News from UP

The first open call aimed at fostering international scientific and academic collaboration, research mobilities, and thematic summer schools, was very much welcomed across the Aurora network. UP is the coordinator of one of the seven supported projects and participates in two others as a partner. It will also participate in the organisation of a summer school and will send two students for research mobilities at partner institutions.

The Call for Incentive Research Collaboration was launched earlier this year as part of the Aurora 2030 programme supported by the European Universities Initiative under the auspices of the European Commission. Applications for the next round will be open in early 2025.

Joint scientific research projects

“In the first year of the call, 26 eligible projects were submitted. These were subsequently evaluated by the Aurora Research Council, to which scientists from each of Aurora’s partner universities across the disciplinary spectrum were appointed. The results were then approved by the Aurora’s Vice-Rectors for Research. Based on the evaluation by both bodies, seven projects were awarded support totalling €104,000; Palacký University Olomouc is represented in three of them,” says Marie Jadrníčková, Aurora Research Officer at UP.

As the coordinator, UP was successful with the NUTRIAGE24 project. Its principal investigator, Romana Klášterecká from the UP Faculty of Science, will work with colleagues from Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain and the University of Iceland to address the issue of healthy ageing. They will focus on the relationship between nutrition, health, and environment in adults, taking into account their living situations and the social determinants that influence access to proper foods.

UP is also a partner in two other funded projects. The ETHICAL project, coordinated by the University of Naples, Italy, together with the University of Innsbruck, Austria, also involves Lucie Macková from the UP Faculty of Science. The main objective is to develop a comprehensive model that captures migration flows within the European Union. This study will include the broader dynamics of migration within and towards the EU and take into account the complex factors that contribute to migration trends and patterns.

The use of fertilisers and pesticides in the cultivation of medicinal plants can have adverse impacts on herbal products and extracts. The VALOR-LIGHT project will therefore seek to offer solutions through organic, self-sustaining farming methods and environmentally friendly products that protect the health of consumers. It is led by the University of Innsbruck, and brings together five partner universities, including the affiliated P.J. Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia. Lukáš Spíchal, Head of CATRIN-CRH, will participate on behalf of UP.

 

Thematic Summer Schools

In the second key activity, the Department of Chemical Biology at the UP Faculty of Science succeeded as a partner in the CIRAGRO summer school. This is coordinated by the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and together with the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany and the University of Innsbruck, Austria, will focus on circular economy in the agro-industrial sector.

 

Short-term scientific research mobilities

The best evaluation among the applicants from UP was awarded by the Aurora Research Council to students Tadeáš Volný and Eliška Postavová from the Department of Optics at the UP Faculty of Science. Volný will take part in a researcher mobility in Innsbruck with Prof Tracy Northup, while Postavová will head to the Department of Physics at the University of Naples.

Further information on the results is available on the main Aurora website. New calls and other opportunities for UP students and employees are also regularly published on UP’s Aurora website.

Bilateral student exchanges, sharing of experience in science and research, joint study programmes, and examples of good practice in science development strategy, project management, and curriculum internationalisation – those were among the main points of the meetings held earlier this week by Palacký University Rector Martin Procházka during his visit to the University of Minnesota. In Minneapolis he concluded his short work trip to the USA, which was also his first in his new role as President of the Aurora international university consortium.

“It was a splendid opportunity to present the research and educational activities not only of Palacký University Olomouc, but also of all universities associated in the Aurora network, where I took over the presidential duties from Jón Atli Benediktsson from Iceland in September. The University of Minnesota is one of the most prestigious and dynamic research centres, it has long been considered one of the top universities in the USA, and it is also ranked in the top 100 universities internationally. I am therefore very happy that we and our European universities can continue to count on this strategic global partner, with whom we want to develop even closer and more intensive collaboration within the Aurora network,” said Procházka.

During his visit to the University of Minnesota he met, among others, with Rachel Croson, Executive Vice President and Provost for the Twin Cities campus, attended by over 50,000 students in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Other attendees of the meetings included Shashank Priya, Vice President for Research and Innovation; Harvey Charles, Vice Provost for International Affairs; Karen Brown, Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change; and other representatives of the central international office of the University of Minnesota system, the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance, which is dedicated to internationalising study programs.

“There is a lot of interest in two-way student exchanges on the part of the University of Minnesota. We also talked about the possibilities of using the COIL method (Collaborative Online International Learning), in which professors and their students from different countries work together on team activities through various online platforms. One of the joint activities could also be an online course for both our and American students focusing on the SDGs, i.e. the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations programme for improving the quality of life in member countries and beyond by 2030,” added Tereza Kalousková, Head of the Office for Partnership of the UP Division for International Cooperation, who accompanied the UP Rector on his trip to the USA.

Scientists from Palacký University Olomouc (UP) and the Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO), in collaboration with colleagues from China, have discovered a groundbreaking method for developing a new generation of antibiotics. These antibiotics not only combat a wide range of bacteria but also effectively prevent the development of bacterial resistance. By employing atomic engineering, the researchers transformed manganese—a trace element vital for human health—into a potent antibiotic by embedding it in the structure of chemically modified graphene. Tests conducted on animal models have demonstrated the material’s significant potential, particularly in localized therapies such as wound healing. The discovery has been published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials, and the team has filed a European patent to safeguard their innovation.

“The material we developed successfully kills and inhibits the growth of all bacteria we studied, including highly resistant pathogens. It operates at low concentrations, which are completely harmless to human cells. Furthermore, bacteria cannot develop resistance to it, thus addressing one of modern medicine’s most pressing challenges. These promising results position atomic antibiotics for practical use in the near future,” said Radek Zbořil, a physical chemist and author of the research concept, who works at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN UP) and the Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies (CEET) at VSB-TUO.

A Frontal Attack with Manganese
In developing this antibiotic, the scientists drew on their expertise in graphene chemistry and atomic engineering, fields they have extensively studied in recent years. This time, they utilized a graphene derivative enriched with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, chemically incorporating manganese—a transition metal that is involved in metabolism, bone formation, blood sugar regulation and cellular protection against oxidative stress.   

“We chose to target one of the strongest defences of bacteria—the carbohydrates in their cell walls and membranes, which are crucial for their survival. These carbohydrates play a protective role, facilitate substance transfer, enable communication with the environment, and serve as energy reserves. By chemically binding manganese to specific carbohydrate groups, we suppressed these critical functions, ultimately causing cell death. The graphene carrier plays an essential role by ensuring the delivery of manganese ions to the bacterial surface, which enables a direct chemical attack on the carbohydrate molecules,” Zbořil explained.

Effective Against Even the Most Resistant Bacteria
The new material also shows remarkable efficacy against bacteria that existing antibiotics struggle to combat. “We observed an excellent bactericidal effect against all bacteria from the ESCAPE group, which includes highly resistant bacterial pathogens. These bacteria are particularly dangerous because they are resistant to conventional antibiotics, which complicates treatment and increases the risk of severe infections, especially in hospital settings. The atomic antibiotic was the only agent that proved effective against all resistant bacteria, compared to commercial antibiotics,” said David Panáček, the first author of the paper, from CATRIN UP and CEET VSB-TUO.

