žurnál - Times Higher Education...4 žurnál 2015 Research centres and top-level scientists According to Rector Miller, UP’s excel-lent publications largely result from the work

žurnál

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Magazine of Palacký University Olomouc, 2015 /1

Palacký University in Select Company Due to Science and Research

Genius loci…

�lomouc � �e �niversity �ity

24 000 students at 8 faculties the highest student/inhabitant ratio in the country

more than 300 study programmes at Bc., M.A. and Ph.D. levelsdynamic research and international cooperation

study programmes in English and other languages

· English Philology· Deutsche Philologie

· Euroculture· European Studies and International Relations

· Chinese Philology· Jewish and Israeli Studies

· Dentistry· General Medicine

· Leisure Time Activities Counselling and Management· Pre-Primary Education

· Special Needs Counselling· Specialnaja Pedagogika

· Biochemistry· International Development Studies

· Ph.D. programmes in Sciences, Social Sciences, Medical Sciences, Education, Law, Kinanthropology

www.upol.cz

Annus mirabilis.

I dare to describe the year 2014 with these rather audacious words. Perhaps surprisingly, it was not due to the visit of the global academic superstar Noam Chomsky, the flattering scores of Palacký University in global rankings, a number of individual awards and achievements, our expansion to Prague, nor the Alumni programme.

�e main reason is the fact, perhaps considered banal by many, that as the UP Rector I came to know many colleagues and scientists in the past year who work very hard and whose primary intention is not a vision of success, but simply their love for science and their students; they never lack motivation, enjoying their profession sometimes even to the point of obsession. It has resulted in a breath-taking dynamic of development in a number of disciplines, whose mere list would fill this column. My logical conclusion after the past year is: Palacký University Olomouc has an immense human, infrastructural, scientific, and educational potential, whose continuous fulfilment must be our objective in the years to come.

I have been delighted in the past year for many reasons. �ese include the impressive achievements of individuals and research teams, as well as the less conspicuous—yet just as significant—events vital for the functioning and fine reputation of our university: the sophisticated system of science popularisation for secondary school students at the Faculty of Science; the accreditation of the Associate Professor programme granted to the Faculty of Law; the first three graduates of the doctoral programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences; the completion of the new complex at the Faculty of Education, and the commencement of the construction of the BALUO Application Centre at the Faculty of Physical Culture; the refurbished Dentistry manikins; the completion of the Centre for Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Arts; and the fantastic success of the charity flea market at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of �eology.

�e Science and Technology Park successfully started its new proof-of-concept programme and the Library has managed to link the Palacký University and Olomouc Regional Museum catalogues. �e Rector’s Office supported many student clubs financially in 2014 that might be finally able to find adequate premises for their activities in 2015 or 2016. �e past year was also marked by the beginning of the long-term process of the university’s internationalisation. �e first visible step was opening a branch of the Czech Department of Asylum and Migration Policy on academic grounds, which rather simplified the service for foreign students and academics at UP. Last but not least, our university proudly celebrated the 25th anniversary of the November 1989 changes, without which none of the achievements described above would have been possible.

Jaroslav MillerRector, Palacký University Olomouc

Žurnál | Published annually in English | Czech Registration No.: MK ČR E 12524, ISSN 1804-6754 | Published by Palacký University Olomouc, Křížkovského 8, CZ-771  47  Olomouc, Czech Republic | VAT No.: 61989592 | Chairman of the Editorial Board: Petr Bilík | Editor-in-Chief: Pavel Konečný | Layout: Věra Marešová | Graphic Editor: Michaela Cyprová | Proofreading: Matthew Sweney | Editorial Board | Biskupské nám. 1, Olomouc | Telephone: +420  585  631  155 | E-mail: [email protected] | Print | Profi-Tisk Group Olomouc | 1000  copies

2 — UP in Select Company Due to Science and Research

5 — Noam Chomsky, the Phenomenon

6 — Dean’s Wish Comes True: Faculty of Law Receives First Accreditation for Awarding Docentships

6 — Chemist Pavel Hobza Among the World’s Most Cited Scientists

7 — Peter Tavel Takes Over Leadership of Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology

7 — Daniel Schacter Lectures on Human Memory

8 — Dentistry Students Save the Dummies… for Training

8 — Speech Therapy Studies Found Excellent in International Ranking

9 — Mark Latash: Keynote Speaker at Movement Analysis Conference

9 — BALUO Centre Construction Commenced: Hammering on the Foundation Stone

11 — Breakthrough Environmental Nanotechnologies from Olomouc

13 — Young Algologist Reveals Ancient History of Cyanobacteria

15 — Olomouc Scientists Discover Method to Speed Detection of Serious Diseases

16 — Mediterranean Bats Take a Fancy to Olomouc

17 — Profile – Michael Beckerman

20 — Fifty Times More than Just a Festival

24 — “Once a student, always an alumnus.” (Interview with Leona Axelsson)

28 — Jaroslav Doležel Receives the Ministry Award for Research

32 — Olomouc Residents Identify Their City with the University

33 — Our Man in America: Motivation is the Key

35 — A Fulbright Means Finally Having Time for One’s Own Work

37 — Park Here

38 — Remem(Novem)bering

39 — Reflection: The Czech Republic—A New Page in the Book of My Life

40 — The Final Word & Comics

contents

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UP in Select Company Due to Science and Research

UP Rector Jaroslav Miller was pleased, but not surprised by the achievement. “I’m glad our university has been ranked among the best universities internationally. It’s an appreciation of our work, giving us motiva-tion to further improve,” said Miller.

The Best Global Universities Rankings is based on data and analytics solutions provided by  Thomson Reuters, whose portfolio includes bibliometric and citation data from the Web of Science and InCit-

esTM, an analytics platform for bibliomet-ric comparison of scientific performance. Primarily, the academic research perfor-mance is monitored, but some of the fac-tors also involve the quality of education. Apart from the number of publications, ci-tations, and other relevant data, the rank-ings also take into account the opinions and evaluations of approximately 8000 ac-ademics associated via the Thomson Reu-ters database.

Palacký University Olomouc scored again in an international univer-sity ranking. After this year’s premiere in the list of the world’s top universities made by the Centre for World University Rankings, UP also recently succeeded in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings, where it achieved the 488th posi-tion. ªe other two Czech universities included in the company of the world’s 500 top universities were Charles University in Prague (no. 179) and Czech Technical University in Prague (no. 371).

text: Martina Šaradínováphotos: Pavel Konečný, Viktor Čáp/RCPTM

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of Palacký University’s  strong points. In the percentage of total publications that are among the 10 percent most cited, UP occu-pies the 222th position, outpacing Charles University (no. 473) and Czech Technical University (no. 305). UP’s  best score, no. 162, was achieved in normalised citation impact which takes into account the insti-tution’s size. UP also excelled in the num-ber of awarded Ph.D. degrees per academic staff member (ranked no. 250).

Strengthened reputationAccording to Zuzana Polanská, Director of the UP Strategy Support Office, the success of inclusion of Palacký University in the 500 best global universities will

Excellence of Czech universities according to the first decile of citations �e number stands for the total position in respective years among 5100 monitored institutes, regardless of size

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Palacký University 1460 1438 1417 1300 1247 1093

Charles University 1497 1503 1508 1490 1465 1381

Masaryk University 1556 1572 1615 1618 1613 1559

Czech Technical University in Prague 1325 1258 1312 1287 1287 1241

Brno University of Technology 1569 1641 1638 1528 1548 1533

Institute of Chemical Technology 1442 1515 1510 1460 1511 1504

Technical University of Ostrava 1549 1596 1634 1642 1735 1700

Source: Scimago

definitely strengthen its reputation and may have a synergetic effect. “It may indirectly enhance our chances to score in other rankings too, and the increasing awareness of UP in more than the international scientific community will improve our starting position for establishing further international collaborations,” she said.

The 2014 results correspond with a pre-vious Thomson Reuters analysis via the Web of Science database that monitors ci-tation impact of scholarly articles and bib-liographic information from more than 12,500 prominent scientific journals across all disciplines. Palacký Universi-ty achieved an above-average score in the years 2002 to 2011.

Long-standing trendAccording to the university management, UP’s successful ranking is a  result of the emphasis on scientific work and excel-lence in research. “This trend has been long-standing and has been shown in all indicators. International comparison in the form of the rankings is one of them,” added the UP Rector.

UP’s impressive results have been con-firmed in another research output analy-sis assessing more than 5,000 research-fo-cused institutions – Scimago Institutions Rankings, based on the SciVerse Scopus database owned by Elsevier publishing house. “The rapidity of our improvement is very high. In the last five years, Palacký University has moved between four and six hundred places higher in this rank-ing,” said Miller. The most significant shift occurred in the indicator monitoring ex-cellent publications. UP also greatly im-proved in the number and proportion of publications that are cited in patent appli-cations.

Scientific publications and Ph.D. students on the increaseThe resulting score in Best Global Univer-sities Rankings comprises ten indicators with varying weights. The most important ones are global and regional reputation of the university, followed by bibliometric in-dicators such as the number of publications or the number of frequently cited publica-tions (that are among the 10 percent most cited), total citations, normalised citation impact, or international collaboration. The final two indicators assess the total num-ber of awarded Ph.D. degrees and their number per academic staff member.

Publications on quality research con-ducted by Olomouc scientists that have a positive response in expert circles are one

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Research centres and top-level scientistsAccording to Rector Miller, UP’s  excel-lent publications largely result from the work of high-tech institutes that were de-veloped with the support of EU funds: the Institute of Molecular and Translation-al Medicine (IMTM), Centre of the Haná Region for Biotechnological and Agricul-tural Research, and the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM). “Needless to say, these and other institutes did not appear out of no-where – the European funds only allowed their more intense development. Olomouc has always had an outstanding science and research base,” added the Rector.

Distinguished experts of global re-nown in their disciplines are employed at the university and in its science centres. One of the key figures in the RCPTM is the chemist Pavel Hobza, who also works for the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Bi-ochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Awarded Czech Mind 2008, he entered the Highly Cited Re-searchers list in 2014.

One of the research programmes at the IMTM is led by the most cited Czech sci-entist in biomedicine, Jiří Bártek, Head of the Cell Cycle and Cancer Laboratory in the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen.

Global authorities draw young scientists like magnets. For instance, Jiří Pospíšil, the 2014 laureate of the Alfred Bader Prize in Organic Chemistry, admitted that after many years spent abroad he decided to join the Centre of the Haná Region because of the opportunity to collaborate with superb experts such as Miroslav Strnad.

Emphasis on excellenceThe Faculty of Science lays emphasis on ex-cellent publications. The financial support

received from the Czech budget for publi-cations in scientific journals based on RIV evaluation is redistributed to the depart-ments where the publications were made. “The finances are used for materials and equipment for research and, of course, for salaries of employees who generate ex-cellent publications,” explained Zdeněk Dořák, UP Vice-Dean for Science and Re-search. Another motivational tool is the Dean’s  Award for Outstanding Publica-tion, including a financial award.

Science at Palacký University, howev-er, goes beyond the domain of natural sci-ence and medicine. The Faculty of Physical Culture has defended its primacy among Czech sports faculties in terms of research. Its academicians contributed less frequent-ly to Czech peer-reviewed periodicals, but significantly increased the number of their publications in impact journals.

According to Dean Jiří Lach, the Facul-ty of Arts also stands proudly in the field of science and research, thanks to extraor-dinary research projects that received in-ternational acclaim, a  growing number of publications, and a  strengthened scientif-ic profile among faculties of Arts at three Czech “marbled hall” universities. He also pointed out the importance of interdiscipli-nary collaboration. “The faculty manage-ment’s long-term goal and continually im-plemented approach is to systematically support academic work across disciplines and generations,” said Lach.

Still room to improve Despite the positive trend, there is still room for improvement. “We must maintain our ability to support especially the science dis-ciplines in which we’re top-ranked – as well as our ability to present our research results and achievements to both Czech and inter-national experts,” concluded Rector Miller.

