News: Faculty of Science

Since the beginning of July, the Palacký University Olomouc Department of Geoinformatics and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg have been collaborating on the BorderData project, which will focus on researching cross-border links in the areas of labour market, real estate, traffic flow, and mobility using innovative data sources.

The project aims to overcome the limitations of traditional statistical methods by using new modern data sources and analytical techniques. These sources include social media data analysis, web scraping in the real estate market, the use of location data from mobile operators, and car tracking.

“Even though we have relatively high-quality statistical data on both the German and Czech sides, in many respects it is simply not enough. Our goal is to go beyond the limits of existing official statistics and explore the potential of non-traditional data sources for the purposes of cross-border cooperation,” said Vít Pászto, the project’s principal investigator.

The international project team plans to conduct case studies to develop a methodology for improving spatial monitoring of geographical phenomena and processes in regional development. The results will be published in peer-reviewed articles and should benefit local entities as well as facilitate broader international research collaboration.

“The cooperation with our German colleagues has a very interesting dynamic because we have already been successful with another joint project. In a broader consortium, we managed to obtain a rather prestigious contract within the framework of the pan-European ESPON calls,” concluded Pászto.

The BoarderData project (LUABA24029) was supported by the INTER-EXCELLENCE programme funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. More information about the project can be found here.

Lack of physical activity and excessive sitting, watching inappropriate content, social isolation, cyberbullying… All of these and even more risks associated with the unhealthy use of digital technologies, as well as the complex development of children’s resilience to them, will be targeted by a multidisciplinary team led by researchers from the UP Faculty of Physical Culture under the project ReDiKid: Children in the Digital World. The results of the four-year project funded by the Johannes Amos Comenius Operational Programme will find their applications in the fields of education, legislation, and prevention of risky behaviour.

The research activities, which also aim to strengthen children’s physical, mental, and social adaptability to the changing conditions of the contemporary world, will focus mainly on children aged 9–11. “This period represents a critical stage of development when children begin to use digital technologies intensively, which significantly affects their digital literacy, social interactions, and online behaviours. In addition, at this age, fundamental psychological and cognitive changes begin to occur, which shape their ability to respond to digital challenges and risks,” explained the project’s principal investigator, Prof Jana Pelclová from the Institute of Active Lifestyle at the Palacký University Olomouc Faculty of Physical Education.

“Our goal is not only to grasp the phenomenon of resilience in children theoretically, but also to gain new knowledge related to the relationship between resilience and risk behaviours, analysing external and internal factors such as physical behaviour, digital literacy, and the school environment. We will also conduct laboratory investigations on psychophysiological aspects of resilience, i.e. the ability to overcome adverse situations, and use ambulatory data collection to gain unique insights into individuals’ behaviour in natural settings and the impact of digital media on their mental resilience,” she added.

The kernel of the multidisciplinary research team is made up of researchers from the UP Faculty of Physical Culture, while colleagues from other departments of Palacký University, such as the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Arts, will also contribute their expertise in the areas of mental and physical health and the legal aspects of the use of digital technologies. Research activities will also involve experts from Masaryk University in Brno, the University of Hradec Králové, and researchers from renowned foreign institutions such as Yale University and Victoria University, Australia.

The findings will be used to develop targeted intervention and education programmes aimed at developing physical, mental, and social resilience in children and adolescents, by means of promoting physical activity, healthy sleep habits, digital literacy, and social skills. Planned workshops and seminars will be aimed at parents, educators, and professionals working with children and adolescents.

The results of the project will also include methodologies that should set new standards for research on resilience and on the physical and digital behaviours of children in the Czech as well as international environment; conducted legal analyses should have an impact on the adjustment of the Czech legal framework in order to better protect children in the digital environment.

“I am very excited and delighted about this project, however not only because it is the only project under the auspices of Palacký University that succeeded in the call focused on social sciences and humanities. I am very grateful to Prof Pelclová and all those who have participated in the work that has been done so far, and I look forward to the results that will contribute to a healthier future for children,” said Michal Šafář, Dean of the UP Faculty of Physical Culture.

The four-year project ReDiKid: Resilient Children in the Digital World (reg. no. CZ.02.01.01/00/23_025/0008686) is funded by the Johannes Amos Comenius Operational Programme within the call Social Sciences and Humanities: People and Humanity in the Global Challenges of Today. The cost of research activities is estimated at €6 million.