The researchers tested the atomic antibiotic’s effect not only in laboratory settings but also in mouse models in collaboration with their Chinese colleagues. “In in-vivo tests, skin infections caused by resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph) healed quickly and effectively, with all markers of inflammation significantly reduced. We are now considering its use for wound dressings or antibacterial treatments on surfaces of artificial materials. There is tremendous potential to prevent bacterial biofilms from forming on devices such as artificial joint replacements, stents, or cannulas. Given its mode of action, this new material could also help prevent secondary infections, which would have a major impact on healthcare,” said Milan Kolář, a microbiologist and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Palacký University Olomouc, who played a key role in the research.

Atomic Antibiotics Open New Possibilities
The research team plans to continue exploring the material’s potential for systemic antibiotic treatments. “Some serious infections are now untreatable with existing antibiotics, and bacterial sepsis is becoming an increasingly common cause of death. We aim to test atomic antibiotics’ effectiveness in treating the most severe bacterial diseases,” Kolář added.

According to the United Nations, if bacterial resistance continues to rise at its current pace, by 2050 untreatable infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria could become the leading cause of death worldwide. These so-called ‘superbugs’ pose a global threat, necessitating the development of new antibacterial agents that can bypass the defence mechanisms bacteria use to protect themselves. This research, which also involved colleagues from the Faculty of Science at Palacký University Olomouc and two Chinese institutions, highlights the untapped potential of atomic engineering in addressing one of humanity’s most urgent scientific and social challenges.

Palacký University had a special opportunity to present its activities in Vienna. The University was one of those invited to an annual Saint Wenceslas Celebration held by the Czech Embassy in Vienna.

Saint Wenceslas Celebration is held every year. However, this year's event was focused on the city of Olomouc, and tight ties between the Statutory City of Olomouc and Austria, the host of the event. The guests were welcomed by his eminence Jiří Šitler - Czech Ambassador in Austria - and Miroslav Žbánek - the mayor of the city of Olomouc.

Palacký University presented itself as a modern educational institution focused on international cooperation, science, and research. “Austria is one of our main partners in the field of international cooperation. Other key projects of this cooperation are AKTION, a Czechian-Austrian program supporting bilateral research and educational activities which finances exchange students, or AURORA Alliance, an international network of universities focused on know-how exchange and innovation in the fields of research and education along with sustainability and social responsibility,” said Alena Vyskočilová, the head of Welcome Office, who, together with her colleagues from International cooperation division, helped organize the event.

Josef Strobl, a professor at the Salzburg University, who has been cooperating with professor Vít Voženílek of the Faculty of Science on the project International Joint Master's Program in Geoinformatics for a long period of time, has also accepted the invitation as one of the main guests.

The celebration offered our alumni living in Austria an opportunity to meet their colleagues. “One of the Alumni who came to the event was from Brazil and took part in the Erasmus Mundus program at the Faculty of Physical Culture in 2008,” said Alena Vyskočilová.

University Press and Museum of Modern Art Olomouc prepared an exhibition Olomoučtí fotografové (Photographers of Olomouc). The exhibition presented the evolution and changes of Olomouc and its surroundings throughout the years up until the present day.

The program was further enhanced by science show from students from Fort Science where the guests could take part in various science experiments. The dominant of the garden was an inflatable model of the Earth - a symbol of Academia Film Olomouc, a science movie festival organized by the university. One of the main parts of the evening was concert of Michal Horák, student of the Faculty of Education and this year King of May.

The event was co-organised by CzechTourism and the Czech Centre in Vienna, where a press conference with Austrian journalists was held. Here, the university was presented by Lukáš Merz, the head of the American Centre of Palacký University. Representatives of the Vienna cultural scene, regional associations, the cities of Vienna, Innsbruck and Wiener Neustadt were also among the guests.

“The event was a celebration of not only Saint Wenceslas but also a showcase of the enriching and dynamic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Austria. It created space for academics, cultural representatives, Czech natives, and important people from both nations to meet. The event underlined the growing importance of international cooperation in the fields of science, education, and culture and brought further opportunities for development for the future,” added Alena Vyskočilová.

The main partners of the event were the Olomouc Region, the Olomouc Museum of Art and Palacký University. Together, these institutions contributed to a rich program which included, among other things, dulcimer music performed by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, a presentation of regional specialities such as "tvarůžky" or dance performance by the Hanáks. Guests also had the opportunity to see a presentation of the St. Wenceslas Hill and the Central European Forum project, which was provided by the Olomouc Museum of Art.

On the occasion of World Inclusion Day, Palacký University is preparing its first annual IncluDay (InkluDen) on Thursday 10 October 2024. The day-long event will offer an informal group breakfast for UP women scientists and academics, a workshop on balancing work and personal life, an art opening, and an early evening theatrical presentation. You can find the detailed programme on the website.

The main purpose of IncluDay, subtitled Bridges Among Us, is to remind us of the importance and benefits of creating an inclusive and diverse culture. “Although the terms inclusion and diversity are often used, not everyone knows what they mean. Simply put, diversity means variety – in the context of the learning and working environment, we are talking about collectives that are diverse not only on the basis of gender and age, but also on the basis of life experiences,” said Markéta Šupplerová, head of the UP Personnel Management Office, which is preparing the event. “As for inclusion, it refers to the creation of a work or study environment where everyone is accepted regardless of their possible differences. The IncluDay activities will open up the theme of the importance of building imaginary bridges among us,” she added.

Women’s Science Breakfast

The IncluDay will commence with a Science Breakfast, which will be dedicated to women scientists at Palacký University. It will provide them with an informal space to share their experiences of what it is like to be a woman scientist and what helps in balancing personal and professional life, and more. “The reason why we decided to focus the event explicitly on women scientists is the fact that even at our university there is a persistent trend of the phenomenon called the ‘leaky pipeline’, where the representation of women decreases with increasing academic rank. At the meeting, we’d therefore like to open up the topic of common barriers in women’s scientific careers but also to share successful strategies for coping with difficult moments,” explains Šupplerová. Irena Smolová, Chair of the UP Academic Senate, has promised to deliver the opening words at the Science Breakfast.

The Work-Life Balance

An educational workshop on balancing work and life and the tools to support it, entitled The Work-Life Balance, will be offered to managers and HR staff from the university. The workshop will be led by Klára Čmolíková Cozlová, who works at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague as the head of the Department for Gender Equality, Inclusion and Diversity, and Dita Jahodová, ombudsperson at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague and expert guarantor for the 22% Towards Equality project at the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Art opening and Mumcabaret play

To make IncluDay open to everyone on campus, there will be an opening of the Together in Diversity art exhibit at UPoint, and at the end of the day, a free theatre performance, Mumcabaret, about the joys and sorrows of parenthood, will take place in the Convictorium Theatre. “Many of our current activities focus on the work-life balance and the needs of parents. In order to lighten up the topic a bit, we decided to include this entertaining performance in the programme, which could also be of interest to ‘non-parents’, whether they be students or employees,” explained Veronika Fousková from the UP Personnel Management Office, adding that the performance is also of particular affinity to Palacký University because it is written and played by its graduates.

