I wish I could start my second term as the Dean of the Faculty and the beginning of the Spring 22 semester with only positive messages and news. It seems that after almost two years of dealing with the Covid pandemic situation, that has in an unprecedented way changed not only the way of teaching but also scientific priorities. We managed to get the situation under control and set a combination of measures that allows us to manage its consequences. We can gradually concentrate on what might be called the lessons learned from the crisis.
Within the development of international collaboration and internationalization at our faculty, he wants to establish new study programs and courses in English that will make our teaching more attractive for international students. Furthermore, he will promote INNOvative LECtures of foreign experts that will contribute to the effective transfer of the most recent findings. Finally, he will focus on implementing more frequent internships of students and academic staff abroad, as personal experience from foreign institutions will increase the competitiveness of our faculty.
The Academic Senate of the MU Faculty of Science condemns the attack of the Russian Federation on the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine and expresses its solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine and with members of the academic communities of Ukrainian universities and scientific institutions. At the same time, the Academic Senate of the MU Faculty of Science rejects any manifestations of discrimination based on nationality or race, given that the principles of collective guilt must not be applied in a free academic community.
The management of Masaryk University’s (MU) Faculty of Science values solidarity and a willingness to help those in need. For the assistance to be effective and systematic, the faculty, its employees and students are encouraged to coordinate their activities with Masaryk University, humanitarian organisations and the city of Brno, while at the same time trying to help individually according to their own possibilities.
Another important piece in the mosaic of knowledge about the development and prognosis of breast cancer has been added by a team of scientists from the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute and the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University (MU), along with their long-term partners in France and Switzerland. The prestigious journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, which ranks among the ten most cited in the field, published the results of research in which researchers discovered and described how a protein works, what its functions are and how it interacts with other proteins. The work will be of key importance, especially in the development of new therapeutic approaches.
A three-year project on the development of thermoelectric materials with high efficiency and especially on the study of their long-term operational stability was evaluated as excellent by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GACR). The MU Faculty of Science team was led by Pavel Brož, who undertook the study alongside a team from the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), led by Jiří Buršík, and colleagues from the University of Vienna. Congratulations!
Our graduate, Stanislav Drápela, who graduated from the PhD program in Animal Physiology, Immunology and Developmental Biology at the Department of Experimental Biology, has made the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2022. Congratulations!
For scientists, receiving the European Research Council’s (ERC) grant is like winning gold at the Olympics. Structural virologist Pavel Plevka has already won his second one and the tenth overall for Masaryk University. Congratulations!
Antonin Hlavacek from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Zdenek Farka from CEITEC Masaryk University (MU), Hans-Heiner Gorris from the Faculty of Science MU, and their colleagues developed a new diagnostic methodology using photon-upconversion nanoparticles for faster and more sensitive detection of cancer biomarkers. This new approach enables the early detection of several oncological disorders and allows medical doctors to diagnose even a slightly worsening condition in cancer patients during the initial stages of the disease.
Did you know that the third annual Campus Day will take place on Thursday, May 19, 2022? As a participant, you can walk the entire campus and observe what's happening at each station. There will also be badminton, volleyball or floorball matches, and yoga to stretch out. Finally, there will be a social gathering and live music.
We look forward to finally seeing you live again after a two-year break and cordially invite all our colleagues from Kotlářská!
The Czech polar station, built between 2004 and 2006 on the remote James Ross Island in Antarctica by its operator, Masaryk University, will mark the 15th anniversary of its official inauguration.
The station was completed on 4 March 2006 and it was commissioned during the following research season on 22 February 2007. It was given the name Mendel Polar Station after Johann Gregor Mendel, whose 200th anniversary of birth is commemorated worldwide this year.
On the night of March 9, members of Masaryk University’s 15th scientific expedition to Antarctica (2021–22) returned to Brno, successfully completing the latest expedition to the J. G. Mendel Czech Science Station, which has been operated by MU on James Ross island in Antarctica for fifteen years.
The main mission of the prize is to raise the profile of the best scientists and their achievements, and thus increase the motivation of the scientific community to achieve excellence. The prize is awarded to elite scientists in the field of organic, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry by the Organic, Bioorganic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Expert Group of the Czech Chemical Society in cooperation with the Experientia Foundation for an outstanding body of original work in the field published in the last 5 years in prestigious international journals.
The Czech Republic has another satellite of its own in space, about an hour and a half ago it was carried into orbit by a SpaceX rocket. The aim of the satellite, about the size of a wine box, is to test instruments developed by domestic companies in the hostile space environment. Scientists from Masaryk University in Brno have developed two gamma-ray detectors. This has so far only been investigated with instruments costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
Today, representatives of the Region, Town Hall, Masaryk University, together with the Augustinians and other influential personalities, commemorated the 138th anniversary of the death of the discoverer of the fundamental laws of inheritance by a reverential act at the grave of Gregor Johann Mendel at the Brno Central Cemetery. This gathering was part of the events on the 200th anniversary of the birth of this humble genius, who was born on July 20, 1822, into a German-speaking family in Hynčice.
The Biomania Student Scientific Meeting 2022 is taking place on 28th - 29th April 2022 in Brno. As always, the conference is dedicated to students and early career researchers working on topics thematically related to Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Biomedicine.
The conference is held under the auspices of Tomáš Kašparovský, Dean of the MU Faculty of Science.
Fifteen personalities were awarded the Brno City Prize for 2021. One of the awardees is Martin Černohorský, emeritus professor of the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at our faculty.
In a detailed analysis of thrombolytic proteins, Ph.D. student Martin Toul discovered previously overlooked properties of the staphylokinase protein. Protein engineering methods can improve its efficiency by up to ten thousand times, which would make the protein a perfect candidate for stroke treatment. This discovery represents a breakthrough and could lead to a far more effective drug than those currently used clinically.
The editorial deadline for the next employee newsletter is April 24, 2022. Please send your articles in Czech and English to pr@sci.muni.cz and we will be happy to publish them.