Representatives of the Experientia Foundation and Palacký University have signed a contract on a start-up grant, which will focus on the development of chemical tools for the study of biomolecules in living systems and targeted influence on biological processes. The start-up grant was awarded to Athanasios Markos, a graduate of the Faculty of Science, who will lead his own research group at the Department of Organic Chemistry from January 2025.

“We are developing chemical tools to study biochemical processes. We seek to gain a deeper understanding of how these processes work in living organisms and use the knowledge we gain to develop new drugs and diagnostic tools,” said Markos about his research.

The contract for the start-up grant was signed by the Foundation’s director, Anna Slaninová, together with Palacký University Rector Martin Procházka and Athanasios Markos from the Department of Organic Chemistry. The meeting was also attended by Mr and Mrs Dvořák, founders of the Experientia Foundation. “We are delighted that two scientists from the Palacký University Faculty of Science have already received our prestigious start-up grant. They are young, ambitious chemists with experience gained from top foreign laboratories. And what is even more important for us, they want to make Olomouc a significant place on the map of world chemistry and a centre of excellence,” said the Dvořáks.

The idea of creating molecules useful for biological research under physiological conditions, i.e. directly in living systems, originated in Prague. Thanks to this procedure, scientists will be able to avoid biased information or undesirable effects. “It was at the time when I came back from my internship in Zurich to visit my wife. We want our methods to be able to be used in plants, animals, and bacteria – virtually in any living system. I firmly believe that with the support of a start-up grant from the Experientia Foundation, we will manage to develop methods that will be useful for the scientific community,” added the young scientist.

The graduate in Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, thanks to the Experientia Foundation, worked at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. “It is great that our department has been able to establish a second junior group in the last two years with the support of the Experientia Foundation. It is also gratifying that these are our successful graduates who bring back experience gained from prestigious universities abroad. Both Athanasios Markos and Ondřej Kováč are a great promise for the department for future development – not only in science, but also in terms of teaching,” added Miroslav Soural, Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry.

Palacký University scientists have described the mechanism by which bacteria develop resistance to silver nanoparticles – which means antibiotics can now restore the power they once had. The experts found out that bacteria exposed to silver nanoparticles produce abundant amounts of substances that force the silver nanoparticles to clump together – and by doing so, they lose their antibacterial effect. The researchers have also found a way to prevent the bacteria from gaining resistance to the silver nanoparticles. These new findings could greatly help in the ongoing efforts to combat the growing resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics, which severely complicates the treatment of bacterial infections. The results of the Olomouc scientists’ work were published in the journal Communications Biology.

The long-term over-prescribing of antibiotics, typical of the end of the last century in particular, has resulted in the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. In recent years, chemists, microbiologists, and physicians have therefore become increasingly interested in the antibacterial effects of silver nanoparticles, which have gradually become part of many commercial products with antibacterial effects. Scientists from the Department of Physical Chemistry at the UP Faculty of Science and from the Department of Microbiology at the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry were once among the first researchers in the world to demonstrate the great antimicrobial effect of silver nanoparticles as well as their ability to restore the effectiveness of inactive conventional antibiotics against resistant bacteria.

Bacteria versus nanosilver

However, bacterial resistance may not only be a problem for antibiotics, but also for the silver nanoparticles themselves. Scientists from the Faculties of Science and Medicine in Olomouc have been working on this challenge for the last ten years. In 2018, they were the first in the world to describe how the mechanism of resistance of Gram-negative bacterium E. coli to silver nanoparticles emerges and develops. After repeated administration of nanosilver, this bacterium increases its production of a protein called flagellin, which causes the nanoparticles to aggregate and subsequently lose their antibacterial properties.

The fact is that the flagellin protein has adhesive properties and thus acts as a kind of glue that holds the silver particles together. This results in large clusters of nanoparticles that lose all of their antibacterial activity. The Olomouc scientists published this groundbreaking discovery in the journal Nature Nanotechnology in 2018. With almost 700 citations, their work has received enormous acclaim among experts.

However, the research didn’t stop there. Subsequently, scientists from the UP Faculty of Science, in collaboration with their colleagues from the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), investigated the mechanism of resistance of Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus to silver nanoparticles, which also induced the aggregation of nanoparticles.