Palacký University Rector Martin Procházka met with university officials, diplomats, politicians, businessmen, and representatives of cultural life in Iowa during his short official visit to the United States. At the end of last week, he attended the 50th anniversary celebrations of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (NCSML) in Cedar Rapids, a long-standing partner of the university.

The dozens of distinguished guests from the USA, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia also included Czech President Petr Pavel and his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini. During the celebrations, the university was given a unique opportunity to officially inaugurate, in the presence of the Czech president, the Josef Jařab Scholarship Fund, which aims to support mutual exchanges of students and academics between UP and American universities.

“The presidential visit was scheduled down to the minute, so I am very grateful that President Pavel found a moment in his busy programme for Palacký University. Thanks for this goes to the director of the museum, Cecilia Rokusek, who’s been helping us with the implementation of the fund and with whom we could briefly present our idea to the President. Josef Jařab, Rector Emeritus of our university, tirelessly developed Czech-American relations, especially at the academic level, so he fully deserves to have the President of the Czech Republic at the birth of the scholarship bearing his name,” said Rector Procházka.

During his visit to Iowa, he also met with Thomas Feld, Rector Emeritus of Mount Mercy University. “He was a very good friend of Professor Jařab; he fondly remembers his visits to Olomouc and meetings with our students. They had worked together in the early 1990s and it was he who gave us the idea to implement such a project some time ago. Therefore, I am happy that we have managed to fulfil this vision and that we have received support for our scholarship from influential personalities of American academic life,” said UP Rector.

The other distinguished guests with whom Rector Procházka met during the celebrations in Cedar Rapids were, among others, the Czech Ambassador to Washington Miloslav Stašek, former Czech Ambassador to the USA Martin Palouš, and former Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Pavol Demeš, with whom he discussed the possibilities of cooperation between the Czech, Slovak, and U.S. academic environment. The UP Rector also discussed practical applications with representatives of the Czech Chamber of Commerce and representatives of the manufacturing sector, as a large Czech business delegation arrived in Iowa along with the presidential visit. With representatives of American universities, he discussed the possibilities of developing scientific collaboration and supporting student and academic exchanges.

The celebrations in Cedar Rapids culminated in the launch of the astronomical clock, which the local museum built after the model of the Prague astronomical clock. Instead of the twelve apostles, however, figures symbolising the professions and everyday lives of the first Czech and Slovak immigrants can be seen parading there every hour. The ceremony was attended by the Presidents of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. During the celebrations, Rector Procházka also met with the Czech and Slovak makers of the astronomical clock and another local cultural representative, Katelyn Bouska, an American pianist, musicologist, and teacher with Czech roots.

Martin Procházka, Rector of Palacký University Olomouc, visited Iowa and Minnesota. This was his first trip to the United States in his new role as President of the international university consortium Aurora, which he has taken on with the new academic year. At the start of his week-long trip, he was in Cedar Rapids to attend the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (NCSML). Also attending the celebration were Czech President Petr Pavel, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, and many other distinguished guests.

“We are grateful to the Cedar Rapids museum and library for the opportunity to launch a scholarship fund that will allow us to support reciprocal exchanges of students and scholars between our university and universities in the United States. Iowa has been home to a strong Czech community for more than a century, and the museum’s partners and sponsors also support our fund named after Rector Emeritus Josef Jařab. In doing so, we are successfully fulfilling the legacy of our first post-communist rector, who helped Olomouc’s university to open cooperation with American schools three decades ago,” explained Martin Procházka.

The distinguished guests to meet the UP rector in Iowa included representatives of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, most importantly Rector Emeritus Douglas Kristensen, who developed and continues to support cooperation with UP – especially with the Faculty of Arts, but also with the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Health Sciences – for more than two decades.

In the second part of his short visit to the USA, the UP rector travelled to the neighbouring state of Minnesota, where he visited the University of Minnesota, with which European universities cooperate within the Aurora network international consortium. “The University of Minnesota is a prestigious and very dynamic research university. Its approach and focus on the same themes that we focus on in the Aurora Alliance is very beneficial for us and our European partners. As the president of the consortium, I am presenting the University of Minnesota management projects carried out in cooperation between the nine European universities involved in our network; we will also discuss possibilities for further cooperation,” said Procházka.

Aurora Alliance

The Aurora Alliance was established in 2020, bringing together nine top research universities from Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Iceland. Palacký University became a fully-fledged member of this global consortium two years ago. The member universities, together with other affiliated universities, have a strong commitment to social impact and community engagement, collaborating in student and academic exchanges, and striving to increase the societal impact of their research activities.

National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library

NCSML focuses on Czech and Slovak history and culture and on Czech and Slovak emigrants and their descendants in the United States. The museum was founded in 1974. After the Velvet Revolution, Czechoslovak-American contacts expanded rapidly, and the museum began a project to build a new, larger building near the “Czech Village”, a local settlement populated by Czech emigrants since the 19th century. In 1995, the building was inaugurated by U.S. President Bill Clinton, Czech President Václav Havel, and Slovak President Michal Kováč.

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The Twin Cities campus is home to over 50,000 students. It is one of the most prestigious public research universities in the USA and has long been ranked in the top 100 in international university rankings. Founded in 1851, it offers studies in engineering, medicine, law, veterinary medicine, and agriculture.

The preparations for the establishment of the Josef Jařab Scholarship Fund, which should be available to its first students and academics this year, are described here.

The UP Faculty of Science (UP FS) has improved its position in the prestigious ranking of the two percent of the world’s most cited scientists, compiled by Stanford University in collaboration with Elsevier. While last year the ranking included two dozen scientists from UP FS, this year there are four more. The ranking is based on how the researchers perform throughout their careers and what their results were last year.

In the “career long” category (citations during one’s whole career), 21 representatives from UP FS, who have listed Palacký University as their affiliation, were among 217,097 scientists from around the world. The highest ranked is Prof Jaromír Fiurášek from the Department of Optics. He is followed by Radim Bělohlávek, Miroslav Strnad, Pavel Pospíšil, Dušan Lazár, Zdeněk Hradil, Radim Filip, Zdeněk Dvořák, Jan Peřina, Aleš Lebeda, Anatolij Dvurečenskij, Zdeněk Bouchal, Petr Smýkal, Karel Weidinger, Tomáš Opatrný, Jozef Šamaj, Viktor Brabec, Ondřej Novák, Ondřej Šráček, Aleš Panáček, and Lutfun Nahar.