Comparison of FPC, FPES, and FSS in 5-year periods

0

1 000

2 000

3 000

4 000

5 000

6 000

Faculty of Physical Culture,Olomouc

2004–2008 | 2005–2009 | 2006–2010 | 2007–2011 | 2008–2012

Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Prague

Faculty of Sport Studies,Brno

2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012

236,

3

1 10

0,1

1 71

3,4

1 52

2,3

1 58

2,6

2 70

6,4

3 36

3,5

3 87

8,0

4 4,

6,2

4 93

8,1

2 35

9,9

4 02

7,7

4 67

0,1

5 00

8,3

5 27

9,4

Source: Ministry of Education

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Noam Chomsky, the PhenomenonNoam Chomsky’s  visit to Olomouc capped his several-week-long European lecture tour. Yet the 85-year-old founder of Generative Grammar, and left-wing intellectual icon, was still full of energy.

Just before noon on Wednesday, June 4, Prof Chomsky arrived by train in Ol-omouc to take part in a  36-hour whirl-wind visit: a sold-out public debate in the Metropol cinema, a  press conference, and a  lecture at the Olomouc Linguis-tics Colloquium (Olinco), organised by the Department of English and Ameri-can Studies.

And as with other famous guests, it was true that the most famous global ac-ademic celebrities are possible to “get” almost exclusively through personal con-tacts: one of Chomsky’s  former pupils, Prof Joseph Emonds, lectures in Linguis-tics at Palacký University.

“The last time we met was two years ago at a  conference, and he mentioned Olomouc. He is a  distinguished linguist, whom I much admire, and so I  took him up on his invitation,” explained Chomsky on his arrival. Although, in his words, he is “flooded” with email and invitations, he takes his correspondence seriously. The details of his itinerary however are left to secretaries at his home university of MIT.

Chomsky’s visit was preceded by a long period of preparations, with several

university departments and faculties taking part. From the very start it was clear that before Chomsky’s  arrival, an appropriate hall must be found, as well as a registration system that would prevent anarchy. And because of a live broadcast by Radio Wave, it was necessary to begin precisely at 7pm. A 30-member crew was at work not only preparing the stage, lights and seating, but also the necessary equipment for simultaneous translation and audiovisual recording, which less than ten hours later was on the Palacký University YouTube channel; meanwhile, Chomsky had arrived at his hotel, where more correspondence awaited him.

“Go ahead and open it,” Chomsky told Vice-Rector Petr Bilík, who had brought him a  huge package, which Chomsky’s  wife had sent to the hotel ahead of time. Inside was a  briefcase. “It’s  full of books I  collected during my tour—I  have no place to put them,” Chomsky explained. Accompanied by the Olinco organiser, Ludmila Veselovská, Chomsky found the time to look at the monuments on Olomouc’s  Upper Square. It was clear that Prof Chomsky was able manage his gruelling tour by

operating in ‘energy-efficient mode’, which explains his moderate requests for meals and accommodation.

On Thursday morning, Chomsky had an audience at the Rector’s  Office, where he was welcomed by the former university rector, Prof Josef Jařab. In 1969, Prof Jařab had been to see Chomsky lecture at MIT several times. “I  used to live around the corner on Franklin Street. At the time I  was Roman Jacobson’s  chauffeur, when Jacobson was at odds with Chomsky—he pointed him out to me,” remembered Jařab.

Immediately afterwards a press confer-ence took place. The media storm which ensued after Chomsky’s comments about Czech dissidents was intensely followed by Chomsky, one of the most important intellectuals today, on his way to Prague.

Chomsky took the reaction calmly. “That’s  how the media works,” he said, then added that the majority of the me-dia took their news from ČTK, the official Czech News Agency. “Too bad those peo-ple who reacted so strongly to my com-ments are not here—it would have made for a  lively debate,” commented Chom-sky, adding that he was sorry his Europe-an tour had come to a close.

text: Matěj Dostálek | photo: Kristýna Erbenová

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8 faculties1 university

The Faculty of Law has received its first ac-creditation for awarding docentships. By decision of the Ministry of Education, for the next four years the faculty can name do-cents —Associate Professors— in the field of Civil Law.

“We satisfied all the requirements of the accreditation commission. And for me, it was a dream come true to have now entered

a  second period of functionality,” said Dean Milana Hrušáková, in her seventh year as dean, unable to conceal her joy.

At the same time, the dean expects the faculty in the near future to go further: “I  am counting on accreditation within a  few years for awarding docentships in Criminal, and International and European Law,” she said.

The dean connects the faculty’s promis-ing future with its development to date. “In 2009, we extended studies with a doctoral programme as well as a new Master’s pro-gramme in Law which greatly differed from other institutions. We’ve significantly increased our publications and the grants awarded to us,” stated the Dean, with pride. (mav)

Dean’s Wish Comes True: Faculty of Law Receives First Accreditation for Awarding Docentships

Chemist Pavel Hobza Among the World’s Most Cited ScientistsChemist Pavel Hobza has appeared on the list of the world’s most cited scientists, ac-cording to the Web of Science database. Besides working in the Institute of Organ-ic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Hobza is also a key scientific figure at the Faculty of Science and its Regional Centre of Ad-vanced Technologies and Materials.

“To be included in the Highly Cited Re-searchers database is a  great honour for me, of course, as well as satisfaction. It means that our work is more than mean-ingful, having such a significant response in the world’s  scientific literature,” said Hobza.

Prof. Hobza gained his reputation main-ly by his discovery of improper, blue-shift-ing hydrogen-bonding. It aroused great interest in the worldwide scientific com-munity for until then it had been assumed that no new discoveries could be made in the area of hydrogen bonds. His theory was soon confirmed by laboratory experi-ments. His scientific achievements include the elucidation of the role of stacked inter-actions in DNA and proteins and the expla-nation of the role of dispersion energy in bi-omacromolecules.

Approximately 3000 researchers were included in the top one percent of the most cited scientists due to their high number

of publications and their reception in the scholarly world. The Web of Science lists 486 articles by Hobza, with more than 25,000 citations. His H-Index is 87. (srd)

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Peter Tavel Takes Over Leadershipof Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of �eology

In mid-September Peter Tavel received his nomination decree and accepted the posi-tion of Dean of the Sts Cyril and Methodi-us Faculty of Theology. The result of the March Academic Senate election had to wait until the approval nihil obstat from the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome.

One of the Dean’s first steps was to name his vice-deans and his new advisory board. He made only minor changes: “My idea was to maintain the status quo,” he said.

Peter Tavel was voted Dean by the sen-ators on March 19, the only candidate for the position. “I  had a  huge advantage in that I  didn’t have to make any unpopu-lar decisions regarding the faculty. Rath-er we need to consider what direction we should be heading in for the next few years, what place the Theological Faculty should have in society, in the Church, and in Ol-omouc,” he said directly after his election.

With regards to the ties between the Theological Faculty and the Church, le-gal stipulations state that the result of the Academic Senate has to be approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education

in Rome. The task of requesting the ni-hil obstat fell upon the Great Chancellor of the faculty, Olomouc Archbishop Jan Graubner.

(caf, mav)

Daniel Schacter Lectures on Human MemoryHarvard University Professor Daniel Schacter accepted an invitation from the Faculty of Arts to give a  lecture in Olo-mouc. Author of the book The Seven Sins of Memory (translated into twenty languag-es), he talked about his research concerned with memory and its findings.

In front of dozens of students, teachers, and members of the general public, Schac-ter went through the seven sins of memory just as he describes them in his book—in-cluding more recent information. He also mentioned regressive recollection of asso-ciations.

Barbora Burešová, a student of Psychol-ogy in Olomouc, found Schacter’s  lecture inspirational. “Testing caught my atten-tion—once a student knows he is going to be tested at the end of the lecture, he or she is more focussed during the lecture. His words on day dreaming, digressing from a topic, and the lack of concentration were interesting, too,” Burešová said.

In his research, Schacter is focussing on the difference between explicit and implicit forms of memory, the nature of memory failures, and the consequences of ageing. He is also interested in the way

people use their memory when they are trying to imagine future events, or in pos-sible improvements of learning process-es. He has authored more than 250 pub-lications and received dozens of awards, including the American Psychology As-sociation Award.

Ten years ago, Schacter categorised memory faults into seven “sins”. These consist of transcience, absent-minded-ness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibil-ity, bias, and persistence. During his Olo-mouc lecture, he also introduced the latest research on absent-mindedness. (map)

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Dentistry Students Save the Dummies… for TrainingA  new open-door classroom for Dentist-ry, with ten refurbished manikins, was opened at the end of November at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The dummies will serve medical students who want to practise pulling teeth in their free time, making this a unique facility in the Czech Republic.

“These were decommissioned dum-mies, down in the cellar. We thought we could use them when we were training for a  teeth polishing contest, and we had to really convince the clinic that we wanted to train on them,” explained Jakub Kania, a fourth-year student.

Dean Milan Kolář, during the opening ceremonies, gave credit to the students for the facility. “I  think it was a  great idea. We are the only Czech medical fac-ulty which has such a  classroom,” said the Dean.

The faculty spent about €22,000 refurbishing the dummies, and the

Dentistry students association also received instruments to work with in the classroom. Students can work on the dummies from morning to 7pm, even on weekends.

Each year roughly 100 new students en-ter studies in Dentistry at UP. They will meet the dummies at their very first training session. Students will have to wait another year to pull teeth from real patients. (caf)

the world’s most high-quality and demand-ing educational programmes in its catego-ry. This recognition opens doors for further important research projects in Olomouc.

The main objective of the project was an analysis of requirements placed on pre-graduate education in Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) within the Eu-

ropean Union countries and in the United States. Furthermore, the essential com-mon core competencies for therapists were delineated.

“The UP study programme was evaluat-ed as one of the best, because unlike in other countries, its entire Master’s programme is accredited. We have also been praised for the fact that our programme is a follow-up on Special Education essentials, which is not common world-wide. This strategy has thus proven its worth,” said Kateřina Vitásková, Head of the Speech and Lan-guage Therapy programme.

Due to the participation in the project, an extensive academic-professional net-work of educators and employers in the field of SLT was created. The faculty will maintain professional contacts with them in the years to come. Academic papers by Olomouc experts will be able to gain en-trance to the prestigious impact journal Pholia Phoniatrica et Logopedica, and Ol-omouc SLT students will be able to study abroad.

There is great interest in the study of logopaedics in Olomouc, with approxi-mately 300 applicants annually for only 15 places. (srd)

Speech �erapy Studies Found Excellentin International RankingSpeech Therapy at the Faculty of Educa-tion is setting trends in the internation-al field. This has been confirmed recently by the international NetQues project ex-amining the study of the discipline in 31 countries, including the Czech Republic. One of its conclusions is that the study of Speech Therapy in Olomouc ranks among

�e training of correct articulation.

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8 faculties / 1 university

Mark Latash: Keynote Speaker at Movement Analysis Conference

BALUO Centre Construction Commenced: Hammering on the Foundation Stone

the most up-to-date centre in the Czech Re-public, but the most up-to-date centre in the whole of Central Europe—we aspire to be more than a Czech university,” Rector Mill-er told reporters.

According to the Faculty of Physical Cul-ture Dean Zbyněk Svozil and Olomouc Mayor Martin Major, the BALUO Centre will also contribute to a  healthy lifestyle in the neighbourhood, as it will be open to the public. “All generations, from youths to sen-ior citizens, will be able to benefit from the

range of activities provided here,” explained Svozil.

Costs of the construction are expected to amount to €6 million; Palacký Universi-ty received €4.5 million from the Prosperi-ty support scheme under the Enterprise and Innovation Operational Programme. The re-construction of the former laundry, a remnant from the expulsion of the Soviet Army, into a modern kinanthropological centre will cost €4.5 million. The whole sporting-research complex should be completed in 2016.