“In this case, the aggregation of silver nanoparticles could not have been triggered by the flagellin protein, as S. aureus does not possess it. After extensive and challenging research, we discovered and described the mechanism by which this bacterium also resists the effects of nanosilver. This time it was the excessive formation of bacterial biofilm, which has a similar impact on silver nanoparticles as flagellin,” said Lucie Hochvaldová from the Department of Physical Chemistry at the UP Faculty of Science.

The power of pomegranates

The UP research team also started looking for a way to overcome this bacterial resistance. Once they described the resistance mechanism in detail, they became able to find a way to prevent the aggregation of nanoparticles around the bacteria. “We achieved this by adding substances to the nanosilver that simultaneously inhibit both the flagellin production in E. coli and the bacterial biofilm formation in S. aureus. Such properties are exhibited by substances contained, for example, in pomegranate rind extract,” said Aleš Panáček from the Department of Physical Chemistry at the UP Faculty of Science.

The moment this extract was applied together with silver nanoparticles, the bacteria stopped forming flagellin or biofilm to a sufficient extent, thus losing the ability to make nanosilver particles aggregate and develop resistance to their effects. However, the researchers have found yet another way to overcome the bacterial resistance to silver nanoparticles – this time through increasing their stability by binding them to graphene. The firm bond that binds the silver nanoparticles to the surface of graphene stabilises them so much that the flagellin and/or biofilm produced by the bacteria cannot aggregate the particles, and thus they preserve their high antibacterial activity.

“Our research will certainly improve our understanding of the bacterial resistance mechanisms to nanostructured materials, which differ from resistance mechanisms to conventional antibiotics. It also provides potential strategies to combat bacteria causing serious infectious diseases, counteract rising bacterial resistance complicating treatments, and develop more effective antimicrobial treatments. We believe that this work will stimulate a series of detailed experimental investigations involving research on the development of bacterial resistance to antibacterial nanoparticulate materials as well as further search for ways to fight it,” added Milan Kolář from the Department of Microbiology at the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

A research team from Palacký University CATRIN and VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, in collaboration with the US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, has developed an innovative approach to the separation of noble gases using two-dimensional nitrogen-doped graphene materials. This new method has the potential to significantly reduce the costs of noble gas production, potentially revolutionizing industrial processes. It also paves the way for novel medical applications, such as the storage and transport of therapeutic gases. The study was published in the journal Small.

“Thanks to our extensive experience in 2D fluorographene chemistry at CATRIN, we successfully integrated nitrogen precisely into the graphene structure. This modification has endowed the material with unique properties, including ‘nanochannels’ and varying ratios of nitrogen atoms incorporated into the graphene lattice, significantly enhancing its ability to separate xenon from krypton,” explained Veronika Šedajová, the first author of the study.

Theoretical calculations performed on the KAROLINA supercomputer in Ostrava, along with experimental data from the American and Indian laboratories, revealed that these materials exhibit up to 50% higher selectivity for xenon compared to krypton. This increased selectivity is attributed to the stronger non-covalent interactions between xenon and nitrogen within the graphene lattice, which improves the adsorption and separation of noble gases. Additionally, other variants of nitrogen-doped graphene were synthesized using environmentally friendly solvents, further refining the materials’ properties.

Noble gases like xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) are essential in many cutting-edge technologies, including medical diagnostics, semiconductor manufacturing, and the space industry. However, xenon is exceedingly rare, comprising only about 0.08 ppm of the Earth’s atmosphere, making its extraction both energy- and cost-intensive. Current methods, such as cryogenic air distillation, are inefficient, prompting scientists to seek new, more effective techniques for noble gas separation.

“This research demonstrates that advancements in modern materials chemistry can be key to addressing global challenges, such as the efficient utilization of scarce resources, while also supporting the sustainable development of industry and science. Notably, one of the nitrogen-doped graphene derivatives we’ve used has already found applications in areas like energy storage for supercapacitors,” concluded Michal Otyepka, a corresponding author of the study.

For more details, you can access the full study here.

The award of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for outstanding students and graduates of the study programme and for extraordinary achievements was awarded to Eliška Zgarbová, a graduate of the UP Faculty of Science. She received the award from Minister Mikuláš Bek and Radka Wildová, Chief Director of the Higher Education, Science and Research Section, at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague. Ten laureates in total were awarded.