In the “single year” category (citations in 2023 only), 19 experts from UP FS were among the 223,152 scientists. Prof Pavel Pospíšil from the Department of Biophysics did the best. The others were Radim Bělohlávek, Miroslav Strnad, Ondřej Novák, Lutfun Nahar, Jaromír Fiurášek, Petr Smýkal, Dušan Lazár, Zdeněk Dvořák, Danuše Tarkowská, Zdeněk Hradil, Aleš Panáček, Viktor Brabec, Radim Filip, Jozef Šamaj, Aleš Lebeda, Zdeněk Bouchal, Jana Kašpárková, and Robin Kundrata.

The public database provides standardised information on e.g. total citations, citations without self-citations, h-index, co-authorship-adjusted hm-index, citations of articles in different author positions, and composite indicator (c-score). Read more here.

The international study programme Digital Society, Social Innovation, and Global Citizenship, which is being developed within the Euridice project, has successfully started the accreditation process. It will be implemented at UP under the auspices of the Faculty of Law and will be taught in a hybrid way in collaboration with the Universities of Innsbruck and Naples. Members of the project met in September at the Vienna University of Technology, where they also presented an online teaching platform and learning modules with microcertificates.

The joint Master’s programme, taught in English, will equip students with digital competences, legal knowledge, and related civic knowledge. Its graduates are expected to hold senior positions in business, politics, and society and have a comprehensive understanding of digital society. The Euridice project is largely due to the existing network of European universities in the Aurora alliance, specifically its Digital Society and Global Citizenship domain. Its members last met physically in April at Palacký University to discuss the curriculum and the composition of the teaching team. This time, their meeting was hosted by the Vienna University of Technology.

Representatives of the University of Naples Federico II announced the successful launch of the accreditation process of the study programme, which will be joined by the University of Innsbruck and Palacký University Olomouc. The University of Naples is also in charge of setting up the Collaboratorium – the platform on which the teaching will take place. Here, students can find a digital library and a space where they can meet and communicate with each other. At the same time, they are responsible for ensuring that students always have facilities on their campus for hybrid learning as well as for their independent work and projects.

Hybrid learning and the use of digital tools are key features of the project. “ UP students will attend lectures and seminars taught full-time at the law school, and students from Innsbruck and Naples will join these classes online. Other times, the host universities will switch, and Olomouc students will join the classes online, for example in Naples,” explains Markéta Šemberová, Euridice project coordinator, who attended the meeting in Vienna on behalf of UP.

Experts from the field as well as from other host institutions, such as Lusófona University in Portugal and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, will contribute to the teaching. The study programme will also be enriched by summer schools, the first of which, the introductory one, will provide networking and familiarisation with the study programme, while the second one, after one year of study, will be dedicated to the choice of a specialisation.

Participants of the Vienna meeting also took part in a workshop on the implementation of hybrid learning organised by University of Barcelona, one of the partners of the project, and discussed the technical and organisational aspects related to the planned publication of a course catalogue, which should offer training modules for students, academics, and professionals on the official Euridice website starting in 2025. The focus will be on the development of digital competences, AI, and digital humanities, and the training will be acknowledged with microcertificates from participating partner institutions.

Michal Malacka, UP Vice-Rector for Strategy and Regional Affairs, is the main investigator of the Euridice project. “The emerging study programme is a huge opportunity for us that we would have missed without the involvement of the Aurora university network. I am delighted with how much work we have managed to do since the launch of the project earlier this year – you can see huge advancements at each of our meetings. It is through these specific results that we are fulfilling all the aims and ambitions of the European university alliance,” he concludes.

 

The progress of the Euridice project has been covered in the UP Journal here and here. You can also follow it on the euridice.eu website or on LinkedIn.

The progress of the Euridice project has been covered in the UP Journal here and here. You can also follow it on the euridice.eu website or on LinkedIn.

Dear Students and Colleagues,

Today the new academic year begins for the university as a whole, into which I would like to welcome you, and wish you an invincible good mood and the desire to manage the daily challenges of studies and work here at Palacký University. After the summer holidays, Olomouc has come back to life as a university town, and while everyday responsibilities are surely in store for us, so too are pleasant and inspirational encounters.

At the same time, I would like to ask that you take a moment to think about your fellow students and colleagues who have been recently affected by the disastrous flooding. Together, we wish them strength and energy – let’s support them in their efforts to cope with difficult life situations as best as they can, so that they can return to our university community. At the same time, I would like to thank our students and employees for their willingness to help out via the UP Volunteering Centre. Whether you have personally helped clean up the damage in the affected areas or have provided financial or material support for people affected by the floods, any and all help these days is welcome and needed.

The start of the academic year is also the time to welcome our new first-year students. I heartily wish that you will really enjoy your time at Palacký University, and that you will soon find your bearings here and connect with university life. And finally, I would like to wish all students and employees all the best at the start of this new academic year.

I’m looking forward to all my meetings with you, and I firmly believe that the new energy and strength which you have been recharged with over the summer will serve you well throughout the months to come.

Martin Procházka

UP Rector

Starting Monday, September 23, classes will begin at all eight Palacký University (UP) faculties, and Olomouc will become a vibrant student city again. Unlike many other schools and institutions, Olomouc’s university was almost unaffected by the dramatic floods that swept through the Czech Republic in recent days, and everything will be business as usual. The faculties are looking forward to the return of their students and first-year students, the dormitories are open, and the canteens are operating without restrictions. Everyone at UP is thus focused on the possibility of volunteering or otherwise helping the flood-affected areas or their students and workers affected by the flooding.

After the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Health Sciences, which have already started classes, the remaining five faculties of Palacký University will start full-time classes on Monday. All lecturers consider their students' absences justified by the direct impact of the floods on their households in these difficult days.

If those studying or working at UP have been affected by the events of the previous days more than they can cope with, psychological and psychotherapeutic counselling can be accessed on campus.

From the very first days of the semester, there will also be social and educational events for all, the first of which will be MEET UP on Tuesday, September 24, which has been affected by a single logistical measure due to the floods, namely the move from the originally planned venue on the Morava River embankment to the premises of the Armoury (Zbrojnice). On Friday, September 27, the Long Night of the Scientists will take place at dozens of locations at the University, and is free to all.

Other university and faculty events are published on the web in the UP Calendar, and the critical dates of the winter semester and the whole academic year are on its timetable.

Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology (CMFT)

The semester at the Faculty of Theology in Olomouc is starting as planned. The Vice Dean for International Affairs, Dominik Opatrný, even personally welcomed two students from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (link to CMFT Facebook). Some of the Faculty's employees are providing crisis intervention to those in need in cooperation via the UP Volunteer Centre.

The Faculty keeps its students and workers informed on its website, Facebook and Instagram, and it also has an anonymous Comments and Complaints box.

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD)

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, which started classes last week on Monday, is excusing its students affected by the floods.

The Faculty is keeping its students and workers informed on its website, Facebook and Instagram. It also offers psychological counselling in case of difficulties.

Faculty of Arts (FA)

The Faculty of Arts will start the winter semester as scheduled on Monday, September 23; the Dean of the Faculty made an announcement to its students and staff on Monday, September 16, and updated it on Wednesday, September 18, due to the drop in the water level in the region (link to FA Facebook). Reasonable absences due to flood-related issues will be excused at the Dean’s discretion. Combined studies classes at FA UP on 20 and 21 September 2024 are being transferred to online mode due to complications in many locations outside Olomouc, and some specific courses will be rescheduled. Students affected will be informed about the details.