Hammering on the BALUO foundation stone. From left to right: Radek Hanuš (Faculty of Physical Culture Vice-Dean), Jan Březina, Jiří Rozbořil (Olomouc Region Governor), Jaroslav Miller (UP Rector), Martin Major (Olomouc Mayor), Zbyněk Svozil (Faculty of Physical Culture Dean), Jaromír Uhýrek (construction firm Gemo), and Olomouc Archbishop Jan Graubner.

In the sporting spirit, representatives of Palacký University, the City of Olomouc and the Olomouc Region commenced construc-tion on the BALUO (Bases of Application Life Utilities Olomouc) application centre at the Faculty of Physical Culture. Research on human movement will be combined with practical experiments concerning the devel-opment of new sporting and rehabilitative aids and devices.

By the construction of the application centre, the faculty will obtain more than 4,000 square metres of sporting facilities, a  test hall, a  swimming pool, laboratories, prototype workshops, and other facilities. In 2015, the new building will be followed by renovation of a former army laundry, where modern laboratories for the Centre for Kinanthropological Research will be built.

“The heart of the campus will be a  fif-ty-metre-long test running track. It will be a sort of caterpillar, connecting all the other complexes,” said Miroslav Pospíšil from At-elier-r in Olomouc, one of the authors of the project’s architectural design.

Other complexes will accommodate a  twenty-five-metre-long swimming pool with a test swimming track and a pool with counter current, a sports hall, and a smaller multi-purpose gym with tatami mats, tram-poline pit, and climbing wall. The test facili-ties will be equipped with state-of-the-art re-cording devices.

The BALUO Centre will also be aimed commercially at companies who are seek-ing inspiration for new products and servic-es in the area of healthy lifestyle and move-ment activities, and to professional sports teams. “Our intention has not been to build

U. S. Professor Mark L. Latash, Penn State University, led the workshop for physio-therapists at the international conference Movement Analysis, organised by the Fac-ulty of Health Sciences.

“His workshop and lecture great-ly contributed to our research and fur-ther scientific work. In addition, many participants have their own clinical

practice, where they will apply this knowledge,” said Petra Bastlová from the Institute of Physiotherapy, on be-half of the organisers.

In his research, Latash frequently col-laborates with the National Institutes of Health in the U.S.A. and his findings are applied in neurological and physiother-apeutic practice. Latash has more than

15,000 citations. He calls his discipline “physics of living systems”.

The conference at the Institute of Physio-therapy hosted about 150 Czech and Slovak participants. The program was focused on the analysis of movement and consisted of presentations in kinetic analysis, posturog-raphy and surface electromyography, in-cluding their practical applications. (caf)

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rcptm text: Martina Šaradínová | photos: Viktor Čáp, RCPTM archives

�e study of iron nanoparticles requires measurements at low temperatures. Petr Novák

prepares the Mössbauer spectrometer to measure samples at the temperature of 5 K.

žurnál 2015 11

Breakthrough Environmental Nanotechnologies from Olomouc

“We conduct both basic and applied re-search. Our approach is very complex and includes development of new nanomateri-als, their optimisation and transfer to the production phase, and pilot testing at sites with a specific type of contamination,” said Jan Filip of the RCPTM.

Researchers are involved in a  number of national projects, and co-ordinate the Czech national Competence Centre called Environmentally Friendly Nanotechnolo-gies and Biotechnologies in Water and Soil Treatment.

“It is the most extensive Czech environ-mental project, supported by the Technol-ogy Agency of the Czech Republic, whose allocation amounts to almost €12 million. Apart from three academic institutions, six industrial companies are also involved, specialising in environmental remedia-tion. Technologies developed in our Cen-tre are commonly applied in practice,” said Radek Zbořil, the Director of the Compe-tence Centre and General Director of the RCPTM.

Similar research is conducted within the Nanorem project, financed from the 7th Framework Programme of the Euro-pean Union. This venture brings together 28 partners, mostly from European coun-tries. The Olomouc team is in charge of the

development of nanomaterials which are subsequently field-tested in a  number of European sites in groundwater treatment.

Iron nanoparticles dominate Olomouc researchers most often work with iron nanoparticles, which alter the physical and chemical parameters of groundwater and react with certain types of contaminating agents. They can break them down chemically or transform them from highly toxic forms into less toxic sol-id states.

With the help of nanotechnologies, Ol-omouc scientists are able to dispose of dozens of toxic substances from water, thus contributing to toxic waste disposal in sites where non-ecological plants op-erated in the past, or where former Sovi-et Army troops were stationed. The new technologies have proved their high effi-cacy in pilot remediation as well as in re-al-world practice. They facilitated decon-tamination of the premises of an industrial complex in Hořice, where the groundwa-ter was contaminated with chlorinated hy-drocarbons. On the premises of the Kara textile company in Trutnov, they contrib-uted to treatment of groundwater contam-inated with chromium(VI), used abun-dantly in the fur-making industry.

Palacký University is among the leaders in European environ-mental research, due to the activities of the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM), which partici-pates in key projects in water treatment and soil remediation. ªe common denominator is nanomaterials, materials consist-ing of particles 100–1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

Preparation of nano-iron samples for their phase analysis by means of RTG powder diffractometer.

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A cluster of iron nanoparticles through a transmission electron microscope.

Can nanotechnologies deal with cyanobacteria?According to scientists, iron nanoparti-cles might be used in decontamination of groundwater from cyanobacteria. To-gether with their colleagues from Brno, Olomouc scientists have been testing technologies efficiently eradicating these unwanted “water blooms”. “Materials based on iron can release phosphorus, which is the key nutrient for cyanobacte-ria. In addition, they degrade their cells and absorb the released toxins produced by these organisms,” explained Zbořil.

Nanotechnologies are relied upon also in the solution of one of the gravest ecologi-cal problems of today, which is the presence of arsenic in drinking water in many Asian countries, Europe, the United States, and South America. Arsenic contamination could be relatively easily removed by filters containing iron nanoparticles developed at the RCPTM.

Another possibility is using iron com-pounds in high oxidation states (ferrates). These are capable of superior elimination of arsenic and its firm chemical embedding in secondary formed iron oxides, thereby

preventing its secondary release into the environment, which is the main drawback of current adsorption technologies. After the application of nano-iron, only non-tox-ic iron oxides remain in the water, similar to minerals naturally occurring in rocks and soils.

The Brno company Asio, in collabora-tion with Olomouc scientists, has devel-oped reactors that could be used in water, along with ferrate application, for remov-al of arsenic or residues of pharmaceuti-cal products, hormonal contraceptives, herbicides, heavy metals, and microor-ganisms.

“These materials are aimed at purifica-tion and disinfection of drinking, surface, and wastewater or soil. They also have a great potential for treatment of chemical and biological warfare agents. Our future research will test these materials for appli-cation in industrial accidents or toxic spill-ages. Ferrates have a very rapid effect,” ex-plained Filip.

Where traditional methods failThe potential of application of nano-

materials in water treatment is immense.

“They are capable of eliminating contami-nation that cannot be removed by any other technology. Nanoparticles are conveyed to groundwater through a system of drills and then work independently. There’s no need to separate them and rinse huge quanti-ties of soil or rocks, or draw the water to the ground and then treat it expensively,” clar-ified Filip.

In other projects, Olomouc experts are investigating the optimisation of mate-rials currently used for water filtration. Their patented technology allows anti-microbial treatment of filters and mem-branes using nanosilver. Nanosilver is firmly embedded in the structure of the material, so it is not released into the en-vironment. Such modified filters and membranes are more resistant to the de-velopment of biofilms, allowing their life-time to be extended, which has a signifi-cant economic impact.

Researchers are not only investigating the processes of water and soil treatment, but are also considering the impact of new technologies on the environment. Their fo-cus extends even to reaction products for application of new technologies.

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science

Young Algologist Reveals Ancient History of Cyanobacteriaªe scientific community has gained a clearer understanding of the evolution of cyanobacteria of the Synechococcus group. It is one of the largest groups of cyanobacteria, widespread from the poles to the equator, in the sea as well as on land. Petr Dvořák, a phycologist from the Faculty of Science, has compared their genes and constructed, with the help of molecular biology, the first complex phylogenetic tree of this group, an interpretation of its evolution. It shows that cyanobacteria have been living on the Earth for more than 3 billion years.

Although most of us would associate cy-anobacteria with the unwanted “water blooms”, which make bathing and swim-ming in many ponds and lakes problemat-ic, cyanobacteria are vital in nature. They survive everywhere where sunlight is avail-able, even in extreme temperatures. They function as primary producers, conducting oxygenic photosynthesis as well as plants. Their metabolism produces oxygen and sugar and fixates nitrogen, which is uti-lised by other organisms.

Investigated genes and the tree of lifePetr Dvořák from the Department of Botany has been shedding light in the last two years mainly on the Synechococcus group domi-nant in the maritime environment. It is one of the most important components of pho-tosynthetic picoplankton under the ocean surface. “We have used various molecular methods to reconstruct the evolutionary tree of this genus. Phylogenetic analyses are most commonly used for this purpose.

Mgr. Petr Dvořák, Ph.D. (b. 1984)

He graduated Palacký University, where he defended his Ph.D. thesis in 2013. He gained experience during scholarships at John Carroll University in Cleveland and the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

text: Martina Šaradínováphotos: Pavel Konečný | Kristýna Erbenová | Petr Hašler

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Cyanobacteria�e oldest photosynthetic organisms on the planet. �eir simple structure allows them to survive extremely adverse conditions. �ey often live in symbiosis with other organ-isms. �eir reproduction is asexual. �eir name comes from the Greek word for blue, cyanos.

Algology (from algae) is a branch of biology studying algae and cyanobacteria. It deals with the systematisa-tion, phylogenesis, and ecolo-gy of these organisms. It also includes physiology, biochemis-try, and genetics.

Cyanobacteria are reproduced in cultures on media containing basic nutrients vital for their metabolism. �e cultures are preserved, for example, in Erlenmeyer flasks.

Cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp. PCC 6717 living in thermal springs in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Individual cells form sim-ple “threads”, consisting of two cells.

Cyanobacterium sp. PCC 7202, occurring in stag-nant waters in Africa. �is group is related to the Synechococcus genus.

Neosynechococcus sphagnicola (cyanobacteria). �is genus was recently described in the labora-tory at the Department of Botany where its ge-nome was also later sequenced. Elongated cells can be seen between cellular walls of peat moss.

On the basis of algorithms of DNA se-quences, we can estimate the hierarchical timeline of evolution,” explained Dvořák.

Evolution of cyanobacteria differs from that of plants or humans. Cyanobacteria live in huge populations, and genetic ex-change occurs very frequently. And it is not by means of reproduction, since they do not reproduce sexually, their genetic material is transferred among the cells themselves.

Scientists have discovered that the quanti-ty of these exchanges depends on time. The newer the lineage is, the more gene trans-fers occurred.

“The research has confirmed that cy-anobacteria of the Synechococcus group have been on the Earth for about 3 billion years. They alter genetically and develop various evolutionary lines. They have sur-vived here for a  uniquely long time. Their existence is many times longer than that of plants or animals, not mentioning humans. This has been a matter of speculation in the past, but now we have another proof it’s re-ally so,” said Dvořák, hardly concealing his enthusiasm. Scientists have described thousands of cyanobacteria species to date; however, dozens of thousands exist on the Earth according to estimations.

Unique plenitude of data Dvořák and his colleagues utilised also a ge-nome sequence of a new genus of cyanobac-teria found in a peatbog in Slovakia. It was named Neosynechococcus. Along with it, genes of another 200 cyanobacteria species were analysed. “Until now, scientists have explored only the maritime or freshwater cyanobacteria within each group. I’ve put them all together,” explained Dvořák. Their latest findings were published in the jour-nal Molecular Ecology in September 2014. Olomouc botanists conducted the research

jointly with the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples.