“When I learned that Palacký University nominated me for this award, I was very proud to represent a university with more than twenty thousand students. The fact that I was chosen by a committee of the Ministry of Education was unimaginable. It’s such a beautiful end to my studies, the symbolic icing on the cake. I appreciate the award immensely. I would like to thank my supervisor, Radim Vrzal from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, who had a great deal to do with shaping my scientific career. He is a person with a huge passion for science, which he can transfer to students and motivate them. The way I view science, write papers, and work in the lab is a credit to him. I would also like to thank the UP Endowment Fund for their support and nomination,” said Zgarbová.

“As coordinator of the UP Endowment Fund, I had the honour to get to know Eliška better and to observe her extraordinary involvement in research, educational and popularization activities. Eliška was a scholarship recipient of the Fund in 2023. She completed a research internship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where, thanks to the financial support of the Fund, she was able to implement her project focused on the study of organoid technology in the field of Crohn’s disease research. While carrying out her project, she was involved in development and educational activities offered by the Talented Palacký programme at our university, beyond the scope of her duties. In addition to her academic work, Eliška is significantly involved in the non-profit sector, primarily through scouting, where she works as a club leader and organiser of volunteer activities. Her long-term involvement in aid during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrates her strong sense of responsibility and social commitment. It has been a pleasure to support her and I believe that she deserves this prestigious award, and that her future career will continue to bring significant results for the scientific community and beyond,” said Katrin Stark.

The Ministry award is given to outstanding students or graduates of a Bachelor’s, Master’s or doctoral study programme for outstanding achievements in their studies or in scientific, research, development and innovation, artistic or other creative activities related to their studies in a given study programme. The prize is also awarded to a student or graduate for an extraordinary act of civic bravery, responsibility, or dedication. Proposals for the award can be sent to the Ministry by university rectors.

Eliška Zgarbová first studied Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at the Faculty of Science, and in her PhD programme, she focussed on molecular and cell biology, specifically on the effect of derivatives on aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activity in prostatic cell lines. In 2023, she became the overall winner of the 20th annual Student Scientific Competition for the Dean’s Award in the Faculty of Science, and in 2024, she won third place in the FameLab “stand-up” science competition (reported here).

“Eliška possesses excellent professional and personal qualities such as diligence, reliability and conscientiousness. Her willingness to help anyone, anytime, has led to her always having warm relationships with the members of the department and students. I am very grateful to have been able to guide and work with her and I hope that she will continue to develop her still hidden potential,” added Radim Vrzal from the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics.

One of the highest administrative positions at Palacký University Olomouc is changing hands. Current bursar Petra Jungová will be replaced by Josef Suchánek. As the head of the Bursar’s Office, he will be in charge of the university’s economic and internal administration.

“I have asked the current bursar, Petra Jungová, to take part in stabilising the Public Tender Office. Simultaneously, I’d like to thank her for her work for the university to date. I am glad that Josef Suchánek has accepted my offer to head the Bursar’s Office. I expect him to manage the agenda effectively and strengthen the position of our university – not only in the region but also at the national level. I believe that he will use his rich experience and contacts that he has gained during his professional career, especially in the management of the Olomouc Region, to the benefit of Palacký University,” said UP Rector Martin Procházka.

Josef Suchánek came to the university nine years ago when he became the director of UP Accommodation and Dining Facilities (UP ADF). Previously, he worked in the management of a multinational wholesale chain, however he took a break from his work at the university four years ago to serve as Governor of the Olomouc Region. He returned to head UP ADF less than a month ago.

“I very much appreciate the UP Rector’s trust. It is an honour and a challenge for me, especially because I am entering my new role right before the end of the fiscal year, which is not an easy period at such a large public institution. However, I can offer my previous experience of managing divisions of a commercial company, of running a large university office, and of managing a whole region, all of which involved administrative as well as financial management. Each of these positions had its own specifics; I learned a great deal and will therefore try to apply my knowledge to the financial management of the university as a whole. I am looking forward to the job, and I take helm of the Bursar’s Office with respect and humbleness,” said Suchánek.

UP Rector Martin Procházka has entrusted Josef Suchánek with the management of the economic and administrative agenda from the beginning of December this year. The open hiring process for the position of UP Bursar will be held in the first quarter of the next calendar year.

