. We see great student short films, photo projects, the podcast and television studio, and well-equipped computer labs. The Faculty of Education conducts the most extensive research activities in Poland, with a specific focus on Montessori methods. Modern research on neurological excitation in the learning process and in attention disorders has been carried out here for many years in cooperation with many primary and secondary schools, and it has borne concrete research results translated immediately into the practice of counselling centres and special education. The campus buildings most resemble the UP complex in Holice. These are modern, newly conceived faculties with a progressive tendency towards science and technology transfer – an area in which they are very interested in collaborating with Olomouc, too. The representatives of UP Press and UMCS Press are also discussing the possibilities of cooperation and especially the exchange of knowledge. They find parallels, intersections, and inspiration.

Lublin parallels

Only on the third day, in the morning before hitting the road back to Olomouc, do we have time to take a breather and look around, after such an intensive programme. Outside the windows of the hotel room, the sun rises and bathes the skyline of Lublin, a vibrant city with four universities. It is as big as Brno, a genuine student town, functioning as the cultural centre of its region. The rich and profound Jewish history is ubiquitous in the streets, a history that was sadly extinguished in the nearby Majdanek concentration camp during World War II, but has become essential and immortal to Lublin’s contemporary student element. In the 1930s, Lublin’s Jews founded a major yeshiva, at the time one of the largest Jewish educational institutions in the world. And it was its building that served after the war as the birthplace of the newly founded and now eighty-year-old Marie Curie-Skłodowska University. Today, the UMCS has metamorphosed into a complex university and modern scientific body which has a lot in common with us in terms of their main principles and which offers opportunities for close collaboration. I look forward to seeing all the areas where our universities find points of contact and common ground. I can already think of several themes of mutual interest.

Andrea Hanáčková

Vice-Rector for Communications and Student Affairs

Researchers from eight centres across the Czech Republic will investigate the impact of digital technologies on wellbeing, under the auspices of the DigiWELL project. A significant part of the activities will be carried out in Olomouc. The team around Michal Kalman from the UP STs Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology (UP CMFT), and the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) study will focus primarily on developing research activities in the international environment.

The multidisciplinary research responds to the growing interest in issues such as personal satisfaction, happiness, positive thinking, and quality of life – all of which are sometimes referred to as the “science of wellbeing”. This is further combined with another current challenge – digital technologies in societal life.

“We will focus on two main directions in Olomouc. The first concerns the development of an international scientific network and the publication of articles on wellbeing in both the European and global context. The second is about application, which means putting our research data back into practice,” says Michal Kalman from the Social Health Institute (OUSHI) at UP CMFT, principal investigator of the Olomouc part of the project.

Digital technologies, lifestyle, and ecological grief

Social networking, computer gaming, physical activity, sleep, risky behaviour, and energy drinks – these are just some of the topics that UP researchers have been working on for a long time. Newly, they will focus on other “trendy issues”, such as ecological grief.

“We consider it very important to look at the link between the use of technology and the mental health of society. Ecological or environmental grief is as much a part of the contemporary world as the iPhone and virtual reality. We want to know how this new phenomenon affects our younger generation and their mental wellbeing,” says Petr Baďura, the scientific leader of the Olomouc team from OUSHI, adding that the project results will be complemented by other interesting data. The research team of Aleš Gába from the UP Faculty of Physical Culture will contribute with its analyses of 24-hour movement behaviour and sleep in children and adolescents.

Data in newspapers, on social networks – and for politicians

The DigiWELL project also includes a strong applied component. In the social sciences, the efforts of the university project team primarily aim to transfer research results in a comprehensible and useful form to a “non-academic” audience, in the form of newspaper articles, expert interviews on TV, podcasts, etc.

“It doesn’t stop there. We specifically target many other groups – among them schools and teachers, but also politicians and multinational organisations such as WHO and UNICEF. We want our facts and findings to become a reliable basis for adjusting specific measures that would come into effect at the level of the state, regions, and municipalities," adds Radek Palaščák, a member of the DigiWELL application creative team.

The project Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing is funded by the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme (P JAC) under the Excellence in Research call. The main investigator is the University of Ostrava; its partners are Palacký University Olomouc, Masaryk University, the University of Hradec Králové, the National Institute of Mental Health, and three institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences: the Institute of Psychology, Institute of Sociology, and Institute of Computer Science. More information is available here.