Important fragment for understanding the ecosystem

Concerning how very widespread cy-anobacteria are in the world, the research findings are precious. “They appear in im-mense quantities in the world, possibly thousands of billions of cells. They greatly affect the global ecosystem, so it’s vital to know their evolution. This may be of sig-nificance in the future, too. The occurrence and quantity of maritime cyanobacteria of this genus keep changing in relation to global warming,” said Dvořák.

For instance, maritime Synechococ-cus and Prochlorococcus, belonging to the same group, are responsible for 25 per-cent of primary production of energy in the oceans. Produced sugars and oxygen are subsequently utilised by other organisms in the food chain. Some cyanobacteria are used in agriculture to make up for the lack of nitrogen in the soil. In rice fields, chem-ical fertilisers can be replaced with cyano-bacteria that fixate nitrogen from the air. As a result, rice plants can thrive.

Cyanobacteria are able to survive ex-treme conditions. They live in Antarctica as well as in mountain springs. One species was even isolated from polar bear hairs.

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discovery

Olomouc Scientists Discover Method to Speed Detection of Serious Diseases Scientists from the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM) have discov-ered a new method of isolating agents important for detection of serious illnesses, including Parkin-son’s disease. ªeir procedure is based on unique properties of nanoparticles and may be employed on an extensive scale due to its high sensitivity as well as its simple and speedy application.

In order to separate and analyze target-ed molecules, a  patented nanocompos-ite of magnetite and silver nanoparticles was used. “The silver nanoparticles are modified with specific molecules, which function as a  sort of key. This key fits perfectly into the structure of the target-ed agent, present for instance in blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid. In our case, the targeted agent becomes a sort of key-hole,” said Radek Zbořil, Director of the RCPTM.

The targeted molecules are separat-ed magnetically, and then the nanos-ilver is used to determine their level in extremely low concentrations. This is done by surface-enhanced Raman spec-troscopy, which is one of the most sensi-tive spectroscopic methods in analytical chemistry.

Dopamine and immunoglobulin GThis procedure has been used by the RCPTM researchers, for example, to determine the level of dopamine in cerebrospinal fluid. A low level of this neurotransmitter (a chem-ical that transmits signals between brain cells) is associated with diseases such as Par-kinson’s. “The new procedure allows us to measure its level in quantities that are a thou-sand times lower in comparison to other methods,” said Václav Ranc, one of the main authors of this new technology allowing the determination of biomolecules by means of nanoparticles. Two corporations operating in the biochemical and medical market have already expressed interest in the procedure.

Fast, simple, and efficientThe study describing the new findings by Olomouc researchers has recently been

text: Martina Šaradínováillustration: Radim Měsíc

�e magnetite particle binds with silver nanoparticles that contain molecules of a “key” on their surfaces, such as an antibody.

displayed on the front page of the pres-tigious journal Analytical Chemistry, pub-lished by the American Chemical Socie-ty. The authors are confident in practical application of their technology, since it has several advantages. “The determi-nation itself takes only a few minutes and the necessary technical equipment is ap-proximately ten times cheaper than other methods used today,” said Zbořil.

The new technology may be applied to determine hundreds of other diagnostically relevant molecules, where the antigen-an-tibody complex is known. Olomouc scien-tists have also been developing diagnostics for selected tumorous diseases. It has po-tential in other areas as well – for instance in the detection of highly toxic materials in the environment or potentially harmful ingre-dients in the food and distilling industries.

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úspěch

�e rare southern vesper bat, Kuhl’s pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii), whose home is usually in the Mediterranean, paid a visit this year to Olomouc. Experts from the Faculty of Sci-ence immediately identified two individuals alerted to them by Olomouc citizens.

rarity

This makes it the most northern sighting of this bat so far in Europe. However, these mammals live in colonies, so no doubt more of these small, brown sandy-colour-ed bats will be found in the city.

“There are three similar types of bats in the Czech Republic, but to find Ku-hl’s  pipistrelle is quite rare,” said Evžen Tošenevský of the Faculty of Sciences and the Czech Association for the Protection of Bats. The first ever sighting of this bat in the Czech Republic was in Znojmo in 2007, then the year before last near Brno. The Olomouc sightings are now the third and fourth.

Kuhl’s  pipistrelle is a  synanthropic an-imal, found in near vicinity with humans, and this is the case with the two sightings in Olomouc. The first case was a male found on Olomouc’s  Lower Square. “It was an adult male, probably sheltering inside one of the houses to mate. Unfortunately, his wing was broken in two places, and he died a  few days later,” said Tošenovský. In the

second case, people called experts to inves-tigate a female.

The question of why these tiny fliers have reached an area much further north than ever before is not an easy one to an-swer, say experts. The area covered by bat species often varies significantly. One ex-ample is another type of Pipistrellus—Pipistrellus nathusii (Nathusius’s  pipist-relle). While twenty years ago it was rare in these parts, today it is one of the most widespread Czech bats. Olomouc’s  “visi-tors” may well have been influenced by last year’s mild winter.

Bats are among those animals which have not been studied in exhaustive de-tail. Distinguishing one type from an-other is practically impossible for lay-men. There are 27 species of bats in the Czech Republic. They are found not only in parks and caves as many think, but also for example in crevices in housing es-tates. All bats are legally protected, and their homes as well.

Mediterranean Bats Take a Fancy to Olomouc

text: Martina Šaradínová photos: Monika Kukalová

Kuhl’s pipistrelle is tiny, with a body 55 mm long, weighing 5–10 g. It is usually sandy-coloured along its spine, with most individuals having a 1–2 mm white edge to their wings between the fifth finger and foot.

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profileMichael BeckermanWorld-Renowned Musicologist, Honorary Doctor at Palacký University

For forty years, Michael Beckerman has been building a systematically close relationship between Czech and American Music Studies, fundamentally contributing to the research and promotion of Czech musical culture.

text: Milada Hronová photography: Vladislav Galgonek

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There were no musicians in Becker-man’s family, nor have any of his three chil-dren become involved in music. His father was a theatre director and leading Shake-speare scholar, while his mother worked as an actress and university teacher. She also writes poems.

“I played piano as a child and chose Mu-sicology simply because it allows me to do everything I  want in life: I  can play, com-pose, write lyrics, lecture, and even devote some of my time to research.”

When he was first invited to Olomouc by the Department of Musicology, it was the year 1997, and Beckerman would have nev-er thought then that the university in this city (which has become his second home) would award him with an honorary doc-torate. “It is a miracle! I have so many out-standing colleagues, and none of them has been so lucky. Even though this is not the end of my career, it makes me feel I need to stop for a  moment and contemplate what comes next.”

It was this year—the Year of Czech Mu-sic—when the academic boards of the Fac-ulties of Arts and Education acknowledged the extraordinary contribution of Michael Beckerman to Czech musical culture and Czech university education.

An American citizen who admires An-tonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček and other

Czech composers, Beckerman has been working with his Czech counterparts since the 1970s. He has also been debat-ing Czech music with leading experts in Prague and Brno, although his closest col-leagues are the musicologist, composer, and UP Vice-Rector Vít Zouhar, and Mi-kuláš Bek, the Masaryk University Rector. One of their favourite arguments is what constitutes Czech music and what does not.

“We still have our doubts. We may not be questioning Dvořák, but what about Gustav Mahler or music with not only Czech, but also Hungarian lyrics? This kind of music has its specifics, and we are considering if it fits into the concept of the Czech musical tradition. For example, while I might hear African rhythms in Pav-lica’s songs, I do not see them as a violation of the concept. I  think it would be much better for Czech music if we accepted cer-tain overlaps.”

Czech music is something which Beck-erman hears in his heart. When he heard Dvořák for the first time, it was—accord-ing to his own words—the most beauti-ful music he had ever heard. And the same happened to him when he was later listen-ing to Martinů, Janáček, and other com-posers. However, do not talk to him about musical geniuses: Beckerman claims that

every genius in the history of music (in-cluding Mozart) was just an incredibly tal-ented and able person.

The world-renowned expert became in-terested in the Czechs already during the 1970s while studying at Hofstra Univer-sity in New York, where he came across the work of composer Hanuš Schimmer-ling (and to whom he devoted his doctor-al address).

“A  good musicologist has to be persis-tent, hardworking, committed to his work, and above all honest with himself. Working in this field can be very frustrating, because it is hard to learn about musical history, understand music, and to be able to speak about it. And there is one more thing—do not fool yourself and believe that you ac-tually understand what you are doing. It is similar to the universe: the more we learn, the more complicated it gets.”

Michael Beckerman lectures at New York University, where he has influenced hundreds of students, and he says that a  lecturer should always take risks. “If all the students like your lecture, there is something wrong, and you have most likely not said anything important or essential.” At least twenty of Beckerman’s former stu-dents are now lecturing on Czech music at universities not only in the USA, but all over the world.

November 12: Michael Beckerman receives his honorary doctorate from Palacký University.

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Beckerman’s recent trip to Olomouc was a great experience—not only for musicolo-gists, but for all music enthusiasts who at-tended his lectures ‘Musical Translations, Poetry Reading: Chinese Poems Set to Music by Pavel Haas’. According to Zde-na Plachá from the music web portal Op-era Plus, the song cycle ‘Čtyři písně na slo-va čínské poesie’ (‘Four Songs Reflecting Chinese Poetry’) was a  truly exceptional performance. Ghetto, Terezín, China! Its rendition allowed Plachá to inspect the feel-ings of a person in a critical point in his life, one who is still unbroken, desirous, and full

of hope and optimism. Jiří Přibyl, a vocalist from the Moravian Theatre, confirmed that singing ‘Four Songs’ was the most demand-ing vocal performance of his career.

Today, Michael Beckerman is working on three books, is a  member of the com-mittee of the Czech Center in New York, and Vice-President of the Dvořák Ameri-can Heritage Association. He admits that he has no leisure time, and if he finds a few minutes to spare, he prefers to spend them in the garden—sometimes with a book, the one now is on the situation in Central Eu-rope between 1945 and 1955.

Jan VičarDepartment of Music Education

“Michael Beckerman, in my opinion, repre-sents the ideal university Music Education teacher, one who has to be both a  great musician (Beckerman is an outstanding pi-ano player and occasional composer) and also an accomplished researcher. In addi-tion, he is a “showman” who enchants his students, and a hardworking populiser of music in the newspapers, radio, and televi-sion. He is an outstanding example of the type of Music Education I have been trying to establish at Palacký University Olomouc since 1990. We are lucky that Beckerman, an American citizen, decided to study and research primarily Czech music, particu-larly the works of Dvořák, Janáček, Mar-tinů, Jaroslav Ježek, Adam Michna z Otra-dovic, but also Ervin Schulhoff, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, and other personalities from Terezín. He is the author of six books and anthologies, dozens of studies, and has giv-en hundreds of lectures all over the world, influencing a great many students with his teaching – at least twenty of whom are lec-turing about Czech music at American uni-versities and elsewhere. At the University of California, Beckerman started a founda-tion supporting research into Czech mu-sic, managing to raise USD 350,000. If we take into account how inadequate our cur-rent governmental cultural diplomacy in the field of music is, it is hard not to see how important the new Palacký Universi-ty Honorary Doctor is for the internation-al representation of Czech music culture.”

