On December 12, in the Crystal Hall of the Old Town Hall in Brno, a total of 13 awards were presented by the Dean of the Masaryk University Faculty of Science, Tomáš Kašparovský, and the Rector of Masaryk University, Martin Bareš.
For the second year in a row, the Masaryk University Faculty of Science (SCI MUNI) has presented awards to outstanding teachers, ad cooperating schools and organisations, and graduates of the faculty.
Congratulations to all the awardees.
In the “cooperating school” category, Dean Tomáš Kašparovský awarded the SCI MUNI Award to the following institutions:
Slovanské náměstí Grammar School has a long history of cooperation with SCI MUNI in organising popularisation activities, lectures and excursions and in providing projects within Secondary School Professional Activities. Under the leadership of Monika Jörková, students at the Grammar School regularly participate in excursions to faculty departments, such as the SCI MUNI Department of Anthropology, where students can try out traditional and advanced methods for studying the human body and see how these methods are used in the design of everyday products or in forensic identification of bodies. Every year, SCI MUNI representatives have opportunities to introduce topics from current practice in various fields of natural science to students at the Grammar School. This close cooperation has helped motivate students, as potential applicants, to study science or mathematics.
The award was received by the Director of the Grammar School, Mgr. Dalibor Kott, and the teacher, RNDr. Monika Jörková.
There has been a long-standing close partnership between SCI MUNI and the Secondary Industrial School of Chemistry and Grammar School - Brno (SPŠCHG Brno). SPŠCHG Brno, a ‘clinical school’ of MUNI, participates in the practical education of students and in teacher training. Several of the school’s teachers and have participated with our graduates in the education of chemistry students undertaking teacher training at SCI MUNI or are involved in the popularisation of chemistry and the natural sciences, e.g. as part of the Night of Scientists. For many years, the SCI MUNI Department of Chemistry has also been hosting the Summer Chemistry Camp, which is organised by SPŠCHG in cooperation with the Lužánky Leisure Centre. Thanks to the high-quality programme and the enthusiasm of the lecturers, we have been able to attract many younger high-school students and introduce chemistry as a promising field and motivate them to study chemistry and related fields at our faculty.
The award was received by the Director of the Secondary Technical School of Chemistry and Grammar School, Ing. Vilém Koutník.
SCI MUNI has been working closely with the Jaroslav Kvapil Elementary School of Art since 2016, specifically with the art department, which is led by the award-winning artist Pavla Dvorská. Each year, at the SCI MUNI Botanical Garden, the school organises an exhibition of children’s artwork based on a science theme, for which the children and teachers prepare several months beforehand. Lasting from November to December, the exhibition includes hundreds of pictures and botanical drawings and, as part of the opening, a musical performance prepared by the students of the music department with their teachers. Thanks to this cooperative effort, where we connect biology with art, the children gain a close relationship with the natural sciences. Indeed, many of the students like to return again and again to the SCI MUNI Botanical Garden.
The Jaroslav Kvapil Elementary School of Art Award was received by the artist MgA. Pavla Dvorská.
In the “significant collaborating organisation” category, the SCI MUNI Award was presented by Dean Tomáš Kašparovský to representatives of the following organisations:
The Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (MOÚ), the largest oncology centre in the Czech Republic, not only provides health services but also conducts research and educates in the fields of cancer prevention, diagnostics and treatment of solid tumours. SCI MUNI has been cooperating closely with MOÚ for a long time, especially through the RECETOX centre. Since 2017, RECETOX has been able to make use of the expertise and experience available at MOÚ, particularly as regards developing technologies and biobanking capacities, including a system for building its own biobanking capacity - RECETOX RI. Both institutions participate in the “Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure” (BBMRI) and in building the complementary international “Environmental Exposure Assessment Research Infrastructure” (EIRENE). MOÚ is also a RECETOX partner in the strategic H2020 TEAMING project “CETOCOEN Excellence” and participates in several projects in the field of research cooperation.