Dozens of students who were given the opportunity to expand their knowledge; an honorary doctorate for the first post-communist UP rector Josef Jařab; mutual exchanges of academics from various fields and participation in conferences – this is just a shortlist of activities that have been connecting Palacký University Olomouc and Moravian University, Pennsylvania, for more than thirty years.

Palacký University has several partner schools overseas. Cooperation with American partners is one of its long-term priorities, bringing opportunities for mutual exchange visits of students and academics, and the creation of joint study programmes and research activities. One example of successful internationalisation in practice is its collaboration with Moravian University.

“The school was founded in 1742 by the Moravian Brethren, who came to Pennsylvania from Saxony. It is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and is the sixth oldest university in the United States. It has more than two thousand students. It was a college until 2021, when it received university certification and became Moravian University. At present, its most important fields of study are nursing and business,” explained Jiří Stavovčík, Vice-Rector for internationalisation.

For UP, this school has also been their base for the Merrill Scholarship Fund, which was founded more than thirty years ago by American philanthropist and friend of Palacký University Charles Merrill, and which allows UP students to go to the USA for study stays.

Over the years, UP’s relationship with Moravian University has extended beyond business contacts. The two universities “understand” each other, and their representatives regularly meet on various occasions. One of the most recent ones was the celebration which took place in New York in autumn 2023 on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the establishment of Olomouc’s university, and was attended by Bryon Grigsby, Rector of Moravian University. Last autumn, UP Rector Martin Procházka visited their university.

“I am delighted to have been able to continue the successful collaboration with schools in the USA initiated shortly after the Velvet Revolution by Prof Josef Jařab, an American Studies scholar and UP Rector Emeritus. We continue to systematically expand the portfolio of American universities with which we carry out mutual student and academic exchanges and develop partnerships in science and research. Needless to say, our long-term relationship with Moravian University is clearly one of the closest,” said Rector Procházka.

The students who have benefited from the support of the Merrill Scholarship Fund greatly appreciate this opportunity. They have summarised their impressions and advice for their colleagues on the UP website dedicated to international cooperation. Here are a few:

I remember the moment I learned that I had been selected for a semester-long study abroad programme at Moravian University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. I knew that this was going to be a great opportunity for me, which would open the door to a new world with many new possibilities. But it went beyond my expectations. Now, after spending a semester there, I have rich memories of Moravian University imprinted on my mind. Those memories are full of happy moments of everyday life on campus spent with new friends and exploring new parts of the world. Moreover, it was a continuous process of learning and gaining new experiences. They say that a semester goes fast, but this time with all the experiences, it went by in a snap of the fingers. Within four months, I found a corner of home at Moravian University, thanks to the people around me. It was a unique experience, and it is hard to sum up so many happy moments in words. It was something unforgettable to step out of my comfort zone, to face culture shock and all the changes, but also because of all that, the semester became one big adventure that I will never forget.

Minh Tam Le

I travelled to Moravian College in Pennsylvania as part of my Master’s degree in social science education. I wanted to broaden my horizons, get a different perspective on teacher training, and just try studying in a foreign language. Palacký University’s Merrill scholarship allowed me to do all this… and more!

Hana Hurtová

I spent my fourth year as a Palacký University exchange student at Moravian College in Pennsylvania. Eight years later, I still remember those times, and I often think back on that very special year when I was a student at a prestigious college in the States. The knowledge and the experience I gained during only one year has been life-changing, eye-opening, and has enriched me for the rest of my life. I strongly believe that every student should take part in a study-abroad programme. I appreciate so much the opportunity that I had to be a part of the Merrill Program, and I will always be grateful to Mr Charles Merrill for what he has done for me and many more students. I believe that all of us who passed through this programme still have Mr Merrill in the back of our minds, and we know that we will try to be as generous and as open-hearted as he was. I am so happy I had the chance to meet him. Listening to the stories told by the professors at Moravian College who knew him, I came to realise that behind it all was a single amazing human being. It has shown me that even one person can make a huge difference in so many lives, and that everything we do should be done with passion and commitment, because it’s worth it. Mr Charles Merrill was a great example to all of us.