Vít ZouharVice-Rector | Department of Musicology

“Not many researchers are able to attract and interest people who are not really familiar with their field of study. Prof Michael Beck-erman is one of the few with this ability. I am not overstating it when I say he is a stand-up scholar: an academician who aims at the heart of the matter in a provocative and unconven-tional manner, yet profoundly amusing his au-dience. I do not exactly remember when we met for the first time—maybe it was the end of the 1980s when I  studied Musicology in Brno, maybe it was thanks to my father ten years before that. And maybe I heard of him only later, in 1988, when he organised a  leg-endary conference on Leoš Janáček at Wash-ington University in St. Louis. It was where the Czechoslovak and American musicolo-gists met for the first time—thanks to Beck-erman. It seems to me that we have known each other forever, because all of his sweep-ingly inspirational studies, books and lectures have always seemed so familiar to me. I will never forget when he was in Texas explain-ing the relationship between local and global using as example the conceptual song ‘Inside’ by Ivo and Sára Medek and the song ‘Ej lásko, lásko’; his comparison between Bohuslav Mar-tinů’s compositions and Mandelbrot’s fractal sets; his specific explanation of Janáček’s ter-minology or the fundamentals of Dvořák’s or Haas’s compositions. A meeting in his flat in Greenwich Village was also an unforgettable experience when it turned into an unexpect-ed concert with Beckerman and his wife play-ing and singing Moravian folk songs. Or an improvised piano concert in Dobratice, where my three-year-old son was using a toy truck to bang on the piano keys along with Mike. Mi-chael Beckerman is always showing us how im-portant these connections are, and how im-portant is to think about them.”

Prof. Michael Beckerman(b. 1951)

After graduating from Columbia University, he spent a brief period of time in Brno researching the theoretical work of Leoš Janáček.

He has been giving lectures on Czech music all around the world, including in the Czech Republic, and has organised several international conferences about the works of Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů, and other composers. He has published six books and anthologies about Czech music, and sixty studies. He has also written numerous articles for American newspapers and has been a guest on many TV and radio shows in the USA, UK, Germany, and Japan.

For his achievements and promotion of Czech music, Beckerman has received medals from the Leoš Janáček Society, the Antonín Dvořák Society, the Bohuslav Martinů Society, and the Czech Ministry of Culture. He has also been awarded by the Czech Music Board, and received a certificate of merit from the Parliament of the Czech Republic. In addition, Beckerman is the founder of the Czech Music Foundation at the University of California.

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Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2015. However, this festival of popular science films has long been a significant exhibition of audiovisual communication of science in the European context.

afo text: Pavel Konečný, photos: AFO

Fifty Times More than Just a Festival

Festival Director Matěj Dostálek, who be-came involved in the organisation of the event already as a student in 2007, will be in charge of AFO’s  fiftieth birthday cele-brations. “2007 was the first year it was or-ganised by the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the Faculty of Arts. Accord-ing to statistics, there was a record number of 670 accredited visitors in that year,” re-called Dostálek.

Seven years later and the number is six times higher; there were 4,067 accredita-tions for this year’s AFO—and more than 300 Czech and foreign guests, scientists and professionals from the audiovisual in-dustry.

“I  am sure that all the activities of our university regarding the festival are pay-ing off. Who would have dared to say that

an event consisting of one small classroom, one projector and a small audience would become so huge in fifty years?” exclaimed Dostálek.

His team is also trying to think about its main themes and potential guests on a long-term basis. “We have recently drift-ed far away, when we caught ourselves talking about the schedule for 2016, al-though we have not yet officially present-ed the main theme of this fiftieth anniver-sary: our planet. The gripping films in the section “Rise and Fall” will provide a close look at the rise and fall of civilizations and animal species. The audience will have a chance to see life in ancient Egypt, walk with dinosaurs, admire Viking culture or glimpse the secrets of life,” said AFO Pro-gramme Director Jakub Ráliš.

“With the growing popularity of the festival, organisation and preparations have grown, becoming more and more time-consuming. It could be divided into four different demanding phases basically over the four seasons. How-ever, some things need to be organised more than a year in advance: for example, it is es-sential to secure non-university resources in advance, because they represent the primary source of AFO financing,“ AFO Director Matěj Dostálek detailed.

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Director Matěj Dostálek leading the AFO team.

From left to right:Jakub KordaOndřej ČížekJan JendřejekMartina JuříkováPetr VlčekMatěj DostálekJakub RálišJana JedličkováLucie KlevarováDiana GallasováMarek Čermák

Seeing over knowingThe fiftieth birthday is being sophisticated-ly reflected in its visual presentation: “A se-ries of posters is going to illustrate techno-logical achievements of the past fifty years in two versions—the first showing how people imagined them fifty years ago, and the second showing how they actually look now,” explained Dostálek.

The management of the festival has a long-term concept of graphic design and its own visual identity—the three-year de-sign plan of the ReDesign studio consists of uniform typography and layout with a new slogan and graphic motif for every year.

“It gives us a  great deal of variabili-ty when working with our brand. For re-leases of a steady or conservative charac-ter, we use a heading complemented with photographs. In this way, we published a magazine AFO 2014 for guests and part-ners of the festival. For street campaigns and advertisements, we are, on the other hand, using such slogans and graphic mo-tifs that should attract attention, raising questions or even eyebrows,” said Dostál-ek. According to the Director, the upcom-ing jubilee will be intentionally presented as a relaxed comparison of imaginative vi-sion and reality.

The AFO PlatformToday, Academia Film Olomouc is not just a festival. For several years, it has also been serving as an educational platform for stu-dents of the Faculty of Arts. Students re-ceive credits for their participation in the organisation of the festival, for helping with dramaturgy or publishing; the best ones even receive stipends. Many under-graduates are also choosing the genre of popular science films as the topic of their Master’s theses.

The Department of Theatre, Film and Media Studies has been running a project for the past two years called AFO:

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Program Director Jakub Ráliš during this year’s projection.

Practical Networking of Audiovisual Pop-ularisation of Science, which enables stu-dents to join Czech and foreign production companies and institutions engaged in the popularisation of science.

“The experience gained will help them not only in their own further research, but will also contribute crucially to the further development of the festival—due to their new knowledge and valuable contacts. We have had the opportunity, thanks to this unique project, to visit world famous festi-vals, congresses and conferences focused on science communication, where we had the chance to personally meet top experts in the field of science and the film indus-try. Consequently, it was not so hard for us to persuade them to come to AFO,” noted Ráliš.

AFO Distribution In November, the AFO team attended for the fourth time the World Congress of Sci-ence and Factual Producers—the most im-portant event of its kind, this year in Hong Kong. Here top experts in their respective

fields meet with directors of television and production companies such as the BBC, PBS, ABC, Discovery, and Atlantic.

“This year, apart from having the oppor-tunity to watch the latest developments in scientific documentary films and to estab-lish personal contacts with producers, we are presenting ourselves for the first time also as producers and distributors. It is ac-tually in the film distribution field where we have recently achieved several significant accomplishments,” noted Dostálek.

Via AFO, Palacký University has start-ed to choose and distribute films for Czech scientific centres. “Personally, I  think this is an important milestone in both AFO and UP activities, one which has the potential to make popular science films to become the most attended documentaries in Czech cinemas within the next two years,” ex-pressed Dostálek.

The first contract was the distribution of five top-quality documentaries to the edu-cational centre Svět techniky in Ostrava, where the films will be shown in the biggest Czech non-commercial 3D cinema.

“Our job was to use our expertise and choose the films, obtain licenses and ar-range the dubbing. We won this contract in a competition,” added Ráliš.

According to Ráliš, audiences should be looking forward to the 3D documenta-ries Flying Monsters with David Attenbor-ough, where the famous naturalist reveals the secret of life of lesser-known prehistor-ic lizards; an adventurous journey with pre-historic Titans of the Ice Age, or The Last Reef—a  documentary describing coral reefs as organic undersea cities visible from outer space.

“We are also going to show Vlčie hory (The Wolf Mountains), a  Slovak docu-mentary depicting rare encounters with shy animals in an untouched ecosystem in such a  suggestive way that it won the Audience Award at this year’s AFO. And we are not going to miss out on the Czech film Whose is My Child? dealing with the issue of the impact of genetic testing on parenthood—a  television documentary that has also won several awards,” said Dostálek.

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Uranium.Jakub Ráliš and Jiří Slavík

(behind the camera).

3D cinema.Svět techniky, Ostrava

Made in AFOAnd there is more to AFO than buying and selling foreign films. Thanks to contacts made in the past few years, the organis-ers have become directly involved in the production of a  three-part Australian TV series called Uranium: Twisting the Dra-gon’s Tail.

“On this project, we are working togeth-er with the renowned Genepool Produc-tions company, led by producer and Emmy Award-winner Sonya Pemberton. Thus in September, our production team spent five

shooting days in a  spa and in mining are-as in Jáchymov, where the opening scenes and other sequences for all three parts of this miniseries were shot,” confirmed Dostálek.

The AFO team took care of everything: from setting up the shooting locations, production on site, to staff for the filming, and all translation services. Viewers will be guided through all three episodes by Derek Muller—one of the main guests of this year’s AFO, a presenter and video blogger with millions of followers.

The first hour-long episode should ap-pear on TV during 2015.

The AFO brand also brings together ex-perts from scientific centres and the gener-al public in an informal environment called Science Café shows.

All the activities of Academia Film Olo-mouc are undoubtedly contributing not only to the improvement of communi-cating science to the public, but also help make Palacký University more visible and confirm its status as a progressive Czech university.

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interview

Leona Axelsson spent twelve years working so well with alum-ni at Sweden’s  Örebro University that she received an offer to work with alumni at Stockholm University. Born in Vysoké Mýto, Czech Republic, Leona also recently worked as an adviser for building relationships with alumni at Palacký University.

— What is most important in the relationship between universities and their alumni?It is necessary for every student to be sat-isfied both during and after their studies, and to want to stay in touch with their uni-versity. If students are not satisfied because they are not getting what they expected, or do not get a job in their field of study, then there is a big chance they would not want to stay in touch with their school. It is hard to attract these people again. Once a student, always an alumnus. But do they want to stay in touch with their alma mater? That

always depends on what they have experi-enced during their studies, or even before.

— Even before?Well, yes – new students need to feel wel-come and wanted. For example, they should have mentors – fellow students who would help with their first steps into uni-versity life. So that they feel there is some-thing they want and admire. One needs to get used to new rules, a new lifestyle, and learning processes. During the first term, it is absolutely necessary to become enthu-siastic about one’s field of study, or else try

Leona Axelsson:

She graduated from high school in Vysoké Mýto in the 1980s. She had always been fond of languages, but she did not pass the entrance exams to study interpreting at university, so she went to a hotel school and worked as a receptionist.

text: Pavel Konečnýphotos: Vladislav Galgonek | Orasis foto

“Once a student, always an alumnus.”

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She arrived in a two-piece suit wearing a Stockholm University badge. “Every alumnus has this little reminder. Little, but im-portant!” she notes. �e current Swedish cabinet has twenty-four members, out of which ten are Stockholm University alumni. �ey all must have the same badge somewhere.

a  different field. And then, it means more and more studying – but at the same time thinking about possible future careers: are one’s studies going to be of any use?

— How does it work at Stockholm University?There are various approaches. We organ-ise lectures on how to study in different fields, there are mentors assigned to new students and there are activities helping students to get used to university life.

— So something like our “buddy” system?Yes, something like Erasmus, but every faculty is different.

— Comparing classmates, is there a difference between Czech and Swedish students?I did not attend university in the Czech Re-public, so I  cannot really compare. Gen-erally speaking, Swedish students have more freedom: it is their decision to work individually or in groups, there are not so many compulsory lessons but more indi-vidual responsibility.

— How did you end up in Sweden?I had worked as a receptionist in the hotel Labe in Pardubice, and my husband Mi-kael Axelsson had been designing a  fac-tory in nearby Semtín. We were married twenty-five years ago and left for Örebro just after the Velvet Revolution. We man-aged to attend few protests before leaving in January 1990. My husband spent one-and-a-half years here, he learned a  little Czech, liked Czech beer and dumplings. And he said that if I  did not like Sweden, we could always return.

— Did you start immediately at the university?The original plan was to look for a job in the hotel industry because I  like languages – but it did not happen. I was advised to get a university degree first, so I began to study Swedish, then English and eventually got my degree in Literature. Then I was offered a position at Örebro University. Örebro is in the middle of Sweden, about the same size as Hradec Králové.