The Faculty keeps its students and workers informed on its website, Facebook, Facebook group and Instagram.

Faculty of Science (FS)

The Faculty of Science, one of the most water-prone Faculties, survived Tuesday’s high water on the Morava River unscathed and is looking forward to Monday’s start of the semester as per the current schedule. The Faculty had installed flood barriers at critical points ahead of time to protect the building from any possible spillage of the Morava River. There were no complications on the premises of the Olomouc-Holice campus. The Faculty of Science also has technical facilities for the hybrid form of teaching and in case of students’ requirements, teachers can use these possibilities in most theoretical subjects.

The Faculty keeps its students and staff informed on its website, Facebook and Instagram, as well as in the regular Faculty of Science Newsletter.

Faculty of Education (FE)

The Faculty of Education started classes on Monday of this week, with most of its students having already moved into their dormitories. However, the Dean of the Faculty in a statement on Sunday also urged all those affected by the flooding to stay safe and make individual arrangements with their lecturers for safe arrival.

The Faculty keeps its students and staff informed on its website, Facebook, Instagram and social network X or in the regular FE Newsletter. The website also summarises practical information for first-year students, and important for all is the information on the renovation of the building at Žižkovo náměstí 5, which will begin this semester.

Faculty of Physical Culture (FPC)

On Monday, September 23, full-time classes will also begin at the Faculty of Physical Culture according to the current schedule. Students who are in a complicated situation due to the floods are excused from the block classes, which are already taking place this week at the Faculty of Physical Culture, and were informed of this by e-mail on Sunday afternoon. Another change caused by the flooding is the cancellation of the introductory camp at Pastviny; the Faculty will announce its replacement on this page. In previous days, FPC offered those affected by the flooding asylum in the FPC buildings in Neředín (link to FPC Facebook).

The Faculty keeps its students and staff informed on its website, Facebook, and Instagram. A guide to studying at FPC is also available to students on the website.

Faculty of Law (FL)

The Faculty of Law issued an update on the flood situation on Tuesday, September 17, with classes scheduled to start on Monday, September 23, according to the academic year schedule. Students who will not be able to get to Olomouc due to physical reasons can attend hybrid classes online by prior arrangement with the instructor. Over the weekend, the Faculty already published guidelines for the winter state final exams due to the flooding.

Starting Monday, September 30, the Student Legal Aid Office at the UP FL will open. It will also offer free legal assistance to people affected by the flood. Appointments can be made by phone or e-mail from September 23.

The Faculty keeps its students and staff informed on its website, Facebook, and Instagram; it also uses an electronic bulletin board, and next Wednesday its news bulletin will be published.

Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS)

The Faculty of Health Sciences has postponed classes for two days due to the extent of the emergency situation that has affected not only its students but also its academics, with classes running as scheduled from Wednesday September 18.

The Faculty is keeping its learners and staff informed on its website, Facebook, and Instagram, and a study guide is available for first-year students.

Palacký University Accommodation and Dining

Accommodation in any of Palacký University’s halls of residence is not limited by the events of the previous days and is taking place as standard according to the valid schedule of places and dates for key collection. The last day for proper accommodation is Sunday September 22 from 2 pm to 5 pm. In justified cases, which are now more likely to be anticipated, arrangements for later check-in can be made individually with the Registrar or Head of the relevant dormitory; contacts are on the website.

On Monday September 23, the Palacký University canteens and bistros will be open again after the holidays, and will be fully open to students and workers during normal opening hours.

Any news, changes or notifications about the operation of the dormitories and canteens are published on the website of UP Accommodation and Dining, as well as on their Instagram and Facebook.

Help those affected, become a volunteer!

Despite, or perhaps because, Palacký University itself was not significantly affected by the current dramatic floods, it is devoting almost all of its energy these days to getting volunteers to areas that were not so lucky.

The UP Volunteer Centre, in cooperation with the Olomouc Region and the Czech Red Cross, is gathering people interested in helping in the affected areas 24 hours a day and sending buses to the affected areas, with dozens of them departing every day.

The need is for crisis intervention, manual labour, and identifying specific needs household by household.

Dear colleagues, students,

I would like to provide you with some information on the current situation related to the floods that have hit the Czech Republic these days.

Perhaps the most important thing is that the more pessimistic versions of the scenarios have not yet come true in relation to the city of Olomouc and its inhabitants. According to available information, Olomouc is expecting the so-called 20-year water. Further information is continuously updated, especially on the city's website, where you can also find basic advice on how to keep yourself safe. If this information is not sufficient, it is possible to obtain more by calling the city's contact line at 800 606 800.

I am aware that some of our faculties are already starting classes for the new academic year. At this time, I have been informed by the deans that the start of the semester will follow the original academic year schedule for the time being. The only exception is the Faculty of Health Sciences of UP, which is cancelling classes on Monday and Tuesday 16 and 17 September due to the complications brought by the flood, and the organisation of classes would be very difficult in the first days due to the situation of some students and teachers.

Of course, we all understand that for some of our students it may be difficult to get to Olomouc and start full-time classes in the next few days due to the events in their region and the related measures. I can therefore promise that we will be more lenient with apologies for absences for these or similar reasons. Students who are objectively unable to attend classes can also contact the secretariat of their department or their lecturer by e-mail, contact e-mail addresses are available as standard on the department's website.

For those of you who have been or will be significantly affected by the flood, I wish you every strength to overcome and cope with the situation. I am confident that our campus community will provide much more than words of comfort.

On the other hand, if your situation permits, you and the University Volunteer Center can help those who were or are not so fortunate. The UP Volunteer Centre, in cooperation with the Integrated Rescue System of the Olomouc Region and the Czech Red Cross, is looking for volunteers to join the crisis intervention team, evacuation centres and to help with damage clearance. Calls and links for volunteer registration can be found on the DC UP Facebook page here.

Surely we all need to think of our safety first and foremost. But I also ask all of you, as we remember the experience of the 1997 floods, to respect the concerns and needs of others and not be tempted to visit the affected areas, i.e. the infamous "flood tourism." Not only is this activity unsafe, but it also complicates the work and lives of those who least of all need further complications.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I am confident that together we will get through this.

 

Martin Procházka, Rector of UP

The international project Visegrad Choral Bridges III – Folklore Inspiration, financed by the Visegrad Fund, brought together four university choirs from Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, represented by the Ateneo Mixed Chamber Choir of Palacký University Olomouc. In addition to the final concert at Olomouc’s Red Church, a CD was also produced, which is now available for free on YouTube.

The university choirs set out to celebrate and preserve the richness of the national folk traditions of the Visegrad Group region (V4). The CD therefore contains a joint recording of choral arrangements of folk songs in the original languages of all participating countries, conducted by the choirmasters of each choir. Thanks to this project, singers and listeners can get acquainted with the unique musical roots and traditions of the V4 region via carefully selected and elegantly rendered compositions.