Eva Čížková

Better equipment for Czech workplaces, articles in renowned journals, new research teams, and support for young scientists are the goals of the National Institute for Cancer Research (NICR), the largest project in Czech academic oncology. It also involves Olomouc’s Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine (IMTM), which is part of the UP Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and UP CATRIN. In 2023, significant achievements were made in relation to these goals, and one of the ambitions the institute entered the new year with was to focus on the popularisation of oncology research.

“We are succeeding in fulfilling exactly what the NICR was founded to do – to interconnect Czech oncology research and build synergies, thanks to which we are improving the conditions for scientific work that should result in discoveries useful for the diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases,” said NICR Director Aleksi Šedo, evaluating the year 2023.

According to him, investments in technological equipment at the workplaces in Brno, Olomouc, and Prague are good examples of that. Devices allowing a more precise view into what is happening inside cells or sequencing the genome bring scientists closer to answering questions on how to better target negative processes such as cancer in a diagnostic or therapeutic way. “In the new proteomics lab, we are experimentally studying the proteins present in cells, tissues, and blood in relation to mechanisms of cancer onset and development. The instrumentation of the laboratory is unparalleled not only elsewhere in the Czech Republic but anywhere in Central or Eastern Europe. We are able to detect and quantify thousands of proteins in a single measurement, which allows us to work faster. At the same time, we can see exactly what processes are taking place in the cell at any given moment, giving us a comprehensive view of the issue under study,” said Šedo, describing the Proteomics Laboratory at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague.

One of the most advanced mass spectrometers, which has expanded the possibilities of proteomic and metabolomic studies in particular, is now at their disposal in the IMTM laboratory, too. This workplace focuses mainly on the analysis of cancer biomarkers from human fluids and tissues collected in non-invasive ways – such as from breath or tears. There are also new additions at the Brno branch of the NICR – the workplace of CEITEC and Masaryk University – where they have installed a modern sequencing system able to “read” the entire human genome efficiently, and at low cost. It can read up to 48 genomes concurrently in two days, something not previously possible.

The interconnection of the workplaces into a single unit allows the scientific teams to share information and technological capabilities more efficiently. “The excellent results of the scientific teams involved in the NICR have resulted in publications in top peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Communications, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and Nucleic Acid Research. This confirms that oncology research in the Czech Republic is world-class,” said Ondřej Slabý, NICR Scientific Director. The NICR has also established close cooperation with medical infrastructures supporting translational research (EATRIS), clinical research (ECRIN), and biobanking (BBMRI).

Last but not least, in 2023 the NICR also organised two international summer schools, the international conference Czech Annual Cancer Research Meeting, and the first OncoPatient conference, where academics meet patients and patient organisations. “One of our goals was also to support young talents via developing academic oncology. That is why we are pleased that eleven colleagues have defended their doctoral theses under the supervision of scientists from the NICR, three junior research groups have been established, and two doctoral study programmes have been opened: Experimental and Clinical Oncology at Charles University in Prague, and Molecular and Translational Medicine at Palacký University Olomouc,” said NICR Medical Director Marián Hajdúch from the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

In 2024, NICR also wants to focus on popularising cancer research among the public and to encourage their interest in it. Among other things, NICR is preparing projects for high school students, their teachers, and budding scientists.

The National Institute for Cancer Research was established in 2022 as part of the Programme for Public Research & Development Support for Priority Areas of Medical Sciences and Related Social Sciences – EXCELES, which is funded by the National Recovery Plan. The institute brings together seventy excellent research teams from workplaces in Prague, Brno, and Olomouc. For more information, see www.nuvr.cz/en/.

Thanks to CATRIN, Palacký University has won the prestigious TECHSCALE (Technology Beyond Nanoscale) project from the Excellent Research OP JAK call with a budget of almost half a billion Czech koruna. The multidisciplinary team will be led by the physical chemist Michal Otyepka.

Many scientists in the Czech Republic have recently applied to the Excellent Research call from the Operational Programme Jan Amos Komenský. The TECHSCALE project led by you succeeded amongst stiff competition. Moreover, it garnered high ratings in its field. What does this success mean to you?