— And you got a job at the Depart-ment of International Relations?I  worked there for twelve years. This was a  smaller university of regional character – it has about fifteen thousand students. It was there where I  formulated the rules of how to approach alumni. I drew my inspi-ration from the United States, Great Brit-ain, and Finland.

— What brought you to Stockholm?I was attending a conference in Great Brit-ain three years ago, where I met the head of the Department of International Relations at Stockholm University. She was asking me about my work with our alumni, be-cause the relationship with their alumni was faltering. Once there was a  position open, they contacted me and I got the job. Now I am commuting two hours by train to Stockholm.

— Every day?Almost. Once a week I am allowed to work from home, and the two hours spent work-ing in the train are added to my work hours. We may eventually move to Stockholm. Our daughter Veronika is twenty-four and is already living on her own, so I  and my husband can do what we want.

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�e Library of Stockholm University.

— Can she speak Czech?Just a  little, she is not bilingual. I  spoke Czech to her before she started going to school, but then I  focused on her to be perfect in Swedish because it had been hard for me. Also, she did not have any Czech-speaking friends of her age, and when we are here, even Czechs want to speak English with her. But she under-stands Czech.

— What is her job?She is a make-up artist. She told me that she is not the studying type, she likes fashion

and wants to work in this field. Most impor-tant for me is that she is doing what she likes.

— Work in the field – a popular topic in Sweden…Yes, it is important – even for students – to establish contacts with possible future em-ployers. That is why we have career advis-ers at our university.

— Career advisers?There is a central office, faculty offices and sometimes even offices at individual de-partments. In addition to career advisers,

we also organise lectures where students are advised by our alumni about what to do in their fields and how.

— Is education considered a com-modity in Sweden?Students receive study stipends, and they can also apply for low-rate student loans. There are many people over forty who study because the benefits are available until you are forty-five. It comes in handy if you want to change your career and you can get a sti-pend or loan. So you have twenty- and for-ty-year-olds in one classroom. The most im-

She likes to go to Swedish Hockey Games. �e best are the Swedish national team games: “My husband wears a Swedish jersey; I wear a Czech one. Every time the Czechs win, we go to Švejk’s Pub. I support the Czech team, but I have dual citizenship, so I am happy no matter who wins.”

University of Stockholm: Frescati campus and Geo-Science building.

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On her bedside table, we would most likely find Karel Čapek’s books. It comes as no surprise, because her Mas-ter’s thesis was called Narra-tology and Philosophy in Karel Čapek’s Trilogy. She rarely reads Scandinavian crime stories. “Only at the seaside during summer holidays.”

Her nephew studies at Palacký University: Ludvík Kalibán attends the Faculty of Educa-tion, so he can personally check whether his alma mater applies his aunt’s advice.

portant thing is long-term vision; and then observe that education is really useful for alumni, that it is important to them.

— Are your visions evolving?A  vision should have its horizons, but we adjust it according to the external condi-tions. The whole society is evolving, so we have to adapt.

— Is there competition between universities?Yes, and it is reflected in various rankings.

— Do you organise alumni reunions too?The Business School has a  long tradition of reunions which take place every ten years. First, there is a  lecture, then a pan-el discussion, and then individual depart-ments have parallel evening programmes. It is important for the alumni to come here, learn some general knowledge, and then get a chance to debate their own fields with their colleagues.

— Why is that important?It is vital for both the university and the alumni. If the university wants to pros-per, it needs to know that the curriculum is meaningful. It is a huge and costly decision for a potential student, so he or she needs to be sure it will pay off, that it would help with their professional development. And alumni need to know what other seminars are available to them, how to get engaged – if they can give lectures, recruit work-ers among students for their companies or how to support the university.

— Do the alumni support their alma mater?Stockholm University was established in 1878, thanks to grants from successful sci-entists, whose purpose was to provide an alternative to big universities – in order to offer the possibility of university education

to everyone. Today, the university is not funded by alumni, but mainly by the state; however, it was founded because of the afore-mentioned grants, and to this day some alumni contribute financially. But the biggest contributions come from them in the form of their time and advice.

— Do the alumni receive any benefits?Yes. Above all, they can use all universi-ty cultural and sport facilities. Sometimes completely free, sometimes with a  dis-count.

— Can you observe a closer relation-ship between alumni and teachers?It depends on the particular field of study. However, the closest relationship is usu-ally seen between teachers, lecturers, and alumni, rather than between the former students themselves. The reason behind this is our decentralisation and too many courses: most of the students have different classmates for each course, but there can be exceptions. We definitely do not want to copy the American way – we do not organ-ise any weekends with alumni who would bring their whole families to our campus; that is simply not a  part of our European tradition.

— So you are not planning to intro-duce such a scheme?Not unless there are significant changes.

— What is, on the other hand, a part of European or Swedish culture and tradition?Our Technical Faculty is, for example, in touch with its alumni all over the world – we have around ten thousand alumni abroad. We have established alumni or-ganisations in Japan, China, and the USA. The alumni are visited by their former pro-fessors, who bring interesting articles, give lectures, etc. There is a constant mutual ex-change between them.

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awards

Jaroslav Doležel, the Science Director of the Centre of the Haná Region for Biotechnological and Agricultural Re-search, received the Czech Ministry of Education Award for Outstanding Re-search, Experimental Development and Innovation. The globally renowned sci-entist was awarded for his extraordinary achievements in plant genome mapping.

Jaroslav Doležel Receives the Ministry Award for Research

Immunologists Awarded for Collaboration in Development of Lyme Disease VaccineExperts from the Department of Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine succeeded in the Best Co-operation of 2014, a competition involving co-operation between companies and the research sphere. They took third place for their development of a  vaccine against Lyme disease together with their colleagues from the Veterinary Research Institute in Brno, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Institute of Physics at the Academy of Sciences in Prague, and Bioveta Inc.

The competition is organised by the American Chamber of Com-merce in the Czech Republic, the Association for Foreign Investment, and the Czech Innovation project along with the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic.

Michal Křupka, the Vice-Head of the Department of Immunolo-gy, said that the achievement is an impulse for further work. The most demanding task, clinical testing and registration, is still ahead. (srd)

�e awards ceremony. Milan Raška, the Head of the Depart-ment of Immunology, is 2nd from the left.

“I knew about my nomination by Palacký University, but never expected to be cho-sen as one of the five finalists. All the great-er was my delight. This is really recognition of our entire team’s  long-term systematic work,” Doležel told Žurnál.

He focusses on the study of the plant genome, its structure and changes throughout the evolution of plants, and development of new species. He and his team worked out new methods enabling

analysis of more complex genomes. He is the founder and pioneer of chromosome genomics to support mapping and se-quencing of complex genomes and isola-tion of individual chromosomes.

The research findings may have im-mediate practical application in agri-culture. They are a  foundation of new breeding methods that may increase yields as well as resistance to diseases and pests. (srd)

Karel Indrák Receives Prestigious Scientist of the Year Prize in DubaiThe Minister of Culture and Social Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, sheik Nahy-an bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, awarded Prof. Karel Indrák from the Faculty of Medi-cine in Olomouc with the international Scientist of the Year prize in September in Dubai. His was rewarded for his research of congeni-tal genetic disorders.

“It is a prestigious prize and for me, it’s like an Olympic medal,” said Indrák upon his return to Olomouc. He appreciated the fact it is an acknowledgement by the international community and the deci-sion of an independent committee which evaluated 24 candidates.

“It is noteworthy that they acknowledged research findings from a  country where this disorder is rare and had been con-sidered non-existent until we began our research in 1990,” he added. Indrák and his Olomouc colleagues described the new mechanisms causing thalassemia and have identified new hae-moglobinopathies. (caf)

Karel Indrák compared the prize to an Olympic medal.

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Martina Knápková Awarded for Her Translation of Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story The English and American Literature postgraduate student was awarded by the Czech Literary Translators’ Guild with the Tomáš Hrách Prize for young translators, which is granted along with the Josef Jungmann Prize for the best translation of the year, published in Czech for the first time. Each character

in the novel has a  different idiolect and some are far from speaking fluent Eng-lish, so it was a real challenge to imitate the broken English of a  Korean or Rus-sian emigrant without making it sound like a  poor translation. “This book has a special place in my translator’s heart,” said Knápková. (map)

Alfred Bader Prize Goes to Chemist Jiří Pospíšil The prestigious Alfred Bader Prize for Organic Chemistry 2014 was awarded to Jiří Pospíšil from the Centre of the Haná Region for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research for his achieve-ments in development of new synthetic procedures and their applications in the preparation of natural substances. It is the most esteemed prize for young (un-der-35) chemists.

“My unrealistic dream came true. When I looked up to the previous winners as a  graduate, they were my heroes, and I thought, I can never become one of them. It feels strange to hold the prize now,” con-fessed Pospíšil.

Pospíšil mainly explores the develop-ment of new synthetic methods for produc-ing biologically active natural substances and their derivatives. (srd)

Bohumil Stoklasa (on the right), Martina Miková, and Ivo Straka in the Laboratory of Optics.

Hat-Trick of Olomouc Physicists, Including 1st PrizeThree awards, including first prize, went to postgraduate students of the Department of Optics in the Milan Odehnal Prize com-petition for young physicists in 2014. The winner was Bohumil Stoklasa, while his colleagues Martina Miková and Ivo Stra-ka took third place and honorary mention.

“My works, published in scientific journals, focussed on the improvement of the existing principles of tomographic methods. It’s also the theme of my disser-tation,” said Stoklasa on his prize-win-ning work. He stood out in the compe-tition of seventeen young talents from

Charles University, Czech Technical Uni-versity in Prague, and the institutes of the Academy of Sciences.

Stoklasa perceives his primacy in the prestigious contest as encouragement for further scientific work at the department.

Third place went to Martina Mik-ová’s  work on quantum information pro-cessing. Ivo Straka received honorary men-tion for his study of quantum information processing. The ceremony took place at the opening of the Conference of Czech and Slovak Physicists in September 2014 in the Archbishop’s Palace in Olomouc. (mav)

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Medals by an OlympianThe biathalonist Gabriela Souka-lová, who won a silver medal at the So-chi Olympic Games, designed medals for the World University Orienteering Championship. One of the organisers of this summer’s event was Palacký Uni-versity.

Soukalová, who graduated from a medal-making school, designed them during the Olympic Games. The ob-verse depicts a map and arrow, the re-verse depicts dominant features of the Olomouc region. “I did not want to use the typical motif of a  runner; I  like to do unconventional things and I tried to achieve a certain simplicity and purity,” explained Soukalová.

More than three hundred compet-itors from 32 countries gathered for the Award Ceremony in the Zbrojnice quadrangle. After one week of sporting competitions, the most successful na-tion was Switzerland, with nine med-als. The Czech team ended up fifth, with six medals, although none of them were gold. (caf)

Svalbard, an Ideal Place for Personal and Life Style DevelopmentRadek Hanuš and Michal Kalman, two members of the Faculty of Physical Culture, de-cided to visit the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean at the end of September and beginning of October in order to explore the possibilities of professional co-operation in environmental tourism, active movement in the outdoors, and try sail training.

Along with thirty other people from the Netherlands, Germany, United States, and Belgium, they joined an exploring expedition on board the Dutch sailboat Antigua along the western coasts of the islands. During the sail, they visited a whole range of natural habitats and research stations and met with colleagues at the University Cen-tre in Svalbard.

“We have an opportunity to learn from the active tourism programmes based on the ‘friluftsliv’ concept of nature stays, characterised by active movement in the country-side. Once we arrived, the specific environment and conditions on the boat became the centre of our learning process. Neither the Arctic nor sailboats are typical features of in-land life in Central Europe. Our social models are of no use in a wilderness ruled by po-lar bears,” explained Vice-Dean Hanuš.