“Our goal was not only to convey the beauty and depth of folk music but also to strengthen cultural awareness and connections between our nations,” said Pavel Režný, the main organiser of the project and choirmaster of Palacký University’s Ateneo. “The joint recording on CD is a tangible result of this unique cooperation, which brings joy not only to the singers involved but also now to the general public,” he added.

The recording took place at the last joint meeting of the four choirs in April this year in Olomouc, after which the editing, mixing, and remastering of the recordings followed. The recording can now be listened to for free on the Ateneo Choir’s YouTube channel, making the results of the project widely and sustainably available to all interested parties. The project builds on successful collaborations from 2010 and 2017 and is a testament to the power of music to transcend borders and unite nations.

A new method for simple and fast analysis of plant hormones has been developed by scientists from CATRIN,  Palacký University and the Olomouc Crop Research Institute. They have developed and validated a procedure that uses a less common type of chromatography (HILIC), which can analyse several different groups of hormones at once, without the need for complex sample preparation. Combining this method with large-scale plant phenotyping provided a new tool for studying plant-environment interactions. They published the results of their research in The Plant Journal.

Plant hormones, which influence almost every aspect of the plant life cycle and also control plant responses to the environment, are involved in complex signalling networks. These can be more easily deciphered through complex analytical methods capable of capturing information on several groups of plant hormones simultaneously. Previously used methods for this purpose were mostly based on reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography and detection by mass spectrometry. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) is an alternative chromatographic method that is increasingly being applied in the analysis of biological samples.

“That’s why we developed and validated the HILIC method for comprehensive analysis of plant hormones, including a rapid sample preparation procedure. It allows the screening of 45 different plant hormones. This method is faster and more efficient because it does not require derivatisation or fractionation, which are usually time-consuming steps in hormone analysis. In addition, the new approach is more sensitive and can detect even very small amounts of these growth regulators. However, this publication does not only discuss the new chromatographic method, but also highlights the great potential of linking it to phenotyping of plants exposed to a multifactorial combination of stresses to study plant interactions with the environment in which they are usually exposed to different types of stresses simultaneously. This will allow us to better understand how plants respond to stress conditions such as salinity or nutrient deficiency, which may have practical applications, for example, in agriculture to improve plant resistance,” said corresponding author of the paper, Petr Tarkowski.

He said the researchers also placed great emphasis on making the method consistent and reliable, factors that are often lacking in HILIC methods.

In the paper, the authors demonstrated the potential of the method with a case study that combined hormone analysis with high-throughput non-invasive phenotyping to examine the responses of three Arabidopsis ecotypes to salinity, low nutrient availability, and a combination of the two. The results suggest that the simultaneous determination of several groups of plant hormones could be a valuable tool for a deeper understanding of the networks, interactions and dynamics of plant hormones in complex plant-environment interactions.

A friendly environment, help, service, empathy, professionalism. Any of these words could be used to describe a certain building in Olomouc’s Vodární Street. Just a few dozen metres from the city centre down a side street at no. 6 is a university building – the home of the UP Welcome Office (WO).

Officially speaking, it is the UP contact and information point, providing help to international students, employees, and other visitors in the areas of administration, studies, accommodation, visas, health insurance, and more. Less officially, it is a place where foreigners can find all the services they need so as not to feel lost at the university and in the city. “One of our key tasks is active support in the field of visas and residency permits. As the head of the office, I am the contact person between the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Department of the Ministry of the Interior, and the university. We provide comprehensive assistance in filling out application forms, preparing and checking documents, and everything that entails,” said Alena Vyskočilová, the head of WO.

To illustrate what sort of agenda such a university office has, where a thousand foreign nationals visit yearly, let us take a look at a few numbers: last year, our team had 567 personal appointments with international students and employees regarding visas and residency permits, more than 250 international students came to the office for information, and another 50 received assistance outside the office. This year, they took interested parties on some three dozen town tours. And who are “they”? “In the office, we have a team of four experienced and trained assistants who are prepared to provide personal assistance in the field,” added Vyskočilová.

The basic principle behind this type of office is having the ability to communicate. The number of languages spoken at WO is impressive: in addition to Czech, they speak English, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Italian, and Slovak. Another important emphasis is communicating on social media and the internet. “During 2023, we completed a redesign of our web page, which contains extensive information for both academic and personal life for the international community, all fully accessible in English. We also maintain a presence on a wide variety of social media, thanks to which we can quickly and dynamically react to happening events and at the same time support information transfer between the members of the university’s international community,” said the head of the Welcome Office.

And if it seems that the WO would have no time for anything else, far from it: “We try to actively contribute to creating an internationally friendly environment at the university, which is why we prepare various events for international students and staff during the year. Important ones are for example orientation days for newly arriving students of degree programmes and for new employees. Another example was at the request of students and faculties – in the spring semester we prepared a series of lectures called “Welcome to Wellbeing: A Journey to Your Mental Harmony”, added Vyskočilová.

An international symposium of experts specialising on court society in the Middle Ages took place from 22–24 August at the Palacký University Faculty of Arts. The interdisciplinary conference entitled Courtly Experiences in the Pre-Modern World, c. 1200–1800: Cultural, Material and Sensory Experiences in the World of the Court was held in Olomouc for the first time.

Throughout pre-modern history, royal and princely courts around the world were epicentres of activity, interaction, exchange, and modes of cultural production that not only defined the environments of various courts but also shaped the encounters that took place within different court cultures. The Olomouc conference explored the intersections and nuances of courtly experiences, both from the physical and material as well as the sensory world.

“Four dozen scholars addressed a very wide range of material and sensory experiences at court in their conference papers. Among other things, they delt with the role of gifts, secret codes, exotic animals, games, conspiracies and scandals, clothing, scents, flavours, recreation, and sports. For example, Dustin Neighbors from Helsinki talked about early modern hunting as a multisensory experience that was meant to amaze and build a space for social interaction. Cecilia Aneer from Uppsala looked at the use of cloths and furs in Swedish court dress as an indicator of social status. Marc W. S. Jaffré of Groningen compared the material and sensory experiences of visitors to the French and Japanese courts in the 17th century; hospitality was a very important form of representation at the time, and any mistake was damaging to the reputation of the monarch. Jack Dykstra-McCarthy of Cambridge highlighted the complexity of descriptions of the culinary experiences of English envoys at the Ottoman court. Surprisingly, they did not focus on flavours but rather on the spatial and social aspects of the encounter,” said Patrik Paštrnák from the Department of History at the UP Faculty of Arts on behalf of the conference organisers.

The conference, organised by the UP Faculty of Arts Department of History with the support of the Centre for Research on Courts and Residences at the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, was commenced in the Corpus Christi Chapel by the UP Faculty of Arts Vice-Dean Kristýna Solomon. The first keynote lecture was then delivered by Prof Karl Kügle (Oxford/Utrecht University).