We devoted a huge effort to the preparation of the project proposal, and in this pre-Christmas period, I recall the sleepless nights and several near-heart attacks that the whole team went through this time last year. But the incredible stress then turned into great joy when the results were announced. I view the second place we were awarded in such a prestigious project call not only with satisfaction but also as a mark of appreciation of the consistent and long-term work of ourselves and our partners from Charles University and CEITEC-VUT. I also think that we have managed to assemble a great interdisciplinary team that includes the humanities as well as natural sciences. Together we have been looking for ways of cooperation that will allow us to significantly push the boundaries of the current world of nanomaterials towards technologies that work with single atoms.

You have a number of other achievements to your credit, including four times success in the European Research Council’s grant competition. Did this experience help?

We build on our experience when preparing new projects, and thus continuously improve project proposals. It’s a never-ending story. I think that CATRIN has moved forward enormously in the field of international project grants over the last two years; we are capitalizing on our investment in this area and are now seeing the first results. In addition to science itself, international projects highlight a number of other topics that deal with implementation and impacts. We have certainly benefited from our experience with international projects within TECHSCALE.

You expect major discoveries that will push the boundaries of current nanotechnologies and find applications in a wide range of areas. What exactly can we look forward to?

Nowadays, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies are among well-established scientific disciplines that have advanced our knowledge and attract a huge number of applications. The whole project has a unifying theme, which is to push the boundaries of the nanoworld and achieve precision in tuning properties up to the level of single atoms. We want to design such materials and prepare them in a controlled way. Already during the design phase, we will consider the safety of materials and possible social impacts. We will then target three major areas where we envisage the greatest potential for application, i.e. sensors, catalysis and energy storage. I believe that we will be able to prepare new materials that will change the paradigm, for example, in the fight against antibiotic resistance, alongside designing very effective catalysts for industrial production or preparing selective and sensitive sensors.

In what way do you think the project is unique?

A unique element of the project is the interconnection of four pillars. These are computer design, synthesis and characterization of new materials, their application, as well as safety and social impacts. Recent crises have taught us that technicians and natural scientists must work closely with experts from social science. Such cooperation allows new topics to be tackled, reveals entirely new perspectives and raises questions that natural scientists do not normally ask. I think this organic interconnection of disciplines was also highly appreciated by the evaluators of the project.

How do you and your colleagues in the social sciences learn to find common ground?

Honestly, it’s a slow evolution. It’s not easy for either side. I’d compare it to a very coy courtship. I know from previous projects that sometimes it only takes about a year to find common ground. The great thing is that we all are seeking a way to accommodate each other because we see the enormous potential that effective interconnection can provide. I’m convinced that this effort will soon bear fruit.

The project has already achieved its first results in the form of publications in prestigious journals. Can you describe some of them?

We are just starting a number of new joint projects. The existing cooperation has certainly accelerated everything. For example, we have recently managed to find a way to improve ammonia production with our colleagues from CEITEC Energy. In addition, we have used the computing capacity of the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Centre at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava. These achievements clearly show that broad cooperation is the only way to progress and remain internationally competitive. I believe that this project will enable us to intensify our cooperation at home and abroad. I also believe that our International Scientific Board, which includes six of the world’s leading experts, will help us in this.

Prof. RNDr. Michal Otyepka, Ph.D. (*1975)
Prof. Michal Otyepka studied physical chemistry at Palacký University Olomouc. From 2008 to 2020, he was Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry. He now heads the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN-RCPTM) and works at the IT4Innovations National Supercomputer Centre at VSB-TUO.
He studies the structure and properties of nanomaterials and biomacromolecules. He played a key role in the discovery of the thinnest isolator in the world — fluorographene — and was involved in the development of the first non-metallic magnet. In 2014, he received a Neuron Impuls grant from the Neuron Foundation. In 2015, he was awarded a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and the first EIC Transition grant in the Czech Republic. In 2020, he was the first ever Czech scientist to receive an ERC Proof of Concept grant, and in the following years, he repeated this success twice.

On the proposal of the Scholarly Board of the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD), Palacký University Olomouc awarded the honorary degree of doctor honoris causa to Hans-Peter Hartung, the world-renowned physician and scientist who has significantly contributed to the elucidation of the mechanism of new treatment for demyelinating diseases of the nervous system, especially multiple sclerosis, and who has been intensively collaborating with the FMD Department of Neurology and University Hospital Olomouc for more than twenty years.

