On January 31, 2024, in the Karel Engliš Great Hall at the MUNI Faculty of Law, MUNI medals were presented to five personalities from our faculty on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the founding of Masaryk University.
Masaryk University’s gold medal was awarded to Professors Jaromír Leichmann and Jan Slovak, while the silver medal was awarded to Professors Jana Musilová, Jan Šmarda, and one of our graduates, Mgr. Iva Zlatušková. Below, you can read a short biography of each from the event brochure. Congratulations to all the awardees.
Jaromír Leichmann was chairman of the faculty Academic Senate from 2003 to 2005, and Director of the Department of Geological Sciences from 2007 to 2010. Between 2010 and 2018, Jaromír served two terms of office as Dean of the Faculty of Science (hereinafter SCI MUNI), during which he won several major research infrastructure investment projects for the faculty, triggering significant growth in publication performance and visibility and improvement in SCI MUNI's performance rankings. Since 2018, he has served as Vice-Dean, and is currently Vice-Dean for development and quality. In this capacity, he has successfully managed conceptual changes in the structure of study programmes, made possible by new accreditation rules following amendment of the Higher Education Institution. Jaromír has contributed significantly to the conceptual development of the Department of Geological Sciences, as well as SCI MUNI as a whole. He successfully lectures, publishes and engages in research work, and has obtained many national and international grants. The spectrum of his scientific interest is wide, ranging from classical petrology and luminescence microscopy through geochemistry to geophysics. In recent years, he has focused on the exploitation of uranium deposits and the issue of spent nuclear fuel storage.
is a prominent scientific personality and has contributed significantly to the development of MUNI and Czech science as a whole. Jan first came to SCI MUNI in 1992 and has concentrated his research on differential geometry and geometric analysis. More recently, he has also devoted himself to applying differential geometry in medical imaging and control theory. Jan is the author and co-author of several important monographs and articles. Since joining MUNI, Jan has demonstrated his exceptional organisational and management skills, first through implementing the Tempus project at the department and then in the position of Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Informatics at MUNI and Dean of SCI MUNI. Between 2004 and 2005, Jan served as MUNI Vice-Rector for strategy and development, contributing significantly to the construction of the Bohunice campus. Jan then headed the MUNI Technology Transfer Centre and was then appointed Director of the SCI MUNI Department of Mathematics and Statistics, a role he filled from 2015 to 2023. As Director, he successfully oversaw the Department’s internationalisation. Jan has also long been active in the Scientific Councils of MUNI, SCI MUNI and the MUNI Faculty of Informatics.
Jana Musilová is a leading scientific personality most closely associated with teaching and research in the field of physics at SCI MUNI. Jana has made a significant contribution to developing the entire system of physics education at our university, and actively participated in the transformation of the physics study programme as part of the introduction of the Bologna Process. Jana also contributed significantly to the preparation of the new Radiological Physics study programme, which was recently granted accreditation. From the early 1990s, Jana played a very important role in the development of the faculty as Vice-Dean, first for Science, Research, Foreign Relations and Postgraduate Studies (1992–1996) and later for Studies (2000–2004). Between 2004 and 2011, Jana was MUNI's Vice-Rector for Science and Research. As vice-president of the Scientific Council and member of the Academic Assembly of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jana has long worked to maintain good relations between the Czech Academy of Sciences and the universities. Prof. Musilová is the author of several important textbooks and teaching texts, including the three-volume textbook Mathematics for Understanding in Practice (published by Vutium) and Mechanics (published by Munipress).
Jan Šmarda is a recognised personality who, with his long-term and versatile activities, has contributed significantly to the development and good name of SCI MUNI and the university as a whole. Jan has been working at SCI MUNI since 1993, engaged in both teaching and research in the field of molecular biology and genetics. Jan received the MUNI Rector’s Award in 2022 for his many years of teaching. Shortly after joining the faculty, Jan founded a laboratory focused on the molecular biology of eukaryotes and was the first in the entire faculty to successfully cultivate human and animal cells in vitro for study. Jan has served as main investigator on several domestic and foreign EU projects, thanks to which he has been able to equip the laboratories with modern technology and introduce new experimental methods for eukaryotic cell research with an overlap in tumour biology. Prof. Šmarda is an internationally respected expert in this field, which is reflected by more than 100 professional articles published in renowned journals by his team. Jan has contributed significantly to the development of the faculty, and MUNI as a whole, through his active involvement in the construction of experimentally-oriented biological buildings on the university campus.
Iva Zlatušková graduated from SCI MUNI in 1991, after which she worked in the same faculty as an assistant, then a senior assistant. In 1994, Iva concluded a follow-up employment relationship at the MUNI Faculty of Informatics, which she then joined as a systems engineer. Since 1995, Iva has also held the position of Head of the Study Department. In 1999, Iva was appointed Head of Study Programmes and, from 2001, she held the position of Head of the Department for Studies. In 2002, Iva was appointed Chancellor of MUNI and began to participate significantly in the functioning of university agendas on behalf of the Rectorate. As of 2019, the job function was changed to the Head Office of the Personal Data Protection Officer, at which time she was appointed the MUNI Personal Data Protection Officer. During her tenure, Iva participated in the production of MUNI Directive No. 1/2018 Protection and processing of personal data (as amended from June 15, 2020), an important document that, based on European legislation, informs data subjects of the conditions under which data provided by them is processed and protected and what rights data subjects have in the area of processing and personal data protection. In addition to her formal post at MUNI, Mgr. Zlatušková also serves as the secretary of the MUNI Academic Senate and through her membership of the MUNI Council for Culture and Arts.
A new bioinformatic tool, BGC Atlas, was developed by a consortium of bioinformaticians led by Prof. Nadine Ziemert and the main developer Dr. Caner Bagci. The tool identifies and clusters biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) from publicly available datasets, offering a centralised database and a web interface...
With great sadness, we share the news that Professor Vladimír Šimek from the Institute of Experimental Biology at SCI MUNI has passed away. The farewell ceremony for the deceased will take place on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10:15 AM in the large ceremonial hall of the Brno crematorium.