“Professor Kügle, a leading expert on medieval music, spoke about acoustic physiognomies, that is, how music and sound perceptions helped to build and reinforce the identity of courtiers and court participants. The second keynote address was made by Oxford art historian Leah Clark, who focuses on cultural exchange between Italy and the Islamic world in the 15th century. In her lecture, she talked about the transcultural experience gained from visiting early modern courts,” commented Paštrnák.

He emphasised that the three-day prestigious Olomouc meeting was part of an interdisciplinary research on pre-modern monarchical courts. It included both historical disciplines (social and cultural history, art history, material culture and architecture, archaeology, etc.) and broader humanities and social sciences (anthropology, theatre studies, musicology). It aimed to analyse the phenomenon of the monarchical courts as a dynamic organism and a key instrument for the construction of power and social status. Courts could use a variety of means to do so.

“We conduct research on courts at the UP Department of History, occasionally collaborating with colleagues from other departments or faculties. This three-day event was the annual conference of the Society for Court Studies, launched in 1995 in the UK. Today it has branches in Europe and the USA,” concluded the UP historian.

In 2022, the conference was held in Helsinki, Finland, and last year in Madrid, Spain. This prestigious interdisciplinary meeting was held in Olomouc for the first time.

Scientists from the University of Innsbruck, including Ondřej Kováč from the UP Faculty of Science Department of Organic Chemistry, were the first in the world to use a new method to synthetically prepare the complex chemical substance ganoapplanin from a group of complex polycyclic meroterpenoids contained in fungi of the genus Ganoderma. Decoctions of these mushrooms (reishi) are already known in traditional Chinese medicine, as they have significant antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects due to their natural meroterpenoid content. The synthetic production of polycyclic meroterpenoids opens the door to their further research and possible use in the pharmaceutical industry. The results of scientific work on the chemical organic synthesis of meroterpenoids were published in the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

“Using a synthetic strategy I co-developed with colleagues in Innsbruck, complex polycyclic meroterpenoids can be prepared in the laboratory. This will allow us further targeted study of these biologically active natural products,” said Kováč. Scientists at the University of Innsbruck have already started biological testing of synthetically prepared ganoapplanin, which should reveal its potential for new drug development. They have also applied the developed method for synthetic production to the preparation of other Ganoderma meroterpenoids.

From a biological point of view, ganoapplanin exhibits inhibitory activity towards the CaV3 ion channel, which plays an important role especially for heart and brain function. “Since these ion channels are involved in a wide range of physiological functions, they are one of the main molecular targets in biomedical research. Ganoapplanin is therefore ranked among the potential new drugs against neurodegenerative diseases such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. It may thus become a starting point for the development of new, more effective drugs,” pointed out Kováč.

Meroterpenoids contained in the fungi of the genus Ganoderma belong to a large group of natural products characterized by their wide structural diversity. “More than 100 isolated representatives of meroterpenoids from fungi belonging to the genus Ganoderma are now known. The significant biological activity of extracts from these fungi prompted scientists to isolate individual compounds and study them. Some isolated natural substances were subsequently classified as candidates with significant therapeutic potential,” said Kováč.

However, further research and potential use of meroterpenoids has so far been limited by their availability. For example, for a possible clinical phase of testing the effects of meroterpenoids, scientists need to have large quantities of these substances available. This, however, would require processing huge quantities of this fungus, which could threaten the entire Ganoderma ecosystem. Scientists have therefore turned their attention to organic synthesis in the laboratory some time ago, as this is one of the most feasible ways to secure the necessary amount of meroterpenoids.

Complex meroterpenoids, which include ganoapplanin, have resisted their efforts for synthetic production due to their complicated structure. “Although ganoapplanin was already isolated in 2016 by a scientific team from China, its complex structure containing a number of oxygenated functional groups has made it a major synthetic challenge and a very difficult to obtain natural product,” Kováč pointed out.

The first total synthesis of ganoapplanin was carried out by a team of scientists at the University of Innsbruck led by Prof Thomas Magauer. He used the “cascade” reaction linking an aromatic and a bicyclic terpenoid fragment of ganoapplanin. “This innovative approach allowed us to prepare a key structural motif containing a polycyclic skeleton in a single step. Interestingly, nature itself guided us to this step, as biosynthesis occurs similarly inside the fungus from which the natural product was isolated. It was up to us to find suitable conditions in the laboratory to simulate this step in the reaction flask, which was not easy at all,” said Kováč.

At the same time, Innsbruck scientists found an efficient way to prepare the bicyclic terpenoid fragment itself, which is also a component of other Ganoderma meroterpenoids. “These results are under peer review and will soon be published in another scientific paper. In general, the developed synthetic strategy offers an effective tool to prepare complex polycyclic meroterpenoids and, in particular, enables further targeted study of these biologically active natural products,” added Kováč.

Fencer Jakub Jurka, a student of the UP Faculty of Physical Culture (FPC), was dubbed a national hero after winning a bronze medal as part of the Czech fencing team at the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris in a remarkable performance against the home favourites, taking home the first Olympic medal by the Czech team.

The match could not have been more important to them. “We told ourselves that no matter what happens, this is the greatest experience of our lives, because we are fencing the French on their home turf, before their public. For an Olympic medal – no matter if gold, silver, or bronze!” the youngest of the bronze-winning Czech fencers told Sport.cz. It was his second Olympic appearance. In 2021, he took part in the Tokyo Olympics which were affected by COVID-19.

Although in 2021 the fencers did not make it into the second round, in 2024 they are returning to the Czech Republic accompanied by the applause of their fans. Jurka was given a hero’s welcome not only at the Olympic festival in Most, but also home in Olomouc, when he showed his medal to the crowds on the Upper Square – where UP Rector Martin Procházka and Svatopluk Horák of UP FPC personally congratulated the fencer on his success and thanked him for representing the country and university.

Other athletes connected with Palacký University represented the Czech Republic in Paris. Impressive performances in rowing were given by fellow alumni Radka Novotníková from the Faculty of Arts (finishing in 10th place), and Miroslav Vraštil of UP FPC (6th place), the latter making his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games.

Experiencing the Olympic atmosphere for the first time were judoka Renata Zachová and archer Adam Li, both FPC students. While neither made it into the medal rounds, the fact that they fought the world’s best remains unchanged.

A treasure stored in hundreds of banana boxes. Old books, covered with a layer of dust, many mildewed. Piles of volumes, some published more than five centuries ago, right after the invention of the printing press. This is how the historic library of the Želiv Monastery looked, until recently. But since March of this year, the rare books are back in their rightful place. After decades of material suffering, they have returned to their shelves in the newly restored areas of the original monastery library. Students of archiving and history at Palacký University had a large role in this – arranging the books under their teachers’ tutelage took six years.

The history of mankind has shown many times that the most important chapters are written into our fate and our books, almost in parallel. This has been so since the time of the revolutionary invention of Johann Gutenberg, for the printing press changed the world forever, making it possible to distribute ideas and information en masse. The dark events in our history have been accompanied by the destruction of human lives along with books, burnt in an attempt to stifle uncomfortable ideas by erasing memory. The Želiv Monastery has always been one of those places which did not escape those dark moments in our history. It is thus almost a miracle that its book collection, tended and expanded for centuries by the Premonstratensians, has been preserved to this day.