Have you defended a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis related to sustainability and sustainable development? Enter yours into the first year of the competition for the UP Rector’s Award for Sustainability. Authors of the award-winning theses will receive a financial reward. The deadline for submissions is Monday, 2 December 2024.

Palacký University Olomouc strives to be fully environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. This means that it should act and develop in such a way that it is able to meet its needs, however without negative impacts on the future and the generations to come.

Everything you need to know about sustainable development at UP is available on the Sustainable University website.

UP focuses on 15 areas of sustainable development, including environmental (“green”) sustainability, often closely linked to economic sustainability (improved waste sorting, energy savings, greenery, and biodiversity), and social sustainability (equal opportunities for all, responsible purchasing, and community care). The university also supports education and research on sustainability. And this academic year, the UP Rector’s Award for the best sustainability-oriented student theses will be granted for the first time.

Students and graduates of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes are eligible to submit their final theses (defended in 2023 and 2024). Not only research theses but also artistic theses are eligible for the award if the thesis takes sustainability into account. The thesis should explore and promote the theme of sustainability and relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the specific content of which can be found on the UN website. Points will also be given if it contributes in any way to the Sustainable Development Strategy at UP. This strategy defines 15 priority areas (linked to the SDGs) to which the university has committed on a long-term basis, setting out the main objectives as well as the basic measures through which the objectives will be met. Two-year action plans with specific objectives are developed on its basis.

Applications can be submitted until 2 December 2024 using the online form, which must also be accompanied by the required evaluations and other files as specified. A committee appointed by the UP Rector will review the submissions and nominate selected works to the UP Rector for awards. Awards for the best works will be presented by UP Rector Martin Procházka in February 2025 during Academic Week.

Get financial funding for your research

If you are still working on your thesis, you can get financial funding from Sustainable University for your sustainability-oriented thesis. In this case, the possibilities are broad indeed – support may be granted to theses as well as non-thesis research works by Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral students. If you are interested in applying for a grant, please fill in this short form and we will get back to you after reviewing it. The amount of the funding can be up to CZK 10,000, and you can apply for support throughout the entire academic year.

▶ Aplication for the Rector’s Award for Sustainability
▶Terms and conditions of the UP Rector’s Award for Sustainability

At its November meeting, the Palacký University Academic Senate has launched nominations for the post of UP Rector for the term of office from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2029. The election of the new highest representative of the university will take place on 22 January 2025. Members of the academic community may submit proposals for candidates until 6 December 2024.

Palacký University Olomouc will elect a new rector. The UP Academic Senate (UP AS) has initiated the nomination procedure for the highest UP representative and announced the election schedule. It stipulates that the academic community of the university can submit written proposals of candidates through the UP AS Office until 6 December 2024 at 3 pm.

The adopted election schedule further states that the collected proposals will be verified by a special election committee of the UP AS. Senators approved the following members: students Kateřina Kaprálová (Faculty of Law) and Barbora Uhmanová (Faculty of Health Sciences), and academics Veronika Tomoszková (Faculty of Law), Jaroslav Franc (Sts Cyril and Method Faculty of Theology), and Jiří Langer (Faculty of Education), who will chair the election committee.

The alphabetical list of the candidates will be published on the university’s official notice board by 16 December 2024, and their election statements will be published on the Palacký University Academic Senate website on 6 January 2025. The public presentation and debate of potential rectors with members of the UP academic community will take place on Wednesday 15 January 2025. One week later, on 22 January 2025, the candidates will present themselves before the UP Academic Senate. On the same day, the first, second, and third rounds of the election will take place. According to the established rules, a candidate for UP Rector needs to obtain at least 13 votes in the election, i.e. a simple majority of all 24 members of the UP Academic Senate.

During the November meeting, the UP AS also discussed the nomination of a member of the UP Internal Evaluation Board for a term of office, to be made by 1 July 2025 at the latest. They voted and decided to nominate Tereza Marková, a doctoral student at the UP Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, to be appointed by the UP Rector. The senators were also informed that Pavel Flekač (Faculty of Education) has been nominated as a student representative to the UP Ethics Committee on behalf of the UP AS student chamber. They also hosted a presentation by the director of the UP Computer Centre, David Skoupil, who announced the IT Development Strategy at Palacký University for the period 2025+. The UP AS acknowledged the presented strategy and the opportunity to comment on it until the end of November, after which it intends to return to the topic. The list of resolutions adopted by the UP AS is available here. More information about the UP AS can be found here.