The award was received by the Director of the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Prof. MUDr. Marek Svoboda, Ph.D.
Statutory representative: Ing. Petr Mrkos, MBA
SHM s.r.o. is engaged in research, development and preparation of PVD coatings for components and various types of tools. SCI MUNI has been cooperating with SHM for many years, with particularly intensive work around developing new technological procedures for preparing thin-layer materials. This represents a unique symbiosis between a university workplace, which provides deep theoretical knowledge on the issue and unique instrumentation for analysing the deposition process and final thin layers, and a manufacturing company with extensive industrial practice and experience in solving real technological problems. Experts from SHM are also involved in teaching through the provision of lectures and supervision of doctoral theses. SHM and SCI MUNI have been partners in several projects, both internal and more applied research projects supported through significant grants. The results of this close cooperation have been presented in several joint publications in prestigious professional journals.
The award was received by the Director of SHM, Mgr. Vjačeslav Sochora, Ph.D, Head of Research and Development.
The SCI MUNI physics department has been cooperating with ON Semiconductor Czech Republic s.r.o., a member of the multinational onsemi group, for several decades, both in the field of research and development in semiconductor physics and in education. SCIMUNI have also been cooperating with onsemi for many years on several applied research projects. As part of this close cooperation, a unique laboratory with clean, dust-free spaces was built at the Department of Condensed Matter Physics, which serves for practical teaching in the preparation of microelectronic components on silicon wafers. The laboratory is not only used within our own study programs but is also used for teaching students from other Czech schools. A significant modernisation of the laboratory is currently being prepared.
The award was received by the Vice President of onsemi and Executive Director of ON Semiconductor Czech Republic, Ing. Aleš Cáb.
In the “outstanding teacher” category, the Dean of SCI MUNI, Tomáš Kašparovský, awarded SCI MUNI Awards to the following individuals:
from the P. Křížkovský Grammar School-artistic specialisation
Ivana Galíková teaches biology and mathematics at the Křížkovský Grammar School in Brno, where she passes on her deep interest and love for the natural sciences to her students and supports them in their natural science activities. Some of her students have successfully cooperated with our faculty, within the framework of Secondary School Professional Activities for example. She also regularly visits selected faculty worksites with her students as part of excursions. Ivana Galíková is an excellent teacher with a deep interest in the natural sciences and has continued educating herself through several courses organised by MUNI and our faculty.
from the Břeclav Grammar School and language school (right of state language examination)
Patrik Král has been employed at Břeclav Grammar School since 2014, where, in addition to teaching biology, he is employed as coordinator of environmental education. Among other things, Patrik also supervises biologically-focused secondary school professional activities (SOČ) work and yearbooks, and organises and prepares students for the biological and ecological Olympiads, the CO2 league and the presentation skills competition. He also cooperates with several organisations as a lecturer or populariser of natural sciences. Every year, he participates in the “100 Scientists to Grammar Schools” programme with his students and organises excursions to professional university workplaces. Patrik has been nominated by his students three times for the Czech Republic’s Global Teacher Prize for educators. He has cooperated with our faculty for a number of years in the education of future teachers, including leading student internships, and since 2019 he has been teaching the “Seminar in Biology Didactics” at our faculty.
from the Vysoké Popovice Elementary School and Kindergarten
Zdeněk Kříž has been Head of the Veverské Knínice Elementary School for more than 10 years and is currently Director of the Vysoké Popovice Elementary School and Kindergarten. His work in education is accompanied by an unwavering interest in new trends in teaching science subjects and efforts to modernise and expand his school’s equipment, which, under his leadership, is now actively involved in the verification of new teaching materials and science popularisation programmes. In addition, his students regularly participate in educational activities provided under “Bioskop”. Through his positive and passionate approach, Zdeněk has contributed significantly to developing the interest of students in learning about natural connections and motivating them to study the natural sciences. He is a graduate of our faculty, where he worked as a scientist in computational chemistry after his studies, later devoting himself to the professional training of future chemistry teachers. Up until 2021, he participated actively in teaching at MUNIs National Centre for Biomolecular Research (NCBR), primarily in chemistry and applied mathematics for biologists. Zdeněk has also been involved for a long time in the creation of textbooks, teaching materials and aids for primary schools, along with the “framework educational programme for primary education”.
