An introductory word from the Dean
Dear colleagues,
I wish I could start my second term as the Dean of the Faculty and the beginning of the Spring 22 semester with only positive messages and news. It seems that after almost two years of dealing with the Covid pandemic situation, that has in an unprecedented way changed not only the way of teaching but also scientific priorities. We managed to get the situation under control and set a combination of measures that allows us to manage its consequences. We can gradually concentrate on what might be called the lessons learned from the crisis.
I want to thank all of you who significantly contributed to managing the Covid situation – be it by developing new testing methods, new protective equipment, new ways of research and predicting the spread of the epidemics or by making the lectures suitable for online form, or volunteering and helping to alleviate its impact and consequences. I consider saying thank you very important, if only because it is not said enough times but also because it serves as a reminder of what we have achieved, which gives us the strength to accept other challenges.
I was looking forward to concentrating on introducing new vice deans and sharing changes in their assignments that go along with the strategic goals of the Faculty presented in my vision for the Faculty and discussed during the elections. I wanted to invite you to “back to normal,” albeit with a new point of view influenced by the Covid situation.
Unfortunately, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing situation we are witnessing every day is changing our goals and priorities in the near future. Due to the aggression driven by the ill will of certain people, not by an insidious virus, we are facing a new crisis. We have no choice but to renew our efforts to defend our values together, help all victims and those in need, and seek solutions to all the related problems that arise because of the war and to which we can seek answers within our fields.
I am therefore asking you to mobilize your strengths once again to help in any way possible. Help is organized both at the university level and from other organizations, a list of which is available here. I ask each of you to consider the issues at hand in your scholarly endeavors and, where possible and meaningful, to prioritize those works that can contribute to solving what is acute. I urge you to disseminate truth and knowledge to our students in the same way we are used to in the field of natural sciences, with respect for the values we cherish at Masaryk University. That is our mission in good times but will be the same also in bad and most difficult times.
Yours
Tomáš Kašparovský
Dean of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University