You can find all the information you need about the election here.

Prof Ondřej Novák from the Palacký University Olomouc Faculty of Science and the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences has succeeded in a demanding international competition and won one of the most prestigious scientific grants of the European Research Council (ERC). His STARMORPH project, entered in the Synergy Grants category, was supported with €10 million and is focused on research into the role of the plant hormone auxin in plant growth and shaping.

Over the next six years, Prof Novák will be working on the project together with project coordinator Stéphanie Robert from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Jürgen Kleine-Vehn from the University of Freiburg, and Alexander Jones from the University of Cambridge.

“The composition of our international interdisciplinary team is exceptional, aiming to describe the complexities of plant morphogenesis in a way that no one has been able to before,” said Prof Ondřej Novák from the Laboratory of Growth Regulators, a joint workplace of the UP Faculty of Science and the Institute of Experimental Botany at the Czech Academy of Sciences. The knowledge gained from the project can be used in the future to increase crop yields, which can contribute to improved food security and sustainability.

“Receiving the ERC Synergy grant is a huge success for my colleague Ondřej Novák as an undisputed expert but also for our entire institute. It confirms that the institute is on the world’s leading edge in the field of plant hormone research. It is also a promise of new discoveries that have the potential to contribute to solving global problems brought about by climate change,” said Jan Martinec, Director of the Institute of Experimental Botany at the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Scientists in the STARMORPH project are using thale cress as the model plant to study the development of its apical hook, which plays a key role in the plant’s further growth and development after germinating from seed. The apical hook is the curved part of the stem near the top of the plant that allows the plant to emerge safely through the soil. The hook is formed by suppressing cell growth on the inside of the emerging stem. As soon as the seedling penetrates the soil to the surface, the cells on the inside start to elongate again and the hook unfurls. “This trait makes the apical hook a unique model for studying how a plant can regulate processes to suppress or promote cell growth. This is a very important topic to investigate because if we understand how to regulate plant growth, we could reprogramme this process in a targeted way,” said Prof Novák.

The phytohormone auxin, which will be the main focus of the STARMORPH project, plays a major role in differential growth, when different parts of plant organs grow at different rates. Depending on the concentration of auxin and its localisation in the plant tissue, cell elongation can be slowed down or accelerated, cell division can be stopped or promoted, and cells can be forced to specialise or allowed to return to an undifferentiated state.

Auxin signature

“The results of our research should reveal how the phytohormone auxin, mechanical signals, and developmental programmes interact together at multiple levels. The project introduces the concept of an ‘auxin signature’ which involves the dynamics of auxin within the plant cell in response to mechanical signals. For decades, scientists have focused on understanding the multiple roles of auxin, concentrating on its cellular and intercellular dynamics as well as auxin signalling through receptors in the cell nucleus. Most recently, new findings have emerged suggesting that auxin is perceived by different mechanisms in the nucleus, outside the nucleus, and in the space outside the cell,” said Novák.

According to Novák, the STARMORPH project uses an interdisciplinary approach combining plant physiology, cell biology, genetics, biophysics, synthetic biology, and bioanalytical chemistry. Four scientific teams will work together to investigate how changes in auxin distribution and concentration affect plant morphogenesis, i.e. plant shape and growth. “We will develop new chemical and bioengineering methods to map auxin inside cells and monitor its dynamics over time and space,” added Novák.

They will also try to understand if and how mechanical stimuli are linked to the auxin phytohormone. “This goal includes a detailed study of the mechanical properties of the cell wall and its influence on plant growth. Using genetics and biochemical methods, we will try to understand how mechanical signals and auxin dynamics together control morphogenesis at different levels, from cells to whole organs,” Novák said.

ECR Synergy Grants

ERC Synergy Grants are intended for multidisciplinary projects involving 2 to 4 research teams. Projects must demonstrate that the synergy between the scientists involved and their disciplines is central to the project and has the promise to deliver breakthrough discoveries. The total budget for this grant call in 2024 was €570 million. Out of the 540 projects evaluated, 56 were supported. Founded by the European Union in 2007, the ERC is Europe’s leading organisation for funding cutting-edge research.

An interview with Prof Ondrej Novák is available on the ECHO Přírody (Nature’s Echo) podcast on YouTube or Spotify.

