News: Faculty of Science

The NEWXUAR project examines how families cope with repressive state policies. – A New Normal After the Camps? State–kinship Dynamics in Minoritised Communities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been awarded a prestigious Consolidator grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The project is led by Rune Steenberg from the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University Olomouc and focuses on changes in the everyday lives of minorities in the Xinjiang region, including the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Hui minorities which face long-term pressure from the state.

"The NEWXUAR project treats kinship relations as the key to understanding the transformation of society under the influence of the state. The project will employ remote ethnography and other hybrid methods that take into account the ethical boundaries and security risks associated with conventional field research," explains the project's principal investigator, Rune Steenberg from the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University in Olomouc.

Remote ethnography combines online research with insights from diasporas and border areas of the region under study. Publicly available data, from television series to government regulations, serve as a basis for creating an accurate picture of a region where researchers are not allowed access or where their work would be distorted by state oversight. All sources are thoroughly verified and compared to avoid distortion of reality and to ensure the credibility of the findings. In the context of global instability and new forms of warfare in regions out of reach of independent media, this method can be used worldwide, and its importance is likely to grow.

"The success of the NEWXUAR project is the result of the faculty's long-term strategic efforts to support excellent research in the social sciences and humanities. I am proud of my colleague Rune Steenberg. His current project builds on previous results in MSCA CZ and his twinning project REMOTE XUAR. It confirms the effectiveness of our faculty's targeted and highly individualized support system, where we strive to reach out to researchers and offer them help and support, rather than the other way around," adds Faculty Dean Jan Stejskal.

The UP Faculty of Arts offers systematic support for international excellence grants. Thanks to this support, young researchers from UP regularly receive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions projects, which are also supported by the Czech state through the allocation of funds from European structural funds. The support system is team-based, says ERC consultant and Research Culture Manager Petra Vaculíková: "Project preparation is based on genuine cooperation and sharing, and a supported project is a success for the entire faculty. About thirty people from the faculty (from researchers to technicians to students) contributed to the project proposal in various ways, as did a dozen external experts, mostly from Prof. Strakoš's team from the Expert Group for the Support of Applicants in ERC Calls. We owe them all our thanks."

The success rate of applications in the current ERC Consolidator call was 11.3 %; out of 3,121 projects, 349 were supported. Two projects were supported in the Czech Republic, both in the field of anthropology. The second project was awarded to the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which has already received a similar project several times and ranks among the world's leading institutions.

The supported project demonstrates the ability of researchers from the Czech Republic to achieve excellent results even in the same field at different institutions across the Czech Republic. This year's results show that Czechia can hold its own in the most prestigious European competitions in the field of social sciences and humanities and that systematic support for researchers is bearing fruit.

The success rate of applications in the current ERC Consolidator call was 11.3 %; out of 3,121 projects, 349 were supported. Two projects were supported in the Czech Republic, both in the field of anthropology. The second project was awarded to the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which has already received a similar project several times and ranks among the world's leading institutions.
The supported project demonstrates the ability of researchers from the Czech Republic to achieve excellent results even in the same field at different institutions across the Czech Republic. This year's results show that Czechia can hold its own in the most prestigious European competitions in the field of social sciences and humanities and that systematic support for researchers is bearing fruit.

For nearly a decade, the effects of molecular hydrogen on the human body have been systematically researched at the Faculty of Physical Culture of Palacký University Olomouc by Michal Botek and his research team. The international relevance of their work was recently underscored by an invitation to the annual conference of the International Society for Hydrogen Medicine and Biology (ISHMB), held this year in Japan—the birthplace of hydrogen research. At the conference, Michal Botek received an award from the Society in recognition of his contribution to the field and delivered a keynote lecture as one of the event’s main speakers.

The conference took place in November in Tokyo and brought together academics, researchers, physicians and other experts from 28 countries, including Japan, China, the United States, France, Russia and Slovakia. Participants presented and discussed the latest findings in hydrogen-related research.