The monastery’s history dates all the way back to 1139. It has experienced many turbulent moments in its nine centuries. It was afflicted by several fires, repeatedly occupied by Hussites and other armies, the monks had to deal with epidemics, natural catastrophes, and governmental disfavour. After the communist coup in February 1948, the monastery was dissolved as part of the government’s anti-church and monastery campaign, and due to its remote location, it was used instead as an internment camp for priests and monks, then closed in February 1956. In 1950, its furnishings were removed, and its books went to the Museum of Czech Literature’s collection at Strahov Monastery in Prague. “In the second half of the twentieth century, the monastery was used as a psychiatric clinic and rehabilitation centre for alcoholism. The callous complex management literally devastated this rare historic monument,” added the monastery’s current abbot, Tadeáš Róbert Spišák. He remembers how he came to the monastery twenty years ago and guided visitors through the refectory – the monks’ common dining hall: “I sighed that there was a library on the floor above us, a place for spiritual nourishment, but sadly, closed. Under the communists, the furniture had been burnt, and the books lay about in piles,” said Abbot Spišák, commenting on the unfortunate situation when although the books had been returned from Strahov, the collection was incomplete, uncatalogued, and disorganised.

Attempts to return the library to its original appearance and previous function began to take a specific form six years ago, when UP Faculty of Arts (UP FA) students began coming to the monastery for a practical summer course in archiving. The difficult work was led by UP FA History Department teachers Jana Oppeltová, Ema Šimková, and Věra Slavíková for the entire duration. “We also do field work with our students at other institutions in Bohemia and Moravia. We’ve been going to Želiv Monastery since 2018, always with a group of fifteen to twenty students. Our work there was quite difficult. We had to move the books twice, so every one of the books has passed through our hands at least thrice. In terms of their weight, it would be like moving three and a half elephants,” said Jana Oppeltová with a laugh.

Joining the history students were students of music history and musicology. Together, they arranged the historic books, numbered them, and partly catalogued them. In autumn of last year, the books were transferred to their new shelves over several long weekends. The modern shelving was designed by the Šépka architectural design firm. “It’s a system of concrete supports and metal shelving, and the concrete was poured in place, using stones and gravel from the Želivka River. We wanted to inscribe the place into the architecture. The whole assembly was made self-standing so we did not have to anchor it to the historic building construction in any way. In the centre of the room is a great table – an 8-metre metal surface – where the most valuable books are presented in thirteen glass-covered cases. The intention was to evoke the feeling of a banquet table, for beneath the library is the monastery dining hall,” described architect Jan Šépka.

The reconstructed and sensitively furnished areas of the original library are decorated with frescoes from the 18th century. During its ceremonial reopening last spring, UP Rector Martin Procházka was in attendance. “Želiv Monastery is one of the most beautiful and important monuments in the country. I’m proud that our students and teachers had a role in its restoration, taking part in saving the cultural heritage of our nation. I think that this is a fine example of how our students manage to make practical use of their knowledge and skills. And what is especially gratifying to me is the fact that here we have a very good example of the applicability of the humanities in society,” said the UP rector.

Želiv Monastery has been a national cultural monument since 2010; last year 17,000 visitors toured the complex. While the library is not part of the tour, it is accessible to researchers and the professional public. It is only open to visitors on special occasions, for it is part of the cloister, a place where only monks are allowed. “A monastery cannot function without books. The Želiv library was meant to be a reflection of the world, which is why it has works written mainly in German, Latin, and Czech from the most diverse fields in addition to theology. We were able to restock the library with 25,000 books published before 1860. These include medieval and Baroque manuscripts and even several incunabula – books printed before 1500. For students, it is truly something special when they first get such ancient and rare books into their hands,” noted Oppeltová.

In addition to the newly restored library, Želiv Monastery also opened the newly renovated spaces of the ancient prelature – the abbot’s residence – before the start of this year’s tourist season. “We are very grateful here for the cooperation of Dr Jana Oppeltová, who wrote the exhibition brochure, and with her colleagues from the Palacký University Faculty of Arts and from the Hroznata Academy at Teplá Monastery for its splendid installation,” added Spišák. The ancient prelature is now part of the monastery tour, and the newly-installed exhibition acquaints visitors with archaeological findings and the abbot’s lodgings as they looked at the start of the 20th century, including the bedroom, study, dining room, salon, private chapel, library, and monastery museum. “I would like to thank Palacký University, its employees and students, from the bottom of my heart. Without their efforts, dedication, expertise, and remarkable enthusiasm, we never would have accomplished this. And above all, we never would have achieved the return of these historic volumes to their rightful place after almost seventy years,” the abbot added.

Since 2018, more than a hundred UP FA students have taken part in restoring Želiv Monastery’s historic library. UP FA Department of History students and teachers travel to other places in Bohemia and Moravia, including the Cistercian Monastery in Osek near Duchcov in the Ore Mountains foothills, the Premonstratensian Monastery in Teplá near Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad), and the Diocesan Library at the bishopric in Litoměřice.

The Department of Geoinformatics hosted the GeoSpatial Summer School 2024 (themed GIScience & Health) in late June, bringing together students, scientists and professionals to explore the connections between geoinformatics and various aspects of health sciences. The main goal of the event was to introduce participants to the issue of “geohealth” through a series of lectures, workshops and practical exercises. An interdisciplinary platform was created at the summer school, with which it was possible to share, discuss, and develop experiences and ideas, and even to work directly with real data in the form of spatial analyses.

“Despite limited funding options, we want to keep the tradition of summer schools at the Department of Geoinformatics alive. These very narrowly focused events often go beyond the scope of the regular study programmes. The participants are thus much more motivated to learn something,” said Vít Pászto, the main organiser of the summer school. “I think that bringing together different disciplines has the great benefit of allowing us to step out of our narrow disciplinary focus and start thinking about other aspects and applications of our specialisations,” he added.

The summer school was attended by students from the Czech Republic and Germany. A number of interesting personalities also accepted the invitation. “Michal Menšík from the Faculty of Medicine discussed decision-making processes in healthcare and also mentioned medical ethics. At the end, he presented his research on how the amount of money spent is so closely related to the quality of healthcare,” Pászto added.

Other experienced experts included Lukáš Marek, who is currently a researcher at the University of Canterbury. His two-day workshop focused on advanced spatial analyses in the R computer program, via exploring the availability of e-cigarette vape shops. Jiří Šmída, together with Julia Mokrá from the Technical University of Liberec, dealt with geospatial communication and the spread of infodemics, i.e. the rapid spread of accurate or inaccurate information, for example, about a specific disease.

“The summer school concluded with a final seminar where participants evaluated their findings and discussed future directions for research and collaboration in geohealth. We are planning another edition of the summer school next year. Its theme will be published on the website and on social media,” Pászto concluded.