Svalbard represents, according to Hanuš, an ideal opportunity to realise develop-ment and interventional programmes focused on personal development and an active life style.

One Year in Olomouc

Seven Ukrainian stipend students from partner universities in Odessa, Zaporizhia, and Kiev have been attending Palacký University since September as a part of their doctoral studies at the Faculties of Law, Medicine and Dentistry, and Arts.

“It is a gesture of solidarity towards Ukraine, because they cannot focus on their re-search in such turbulent times. That is why we decided to allow them to continue their research here,” announced Rector Jaroslav Miller.

The doctoral students can rely on the university’s financial and social support. “Even though I have been to Prague twice already, I like Olomouc more. People are friendly and willing to help,” said oncologist Alona Chasovská, sharing her first impressions. She and her colleague Petr Škrobotko also appreciated the top quality of the Institute of Molecu-lar and Translational Medicine. (caf)

kaleidoscope

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Confucius Institute Celebratesthe Opening of its Prague Branch

In November, the Confucius Institute at Palacký University opened a branch in Prague. Among the guests attending the celebration were Chinese Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Ma Keqing, and the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Cyril Svoboda, whose Diplomatic Academy on Charles Square became the seat of the new branch.

Rector Miller Thanks Josef Jařabfor the Student RevolutionA march called Prozvoníme Olomouc (Ringing Olomouc) reminded us of the 25th an-niversary of November 17th—the beginning of the Velvet Revolution.

At first, Rector Jaroslav Miller was not sure if or how the young generation of stu-dents is concerned with the importance of November 17th. “It makes me proud that Palacký University has students who honour the legacy of the Revolution and who find the values of freedom, democracy, and civil rights of utmost importance,” said Miller.

He also noted that the future may hold many totalitarian threats if we do not stand up every day for the values and principles of November 17th. “I realise that I have never personally expressed my thanks to Josef Jařab, the key figure at Palacký University dur-ing the November events, for his courage to stand up against the Communist regime at a time when it was far from sure the regime would collapse. Were it not for people like Josef Jařab, my life and the life of people in this country would be completely different. And that is why I thank you, Professor!” said the Rector.

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Plant Growth Stimulator Granted EU Patent

The Centre of the Haná Region for Bi-otechnological and Agricultural Re-search is the proud holder of anoth-er European patent. The preparation, with the working name PI-55, was de-veloped in collaboration with Freie Universität in Berlin and positively af-fects plant growth, increasing root sys-tem development, and resistance to stress. According to scientists, some-thing similar to this “helper” is needed by farmers.

Hormones, specifically cytokinins, are crucial for a number of processes connected to plant growth regulation and development. The contribution of the experts from Olomouc and Ber-lin lies in the discovery of substances blocking the perception of cytokinins in the plant, thus altering plant devel-opment and growth. The technology of cytokinin antagonists and the first preparation based upon this principle was described in 2009. In July 2014, the whole process culminated in being granted a European patent.

“The plant has receptors in order to perceive its own chemical signals—hormones. Our agent blocks these re-ceptors—to put it simply, it blinds the plant with regard to perception of its own hormones. Should this agent be used in agrochemical treatment, there would be no need to use large doses,” said Lukáš Spíchal from the research team.

Preparations based on the mecha-nism of cytokinin antagonists are not yet on the market. The patented sub-stance presents zero ecological risk, stimulates the growth of root systems, and increases both yields and resist-ance of plants against stress. (srd)

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university town

People from Olomouc are well aware of the fact that Palacký Uni-versity plays a significant role in the life of the Haná region’s capi-tal, as shown by a recent survey conducted by the Department of Politics and European Studies at the Faculty of Arts.

The Church has been forgottenAmong the main symbols, there is a  sig-nificant one missing in the survey—the Catholic Church, even though Olomouc is the seat of one of the two Czech Archbish-oprics. The Church was mentioned as an important feature of the city by only 44% of respondents.

“Personally, I find it surprising, because, for me, Olomouc history is closely tied to both the university and the Church. Both of them were shaping the history of Olo-mouc, and it is interesting to see that peo-ple nowadays do not regard the Church in that way,” said Lebeda.

However, the reason for this could be re-cent political campaigns against Church restitutions, Lebeda admits.

Win-Win situation The university has always been an integral part of Olomouc—it is its biggest employer and by far the largest institution.

The survey Attitudes of Olomouc Resi-dents 2014 was made on order of the Town Hall. Experts from the Department of Pol-itics and European Studies worked on it for about six months.

Olomouc Residents Identify �eir City with the University

text: Milada Hronová | photos: Milada Hronová, Jan Andreáš

Tomáš Lebeda, Dept. of Politics and European Studies

In this survey focussed on perceptions of Olomouc, respondents mentioned the sights, the historic town centre, and the university as its three most distinctive fea-tures. Olomouc was considered a universi-ty town by 78 percent of more than 1,000 respondents, who could choose from ten alternatives, such as its parks, archdiocese, or football team.

University as the symbol of the cityEvery year at the end of September, the streets of Olomouc are filled with more than 22,000 Palacký University students, and the huge potential of young people in-fluences both life in the city and its life style.

“For the university, it is great that Ol-omouc residents acknowledge its impor-tance and regard it as an integral part of the city,” said Tomáš Lebeda, the head of the Department of Politics and European Studies. Together with his colleagues Pav-el Šaradín and Michal Kuděla, he subjected respondents’ views to factor analysis.

According to Lebeda, Olomouc is seen as a historic city with a university and many monuments by most of its residents.

Hidden TreasureFor the third year in a row, Olomouc made it to the top of the prestigious Lonely Planet guide’s list of the most beautiful, yet little-known tourist destinations.

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graduate

Our Man in America: Motivation is the KeyTo this day, Miroslav Bešta states his studies at Palacký University were on a highlevel. ªis 1996 graduate from the Faculty of Computer Science is now working in his tenth year as a developer for Google in New York. As he admits, chance played a role.

“At the faculty we had a  lot of mathemat-ics and computer courses but students had huge motivation, we were able to learn quite a  lot. Knowledge gained at Palacký University can be applied anywhere in the Czech Republic or even to make the big time all over the globe. The key is to be mo-tivated and to be willing to work on your-self,” said Bešta.

And he should know. He graduated sum-ma cum laude and moved from Olomouc to Prague, where he wanted to get his Ph.D. at Charles University. “It’s a bigger school

and they have a  greater academic capaci-ty, but the basics were very similar to what I had studied in Olomouc,” he noted.

American doctorate“I went to Prague to study in the Comput-er Science department under Prof Fran-tišek Plášil. However, after a year he left to teach in Detroit and he needed students, so I left with him. I never planned to study in the USA, but when the opportunity came, I said I would try it for a year,” he remem-bered.

text: Pavel Konečný | photos: MB personal archive

He mostly wanted the doctorate so that he could stay and teach at the uni-versity in Olomouc. In the end it took him more than five years to finish his Ph.D. at Wayne State University in De-troit. “In the Natural Sciences fields at the doctoral level, one receives a stipend for studies and for work performed. That means that one must teach or grade pa-pers, but it is paid. A  small amount of money, but enough to live on. And so my Ph.D. studies were practically free,” he recalls.

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He found the methodology at Wayne State University different. “A  greater em-phasis is placed on independent thinking. For example there are tasks given to stu-dents which take so much time that Czech students would say, ‘Forget it’. On the oth-er hand, this way of teaching shows that if a student spends enough time on the prob-lem, he/she is able to solve it, no matter the difficulty,” Bešta described.

His first computer was a  Sinclair ZX Spectrum, which led him to the Faculty of Sciences in Olomouc, where he met up with “machines” like the legendary PC 386.

“The title of the field, Theoretical Cyber-netics, Information Mathematics and The-ory of Computer Systems, is an abstract concept which we used to laugh at as stu-dents. In practical terms, it is information theory, software engineering, computer theory, and algorithms,” he explained. He taught for a  year in Olomouc at the Com-puter Science department before leaving for Prague.

During his doctoral studies in America, he spent time researching a part of Information Science called Formal Methods and Formal Verification of Systems. “It’s  on the border between mathematics and information

science, and it deals with trying to prove the correctness of complicated algorithms.” After almost six years in Detroit, he wanted to return to his alma mater.

“It had already been arranged that I  would teach in Olomouc, if I  didn’t find anything more interesting in the USA. But that is exactly what happened. I  was only looking at top employers in the USA, uni-versities and a  few firms… one of which was Google,” he said. That was in 2005.

Attractive employmentFor the first five years he worked on devel-oping tools for developers in the in-house Google Developer Infrastructure on dis-tributed compilation of programs. Then for two years in the area of advertisements in the DoubleClick backend, “on the serv-ers which decide which ad we are going to show you, when you browse pages,” he explained. The past two years he has been back at Infrastructure, working on the dis-tributed file system used in all data centres at Google.

“When I  started, it was a  small firm which gave me the opportunity to contrib-ute to a significant extent in developing sys-tems and software. The infrastructure for

storing data is one of the foundations with-out which the company could not survive. I am in a senior position, which allows me to influence the directions in which Goog-le is going along the lines of file systems,” he explained in detail. It is said that Goog-le tries to find generalists who are able to change their work orientation according to demand.

He has only good memories of Olomouc. “My class was relatively successful. It was two years after the Velvet Revolution when I was accepted. I remember lots of teachers and professors: for example, Dr Večerka and his theories of automation and formal languages, which was for us a real experi-ence. Also Prof Snášel and Prof Sklenář, who was my advisor on my Master’s  the-sis…” echoed through the receiver from the other side of the Atlantic. He mentioned his fellow pupils Petr Waclawek and Radovan Janeček. “Radim Bělohlávek was in the year ahead of us and now he is the depart-ment chair,” he added.

He follows events in the Czech Republic, although not on a daily basis. “I read news on the internet, so I  have a  rough idea of what’s happening.” He returns to his home near Bouzov twice a year.

RNDr. Miloslav Bešta, Ph.D. (b. 1973)

His first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, today he is in his tenth year as a developer at Google in New York.Hiking is one of his hobbies—he enjoys walking in the mountains, especially in national parks in the USA. His highest peak was 4000 m. In the Czech Republic he fell in love with the Jeseník Mts and with Šumava.

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experience

Inexhaustible sources of information, inspirational everyday academic life, and above all, an un-interrupted sabbatical—a brief enumeration of the experiences and observations which came to a close last semester when Robert Zbíral, an assistant professor in the Political Science Depart-ment of the Faculty of Law, returned from a Fulbright Scholarship in the USA.

A Fulbright Means Finally Having Time for One’s Own Work

text: Velena Mazochová | photos: RZ archive | collage: Žurnál

As a visiting scholar, he spent six months in the Center for International and Compara-tive Law at Michigan University in Ann Ar-bor.

Zbíral received his prestigious Fulbright Scholarship on the basis of his project aimed at the transferral of authority from the EU to a  member state. Primarily, the stay allowed him to learn the American le-gal system in detail, as well as new method-ological approaches.

As opposed, for example, to colleagues in the sciences who form a  laboratory team, law research, according to Zbíral, is quite solitary. “I  simply sat in an office, writing, consulting with local professors, and making use of the inexhaustible infor-mation sources there,” is how he described his daily programme.

The details and programme of his stay were left up to him: “I  often visited sem-inars in various subjects, taking the role of an informal commentator—an expert on situations outside the USA. I  was also interested in subjects where I  was not an expert: at lectures on American constitu-tional law, I  was almost in the position of a student,” Zbíral added.

Sabbatical, or wish fulfilledThe main benefit for Zbíral was a wish ful-filled: uninterrupted study and research, freed from ordinary teaching duties. “In comparison with twenty teaching hours per week in Olomouc, this was practically a sabbatical—a space where a person can finally read, study, and devote oneself sys-tematically to one’s own research,” Zbíral emphasised.