“I greatly appreciate both the invitation and the award. I was genuinely surprised that the Honorary President of ISHMB, Professor Shigeo Ohta, invited me as the only keynote speaker from Europe, alongside three speakers from Japan and China. Each keynote speaker represented a specific area of hydrogen research, and I believe that such a prestigious invitation confirms that our work at the Faculty of Physical Culture—focused on the effects of molecular hydrogen in the context of physical load, sport sciences and health promotion—places us among the leaders in this field. Our findings are particularly valuable and authentic because we test our hypotheses on human participants, an approach that is highly regarded by international experts,” said Michal Botek from the Department of Natural Sciences in Kinanthropology at the Faculty of Physical Culture. He added that he was very grateful for the opportunity to present his team’s results at such a highly prestigious forum.

During his fifty-minute keynote lecture, Michal Botek discussed the positive effects of molecular hydrogen supplementation on athletic performance and fatigue reduction. He also presented results from a study on post-COVID-19 recovery (previously reported here) and a study focusing on spa patients with rheumatic conditions (more information here). In addition, he introduced recently completed but as yet unpublished research, including studies examining the effects of regular hydrogen water consumption on reducing muscle soreness in trained football players, as well as the impact of prophylactic hydrogen administration on muscle function during plyometric training.

“I presented an overview of our work, and the audience response was extremely positive. Many participants approached me afterwards to express their enthusiasm for the research directions we are pursuing at the Faculty of Physical Culture and the results we are achieving. I believe I was able to demonstrate to the international hydrogen research community that our work in sport sciences meets a high scientific standard and that we can play a meaningful role in future collaborative research projects. I also returned from Japan with several promising professional contacts,” added Michal Botek, who is one of the founding members of the European Academy for Molecular Hydrogen Research in Biomedicine.

For a long time, molecular hydrogen was considered physiologically inert and ineffective. However, at the beginning of this millennium, its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and signalling properties were demonstrated. Its use has proven to be safe, with no known side effects, and it is currently believed that overdosing is not possible. As a result, molecular hydrogen has begun to be used in the treatment of certain chronic diseases, and its effects on the human body have also attracted growing interest in sports medicine, where it helps reduce fatigue, accelerate recovery and, under specific conditions, enhance physical performance. Japan is regarded as the cradle of molecular hydrogen research, with Professor Shigeo Ohta considered the founder of so-called hydrogen biomedicine. At the Faculty of Physical Culture of Palacký University Olomouc, research into molecular hydrogen—including its application in sport—has been underway since approximately 2016. 

Scientists from the Faculty of Science of Palacký University Olomouc are collaborating with world-class research and innovation experts in the cosmetics industry. Based on previous successful cooperation, experts from the Department of Biophysics have joined a new three-year project, the main goal of which is to investigate biophotons, which are a key indicator of skin aging, in more detail. The research, which connects top experts in the field of skin biology and biophysics, aims not only to better understand the mechanisms of aging, but also to verify the possibilities of slowing down this process using cosmetic active ingredients. The results will be used by French luxury cosmetics Maison Guerlain, part of the LVMH group, which also systematically cooperates with renowned scientific institutions to develop innovative skin care products.

The collaboration began in 2022, when LVMH RECHERCHE Parfums & Cosmetiques established a partnership with the University of Olomouc. Following this initial partnership, a new three-year agreement was signed to go further by identifying mechanisms that imply a modulation of these biophotons. The research team, led by Ankush Prasad from the Department of Biophysics of the Faculty of Science of the University of Olomouc, also includes Professor Pavel Pospíšil, an expert in free radical biology, Phaniendra Alugoja, an aging specialist from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, and doctoral students from the Department of Biophysics in Olomouc, Rena Kushwaha and Richa Sharma.

„Biophotons can be described as weak light signals emitted by skin cells. Our work to date suggests that photon emission by certain skin cells may be a key indicator of aging. This discovery, made possible by a unique technological device, opens up new possibilities in dermatological research,” said Ankush Prasad. The new project focuses on the correlation between biophoton activity and aging of different types of skin cells, which are crucial for maintaining the youthful appearance of the skin.

„In this new applied research project, we are trying to fill critical gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms of skin aging and pigmentation that have not been described before. We expect that this research will open a new path to understanding cellular longevity and also to applying these findings in practice,” added Ankush Prasad, the leader of the research team.

LVMH RECHERCHE Parfums & Cosmétiques is the Research and Innovation entity of LVMH Beauty Division pioneering novel approaches in fields such as biotechnology, skin biology, advanced materials, new manufacturing processes, agroecology and artificial intelligence to develop innovative skincare, perfumes and make-up products offering exceptional sensoriality for each house of the LVMH group Beauty Division.