The world-renowned physician and scientist received an honorary doctorate during a ceremony at the Archbishop’s Palace in Olomouc. Milan Kolář, UP FMD Dean, introduced the laureate and his connection to Olomouc’s university.

“Prof Hans-Peter Hartung is an extraordinary scientific, medical, and pedagogical authority in the global context. The long-term collaboration of Palacký University with Prof Hartung enables our students to undertake research internships in Germany and has resulted in a number of important publications in the field of contemporary neurological research. His relentless interest in systemic collaboration has translated into a number of excellent results in science and research and has thus undoubtedly contributed and will continue to contribute significantly to the reputation of Palacký University – not only in the European but also in the broader international context,” Kolář said.

He did not omit to say Prof Hartung was appointed a Visiting Professor at Palacký University in 2022, regularly attends Olomouc neuroimmunology symposia as an invited speaker, and is a member of the editorial board of the professional journal Biomedical Papers, published by the UP FMD.

Hans-Peter Hartung is mainly involved in clinical and translational research in basic and clinical neuroimmunology, particularly in multiple sclerosis and immune neuropathies, and in the development of novel immunological, neuroprotective, and neurorepair therapeutic strategies. His work has contributed significantly to the elucidation of the mechanism of contemporary therapies for demyelinating diseases of the nervous system – i.e. multiple sclerosis and demyelinating inflammations of the peripheral nervous system. He currently heads the Centre for Neurology and Neuropsychiatry at Heinrich Heine University and University Hospital Düsseldorf.

The honorary doctorate in the form of a diploma as well as a UP commemorative medal with a double portrait of Josef Dobrovský and František Palacký was presented to him by UP Rector Martin Procházka, together with Lucie Plíhalová, Vice-Rector for Science and Research. “With great joy and deep respect, I present the honorary degree to Prof Hartung for his merits in the development of medical science and in promoting the good name of Palacký University Olomouc. At the same time, let me use this solemn occasion to wish you good health and many more successes in science, medicine, and teaching, Prof Hartung,” said Rector Procházka in his speech.

“This is really a very touching moment for me and one of the highlights of my academic career,” said Prof Hartung at the ceremony. In his speech, he recalled the beginning of his cooperation with Olomouc physicians and scientists when he headed the neurology department at the University of Graz, and when Olomouc neurologist Jan Mareš, now head of the Centre for Diagnostics and Treatment of Demyelinating Diseases at University Hospital Olomouc, visited the laboratories in Graz as a young assistant.

“Our common goal was to improve the quality of life for our patients. This was the starting point of a long-term productive scientific collaboration that resulted in repeated mutual visits and many a joint publication. The head of Olomouc neurology, Petr Kaňovský, fully supported this cooperation. Over the years, Professors Mareš and Kaňovský became my close friends, which I appreciate very much. Such relationships are one of the most valuable things one can achieve when working in academia,” said Prof Hartung. He also pointed out that the honorary doctorate from UP means a lot to him in the context of the renewed good neighbourly relations between the Czech Republic and Germany.

After the ceremony in the Archbishop’s Palace, the new honorary doctor of Palacký University Olomouc headed to a place he is familiar with – the historical lecture hall of the UP FMD Department of Neurology and University Hospital Olomouc. In a special seminar, he gave a lecture on current trends in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Hans-Peter Hartung has become the third person to be awarded an honorary doctorate by Palacký University in recent months. During last year's celebrations of the 450th anniversary of the founding of Olomouc’s university, the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, who was involved in the revival of theological studies in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution, and the well-known jazz composer and pianist Emil Viklický, a graduate of the UP Faculty of Science, received honorary doctorates. Since 1990, Palacký University has awarded honorary doctorates to five dozen personalities for their contributions to the development of science, culture, and other activities for the benefit of society and humanity. Among them are the first president of the Czech Republic (and post-1989 Czechoslovakia) Václav Havel, chemist Antonín Holý, and plastic surgeon Bohdan Pomahač. A list of all UP honorary doctors is available on the university's website.