Astonishing sources of information vs planned outputOne of the positive aspects of his research stay was the ability to make use of the in-formation sources on offer via the libraries and databases. “Michigan University’s  li-brary is better than any in Europe… includ-ing European Studies. You can order books via the internet, and they deliver them right to your office,” he added.

The astonishing amount of information transformed his ideas about specific research publications. “I  thought that if a  person went abroad, he or she could write several articles and even, gradually, a  book. But once I  started delving into the information, for example about the

division of authority between federal and individual states, I  realised that the situation has been so extensively written on, and in such depth, one cannot write about it after a mere two months. So I took it as an opportunity to do research on certain problems,” Zbíral explained.

�e Czech-American government stipend programme administered by the James William Fulbright Commission offers stipends for scientific, educational, and study stays in the USA. It makes possible research, studies, and lectures at top institutions, as well as co-oper-ation with world famous scientists. UP’s Fulbright Commission Ambas-sador is its Rector, Jaroslav Miller.

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At the 2014 NHL Winter Classic game, held at Michigan University’s stadium, the largest in the USA, which set the NHL attendance record of 105,491.

With his colleague Jimmy Stevensen in front of the Law School dormitory: snow and –15 ºC.

An elite experienceHis specific experience was also influ-enced by the environment of a prestigious university, in the top tenth percentile of American universities. “In the USA, law-yers make up the elite, and the best law fac-ulties are not so open to outsiders,” Zbíral revealed.

The feeling of exclusivity permeates into the relationships inside the academic community. “Professors and students both have—often justifiably—high confidence in themselves. There is huge competition between students, so they have this ‘do it yesterday’ attitude, you see it in student organisations and also from magazine

editors. A  CV without related activities looks suspicious,” added Zbíral.

And the more elite the school, the more extreme it gets. “At Michigan they even came up with this idea that they would not announce grades during the semester. Students who wanted to end up in the top five percent had to be so competitive that it started to influence their relationships at school,” Zbíral remarked.

InspirationAs the head of his department, and a mem-ber of the Academic Senate, he also consid-ered it a valuable experience to observe the everyday inner university operations there.

Several ideas he would like to see imple-mented in Olomouc.

“I liked how at Michigan they tried their utmost to keep people on campus. You come in the morning and leave at night—because people have developed excellent dining and meeting facilities, with areas for relaxation and free time activities. Peo-ple are living there, not just running there from their dormitories,” Zbíral observed.

The benefits of a  Fulbright stay depend upon the individual, and cannot be quan-tified, according to Zbíral: “The most im-portant thing is the possibility to experi-ence how things work elsewhere, to debate one’s themes, and to have time for yourself.”

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life style

“The project Park Here has been organ-ised by myself and five others,” explained its co-ordinator, Ondřej Martínek. In his diary, he counted twenty-two events, or-ganised on a budget of only forty-five thou-sand Czech crowns (€1600).

It was enough to pay for eight film screenings, two Latin-American dance shows, four piano shows, three art work-shops and two sporting events.

“I studied abroad so I am used to crowd-ed parks, but that is not exactly the case in Olomouc; however, this project managed to fill them. I  like that Park Here attracts

people of all ages and puts together rath-er different things. I  myself tried an ATV, juggling, and climbing beer cases. I  also watched several new films in different park locations this summer,” shared Klára Hen-zlová, a student of English.

Jakub Sadecký from the Faculty of The-ology welcomes the existence of Park Here, too. “Dancing parties in parks are an inter-esting idea, I  danced waltzes and polkas with my girlfriend,” said Sadecký.

According to Martínek, the average at-tendance was around 150, while the big-gest event drew four hundred.

text: Pavel Konečný | photos: Park Here

A new university initiative called Park Here has brought fresh air into the life of Olomouc’s parks. Bezruč, Smetana, and Čech parks, but also the surroundings of the Svatý Kopeček basilica, and Poděbrady pond—these are places where young people sud-denly turned up and danced, watched movies, juggled, played barefoot football, or simply relaxed amidst the greenery.

Park Here

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1989

Petr Zatloukal had a  stormy Novem-ber twenty-five years ago. A series of coinci-dences helped him become the key photogra-pher of the Velvet Revolution in Olomouc. “In June 1989, I  graduated from the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava, in the field of Documentary Photography. So November caught me ready for some documentation. Working with my camera was like breathing to me, and I also knew a group of Philosoph-ical Faculty students who called themselves ‘Komuna’—The Commune. My original sub-ject field was cybernetics, so I  found their philosophical view of life very refreshing,” re-called Zatloukal. It was these students who later became leaders of the Velvet Revolution.

We leaf through photos that were includ-ed in various anniversary publications. Un-fortunately, nothing was published for the 25th jubilee. “I  don’t have a  favourite. May-be the one with the balloons,” he muses. The sculpture group of Bolshevik leaders used to stand next to the Theresian Gate, where to-day there is a car park. “People had put exe-cutioner’s  hoods on their heads before they installed those balloons. I was taking the pic-tures at night; the place had a very strange at-mosphere. It is actually the only colour photo.

And in the morning, the balloons were gone,” described Zatloukal. Morning came, and the sculpture group fell victim to the ‘Fly to Warmer Climes’ happening—a  crane came and took the Stalinists away, to applause.

“And this photo was actually on my New Year’s  greeting card: ‘Make a  Wish upon a Star’…” he points to the photo of climbers taking down the five-pointed communist star from a high wall. At that time, the symbol was on every corner and even every locomotive.

“These happenings were kind of an Olo-mouc specialty—for example the coronation of the stone lions in front of the courthouse, or the wall made of cardboard boxes around the seat of the District Party Committee. It was amazing! ‘Honk if you like it!’ was written on a banner by the roadside, and everybody was honking…”

The happening called ‘Victorious Feb-ruary’ was attended by spitting images of not only Fidel Castro, but also other social-ist dictators like Klement Gottwald and Mao Zedong. “From the Town Hall balcony, where the King of Majáles coronation takes place today, they delivered fiery oratory, and then jumped off the balcony. But when they jumped, people were stunned, because

basically no one was able to see the linen stretched underneath. We just heard a  cho-rus of Whoooa…,” described Zatloukal, go-ing through his photos.

He pauses before the next chapter. “I think I  prefer these from the occupational strike,” he realises. “They are all authentic; I was go-ing there at night, usually around 3 am, and people were collapsing due to exhaustion and weariness. They just fell down in place and slept.”

He regularly took pictures of friends. “Shortly after the beginning, I got the idea to avoid crowds in the streets and the two-fin-ger Victory symbols. No big emotions: but instead focus on what was going on behind the scenes—that fascinated me. I  get goose bumps even now when I  remember those days,” Zatloukal attested.

“Was it all worth it? I am no expert in poli-tics or sociology. To me, it was not really a rev-olution. It was a  natural development, and I think that it happened pretty spontaneously. I am sure that everything is as it should be—including all the consequences of November 1989. We got what we deserved. I am not dis-appointed with November 1989, nor its fur-ther development.”

Remem(Novem)bering

text and photo: Pavel Konečnýarchival photographs: Petr Zatloukal

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Чехія – нова сторінка у книзі мого життяКажуть, зміна – це життя. І це правда. Без змін наші дні були б схожі на веселку без кольорів. Мій приїзд у Че-хію змінив усе: погляди на життя, ставлення до людей, характер. Я народилася і прожила 23 роки у прекрасно-му місті, столиці України – Києві. Мегаполіс сформу-вав і стиль мого життя – я постійно поспішала, у мене практично не було часу просто спокійно прогулятися по парку чи посидіти на березі Дніпра. Коли я приїхала в Оломоуц – моє життя змінилося. З першого погляду я полюбила це маленьке, затишне, красиве містечко, де, здається, час іде повільніше… Посидіти на лавці у Сме-танових Садах, прогулятися площами міста, випити кави в улюбленій кав’ярні Тріесте – ось що я люблю. З че-хами ми знайшли спільну мову. Так, у мене тут з’явили-ся прекрасні друзі, з якими я проводжу вільний час, їж-джу на екскурсії і навчаюся. Вони допомагають мені у вивченні чеської мови – виправляють помилки та іноді сміються з мого українського акценту. Але чим більше я спілкуюся з чехами, тим частіше чую питання: «чому ти вчиш цю мову? Чому саме чеська?». Я вам відповім: тому що це чудова слов’янська мова, якою говорили Ко-менський і Масарик, писали Божена Нємцова і Ярослав Гашек, якою сьогодні говорять мільйони чехів у серці Єв-ропи. Я з впевненістю можу сказати, що нова сторінка у книзі мого життя, яку я почала писати тут, в Чехії, наповнена новими враженнями, цікавими подіями, при-ємними людьми, сюрпризами і неповторними емоціями!

The Czech Republic: A New Page in the Book of My Life

“‘Change is life,’ as the saying goes. And it is true. Without change the days of our lives would feel like a colourless rainbow. My arrival to the Czech Republic changed everything: my life-view, attitude towards people, my personality. I was born and lived for 23 years in a beautiful city, the capital of Ukraine—Kiev. My life style was determined by life in a metropolis. I was rushing all the time, had practically no time to stroll through a park or sit down by the Dnieper River. When I came to Olomouc, my life changed. I  fell in love at first sight with this little, cosy and marvellous town, where time does not fly by so fast; at least that’s how I feel. I like to sit down on the benches in Smetana Park, stroll through Olomouc’s squares or enjoy coffee in my favourite Café Trieste in the Lower Square. Czechs and I speak the same language, I have good friends here, spend my leisure time with them, go on trips, and study together. Besides, they help me learn Czech, correct my mistakes and they laugh at my accent from time to time. But the more I speak with Czechs, the more I hear one question: ‘Why do you study this language? Why Czech?’ I will tell you why: Czech is a  beautiful Slavic language, the language of Comenius and Masaryk; writers like Božena Němcová and Jaroslav Hašek;the language of millions of people in the heart of Europe. I am positive to say that this new Czech page in the book of my life is full of new experiences, interesting events, nice people, surprises, and wonderful emotions!”

reflectionphoto: Pavel Konečný

Марія Попко; in Czech, Marie Popková (b. 1990)Marie Popko was born in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, where she got her Master’s degree in Slavic Languages and Literature (Ukrainian and Czech Studies) from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev. She came to the Czech Republic for the first time in 2008 and since then has been regularly attending language school programmes in Brno and České Budějovice. In 2013, she began her Ph.D. studies in the field of Comparative Slavic Philology at Palacký University.

žurnál 201540

In the beginning was the Word, the drunk told me, emphasising with his pointer fin-ger, as he leaned over the reception desk at the Palác Hotel in Olomouc. It was the end of October 1989, and I  was working the night shift, a  student at the Philosophical Faculty. And what word? He left it up to me.

“If I knew that, sir, I would be God.” He surprised me twice in one sentence. Peo-ple at that time used the word ‘comrade’—talking about ‘God’ was not allowed....

I never saw him again, but from time to time I would think about him. Just like what happened a month later. November 1989 is a time everybody remembers a little differ-ently, and some would even like to forget.

In recent years, November has been a  time almost as lacklustre as the Great

October Revolution memorials. The green leaves first turn orange, then red.... And then they fall. Nothing remains. I look at the black and white photos Petr Zatloukal took here in November 1989, but I see them in colour. I still know the relief of being freed from one’s shackles. And how wondrous it is to be a  part of history. In this country that feeling comes once every forty years, or once every third generation. And then a good half of them reconsider, or reformulate how it was.

People who have the last word tend to be unbearable. And I am afraid of that to-day. But I am even more afraid of those who have the last laugh. And how their numbers are increasing.

�e Final Word

Pavel KonečnýEditor-in-Chief, UP Media

Cover page no.1 & 3 – photo: Kristýna ErbenováBack cover – Petra Bolková: Natali the Cat (collage detail). The collage was bought by Skarlet Křížová at a charity auction for the dog shelter in Neředín organised by StuArt.