from the Brno Grammar School, třída Kapitána Jaroše
Václav Piskač is a renowned physics teacher, his teaching being known for its use of active learning methods, including demonstrations and student experiments, and self-made aids. For almost two decades, Václav has also been cooperating with our faculty in the education of future physics teachers, having prepared and taught courses dealing with physics didactics and is has created and taught a new optional subject “Student Experiments”. He actively participates in the ongoing innovation of the state final exam in physics and physics didactics. Václav has deep knowledge and experience from many years of teaching experience in Grammar School and brings this to the education of future physics teachers at our faculty, passing it on to students with sensitivity, insight and enthusiasm. Students and teachers can meet with him at the Physics Cafés organised at our faculty. For many years, he was the main methodologist of the “Regional Elixir Centres for Schools”, which brings active and motivated elementary and secondary school physics teachers together. Amongst many other things, he has been heavily involved in the system of further education for teachers in natural sciences and computer science, as well as the preparation of an electronic physics textbook for secondary schools.
from Křenová Grammar School - Brno
Lenka Ryšavá is a passionate biology teacher at Křenová Grammar School in Brno who has been cooperating with the Department of Experimental Biology at SCI MUNI for a long time. Every year, she helps organise a series of lectures on Population Genetics and Paleogenetics for 4th-year Grammar School students. On excursions to the Department of Experimental Biology, students attend lectures in the laboratory of the Genetics and Molecular Biology Section on topics that form part of the Grammar school curriculum, as well as subjects that help students better understand the beauty of biology and the demanding field of population genetics. Lenka regularly participates in the “Genetics Courses for Secondary School Teachers” and passes on the knowledge gained to students as part of her teaching. Thanks to this long-standing cooperation and her enthusiasm for the natural sciences, she has motivated many talented students to apply to study at to our faculty.
In the “graduate category”, Dean Tomáš Kašparovský awarded the SCI MUNI Award to the following individuals:
Martin Smetana graduated from our faculty in Systematic Biology and Ecology, with a focus on Botany. He currently works at the Partnership Foundation, where he is a key figure in the Living Soil project. He has also combined his professional career with practical care for the landscape and its biodiversity as a private farmer. He received first prize in the 2019 Adapterra Awards in the Open Landscape category and has also received other significant awards. Martin is involved in several projects aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring agricultural and cultural landscapes and endangered insect and vertebrate populations, and hosts lectures and excursions for the public popularising the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. He is currently collaborating in genetic research on the gentian blue butterfly population, is participating in a rescue programme for the endangered common blue and other butterfly species, and cooperates on the repatriation of the red-eyed jay as part of a LIFE project.jícího modráska komonicového a dalších druhů motýlů, v rámci projektu LIFE spolupracuje na repatriaci jasoně červenookého.
Martina Pokorná graduated from SCI MUNI, having studied biochemistry and biomolecular chemistry, with a focus on research into host-pathogen interactions. She subsequently completed a study stay at the French National Research Centre based in Paris, the largest research and development organisation in Europe. She was the successful recipient of a three-year junior grant from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic and, from 2021, served as Deputy Director for Administration of the CEITEC MUNI scientific workplace. Under her leadership, the centre was the first scientific institution to receive an award in the “Company of the Year: Equal Opportunities” competition. Martina brought to her work unwavering enthusiasm and a positive energy. She shared her experience in ‘best practice in science management’ within national and international professional networks, thereby contributing significantly to the spread of the good name of our faculty.
This award was presented in memoriam and received by her husband, Ing. Jan Pokorný, and their two daughters.
Photo: Irina Matusevich
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