Prof. Mgr. Ondřej Novák, Ph.D.
Ondřej Novák, a graduate of the Faculty of Science at Palacký University Olomouc, specialises in the biosynthesis and metabolism of plant hormones using the highly sensitive analytical method of mass spectrometry and the relationship between the chemical structure and biological activity of plant hormones. He has long been involved in the use of new modern bioanalytical techniques and simplification of extraction methods for the isolation of biologically active substances from complex biological samples. For six consecutive years, he has been one of the few scientists in the Czech Republic ranked among the top one percent of the world’s most cited scientists in the list of Highly Cited Researchers, published by Clarivate Analytics in the United States.

Czech children do not like going to school. Their sense of satisfaction is affected by unsatisfactory relationships with their peers and low degrees of support from their teachers. The demands of the school environment and the associated stress are also reflected in their attitudes. This is based on the latest findings by the Palacký University Olomouc team collaborating on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The latest report also examines other aspects of children’s lifestyles, including the link between school satisfaction and social network use.

Only 9% of Czech children and teenagers actually look forward to school. This puts the Czech Republic among the countries where children least look forward to school compared to Europe and the world. Nearly 4 out of 10 children do not enjoy going to school very much… or not at all. The proportion of schoolchildren who dislike school increases significantly with age. More than a quarter (28%) of 11-year-olds do not enjoy school, while for 15-year-olds it is almost half (46%).

“The findings of the HBSC study highlight critical areas where we need to focus our efforts to improve the health and well-being of Czech children. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is committed to working with Czech authorities and institutions to implement measures that will improve peer/teacher relationships and reduce school-related stress, ultimately strengthening the mental and physical health of our youth,” said Zsofia Pusztai, WHO Representative in the Czech Republic.

The international HBSC study also tracks long-term trends. At the beginning of the millennium, the popularity of school was rather on the rise. However, over the last 10–15 years, children’s attitudes towards school have been deteriorating, regardless of gender and age.

Children who are very excited about school. Comparison between 2010 and the last survey from 2022

11 y.o.

21% → 12%

13 y.o.

16% → 7%

15 y.o.

16% → 8%

 

“The deteriorating relationship with school is not a new phenomenon. We do not take the long-term trend lightly and, together with experts, we are asking ourselves what to look for behind the negative evaluation of the school environment and, above all, how to reverse the trend,” says Michal Kalman, Olomouc University Social Health Institute (OUSHI) at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at UP, head of the study’s research team.

Relationships with peers, teachers, and stress

What is behind the low evaluation of the school environment? The Olomouc researchers focused on the three arguably most important links – relationships with peers, relationships with teachers, and school stress.

Less than half of 11- to 15-year-olds think that their classmates like being together and that they are nice and ready to help. Only 37% of boys, and only 30% of girls, think that they have high degrees of “student support” (i.e. peer support, an indicator used in the international HBSC study to assess classroom climate). This finding is even more pessimistic when compared to other countries – Czech schoolchildren perceive relationships with their classmates as the worst of all 45 countries where the HBSC study surveyed the situation.

Only half of 5th–9th graders in the Czech Republic (52%) say they trust their teachers. Only two out of five (40%) feel that teachers care about their pupils. The perceived degree of support from teachers decreases significantly with increasing age. Between the ages of 11, 13, and 15, it drops from 50% → 35% → 30% among boys, and even more steeply 51% → 26% → 22% among girls. The low relationship scores are also reflected in the European context: the Czech 43rd position out of 45 countries surveyed in the HBSC study is alarming.

I had to learn things that I do not understand (2022)

27.3% / 46.7%

13 y.o.

24.4% / 47.2%

15 y.o.

However, this is no longer the case in terms of the stress from studying – the perceived pressure to perform school duties follows the European average. Thirty-eight percent of boys and more than half (52%) of girls report higher stress from schoolwork. Schoolchildren start to perceive stress more strongly between years 11 and 13, i.e. between the 5th and 7th grades of primary school (boys 29% → 44% and girls 34% → 62%).

“A safe, open, and positive school environment is an essential condition for quality and effective teaching and for the development of each pupil’s potential. Mutual and reciprocal respect between pupils, teachers, and parents creates a space for unified educational impact on the pupil. Every individual is different, so tolerance of different levels of aptitude in different areas as well as tolerance of different opinions is critical. International studies have long shown that the school climate is a weak point in the Czech educational system,” emphasises Karel Kovář, Deputy Chief School Inspector of the Czech School Inspectorate.

School, lifestyle, and the (online) world

The popularity of school is also related to other aspects of lifestyle. Among schoolchildren who do not like going to school or feel under a lot of pressure from school duties, there is a significantly higher risk (2–4 times) of headaches, depressive states, irritability, and nervousness. Those with problematic social media use feel particularly unwell at school. Compared to their peers who are in control of their “online life”, they are more likely to experience the pressure of schoolwork and to have negative feelings about their relationships with classmates and teachers.

The HBSC epidemiological study looks at a wide range of lifestyle aspects of children and teenagers aged 11–15 in the Czech Republic and nearly 50 other countries worldwide. It is being developed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The research team from Palacký University Olomouc has been studying factors affecting the health of Czech schoolchildren aged 11, 13, and 15 for a long time. In the current research, data was collected from nearly 15,000 children in 250 schools of different types across the Czech Republic. The extensive research among Czech schoolchildren was supported by the EU under the Johannes Amos Comenius Operational Programme – Top Research.

Further details and materials for downloading

• Report on the current research on the Healthy Generation project website.
• Recommendations and activities for teaching on the Healthy Generation Academy website.
• Why I’m not looking forward to school (info poster to download)
• I love school (info poster to download)
• Schools that pupils look forward to (Czech School Inspectorate’s analytical and methodological material on promoting wellbeing in schools)

The VALOR-LIGHT Valorization of Light-Activated Medicinal Plant By-Products for Novel Biotechnologies and Edible Crop Production) project, which was successful in the call for proposals by the European university network Aurora, is intended to contribute to more efficient and sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants in controlled environments, especially in hydroponic cultivation systems. Under the leadership of the University of Innsbruck, scientists from CATRIN, Palacký University will participate in the project with other international partners.

The main task of the researchers will be to develop technologies that ensure the necessary production of medicinal plants, protect the environment and consumers from the possible negative effects of fertilisers and pesticides and comply with the principles of the circular economy. The scientists will focus on four main areas – the use of specific beneficial micro-organisms as effective bioprotectants and biostimulants to improve the production of phytoactive substances from medicinal plants, the use of waste from medicinal plants as a source of (photo)antimicrobial substances, development of organometallic networks and other nanomaterials as suitable carriers of natural (photo)antimicrobials for use in controlled agriculture and testing of plant (photo)antimicrobials encapsulated in nanomaterials as innovative light-activated pesticides in plant production. The proposed methods will be tested on mint (Mentha canadensis), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

The team will be involved in a total of three research areas. “Thanks to our unique research infrastructure in the form of phenotyping lines, we have extensive experience in non-invasive monitoring of plants in a controlled environment. We can test the effects of different biostimulants to enhance plant traits and different ways of applying them. In this project, we will focus on plants used in pharmacology and will try to increase the efficiency of production of phytoactive compounds by using different innovative approaches,” said CATRIN team leader Lukáš Spíchal.

In collaboration with colleagues from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, they will test the effectiveness of organometallic networks and other nanomaterials as suitable carriers of natural (photo)antimicrobial agents. “The carriers developed by the Slovakian partners will be tested as carriers for light-activated pesticides. Our common goal is to reduce the amount of pesticides used and their burden on the environment. If we can get pesticides directly into plants using such carriers, their use could be significantly more efficient and environmentally friendly,” Spíchal explained.

His team will also be in close contact with the Italian University of Naples Federico II and its experts in the use of beneficial microorganisms. “These are bacteria and fungi that are not pathogenic. If they colonise the plant, on the contrary, they prevent the development of pathogens. The partners in Naples will develop these organisms and we in Olomouc will test different carriers for transporting these beneficial microorganisms in different model plants and crops,” Spíchal added. Another member of the research consortium is the University of Duisburg-Essen.

The project is based on a multidisciplinary collaboration between partners involved in the Aurora University Network. The project is a stepping stone to joint participation in large international projects such as Horizon.

An overview of all successful projects from the Aurora call is available at https://aurora-universities.eu/seven-innovative-projects-selected-after-first-aurora-call-for-incentive-and-collaborative-research-projects/. VALOR-LIGHT is one of the two projects supported in the Health & Well-being category.

 

 

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.