MENDEL news 3/2024 (eng) by MENDELU

The Employee Newsletter of Mendel University in Brno 3-24

MENDELU orchids win nine medals at international show

The Botanical Gardens of Mendel University in Brno won a record nine medals at an international orchid show in Vienna: two gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals. The exposition was designed by Anna Magni and Barbara Ševčíková. The orchid collection is used for research and teaching, and it was presented to the public at the March show. The MENDELU Botanical Gardens are home to one of the largest orchid collections in Central Europe. It was founded in 1967, and a lab for the in-vitro tissue culture of orchids was opened in 1970.

MENDELU highlights

Velvet Innovation MeetUP at MENDELU

The Velvet Innovation MeetUp will be held in Building X at the MENDELU campus on Thursday, 18 April 2024, at 5:00. At this short informal meeting, participants will find out what is new in the innovative #brnoregion ecosystem, share project success stories, and seek out opportunities to collaborate. Every meetup begins with an hour-long presentation of ten innovative projects in different sectors and is followed by informal networking. The meetups are held in the Czech language. For more information, see here or contact Lucie Synková at the Department of Technology Transfer.

Interuniversity student contest

MUNISS 2024

At the end of February another iteration of the MUNISS interuniversity student competition was held. This project connects the City of Brno with academia and gets creative and talented students involved in Brno’s development. During an intensive hackathon, three teams made up of students from Brno-based universities produced projects based on a topic assigned by the city and presented them to an expert jury. We are greatly honoured to announce that the winning team included two MENDELU students: Jana Maška and Nicole Cosansel. We would like to congratulate them, and we look forward to following them on their journey to URBIS Smart City Fair 2024, where they will present the outcomes of their project. For more information about the competition, see here.

Tour of Hotel Passage for MENDELU event organizers

Hotel Passage, located at Lidická 23 in Brno, recently signed a cooperation agreement with Mendel University in Brno. When the main trade fairs are not happening in Brno, it is possible to get discounts on holding conferences, seminars, and work lunches at the facility, as well as on accommodation. On 26 April, at 11:30 a tour of the hotel will be offered to event organizers, who will find out what spaces and services the hotel offers. The event will include lunch at Restaurant Passage. You must register for the tour here. This offer is open to event organizers from all parts of the university.

MENDELU highlights

SUSTAINABLE MENDELU

NEW WEBSITE SHOWS CLIMATE CONDITION UNTIL THE END OF THE CENTURY

Climate conditions in the Czech Republic and Central Europe until the end of the century can be found on the ClimRisk website by the Czech Institute of Global Change Research, which also involved Prof. Ing. Mgr. Miroslav Trnka, Ph.D. from the Institute of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology. It provides estimates of future climate from multiple models, including temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, and sunshine. The trend shows increasing temperatures, tropical days, and decreasing frost days and days with snow cover. Changes in precipitation are not significant. Users can view various scenarios, but the preferred one is the median estimate. The development aligns more with pessimistic forecasts, which is important to consider in strategic investments. The website is intended for the general public.

Earth Day at Brno ZOO

The Brno Zoo, in collaboration with students of the Faculty of Business and Economics of Mendel University in Brno, are preparing a traditional event for the public on 20 April, Earth Day.

The Brno Zoo and MENDELU have been collaborating since 2010.

Students enrolled in Associate Professor Tučková’s Commercial Communications Seminar take a preparatory seminar at the zoo, where they plan the event, present their ideas, and prepare games for visitors.

Alza Benefit programme

We are expanding employee benefits to include the Alza Benefit programme, which entitles users to lower prices, bulk discounts, various special prices, contests, and a three-month trial membership in AlzaPlus+, where shipping to pick-up points costs only 1 Kč.

To activate this benefit, use the activation code and the process described here

Visit from Ghana

In the week of 18 to 22 March, we were visited by a delegation from the Ghanian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, led by Deputy Minister Marian K. Kpakpah and the Ghanian ambassador to the Czech Republic, Doris A.D. Brese. After being welcomed at MENDELU, the delegation received an overview of fisheries practice in the Czech Republic and current research trends. Besides excursions at MENDELU and the University of South Bohemia, the delegation also visited private companies, including Rybářství Pohořelice and Future Farming, which specializes in aquaponics.

Food Symposium hosts from LSU

Food Symposium 4.0 was held from 5 to 7 March 2024 online at Mendel University in cooperation with the Louisiana State University AgCenter. The fourth iteration of this congress was focused on alternative protein sources and presented innovations in waste reduction, food safety, and the economic aspects of sustainable agriculture. The following week, we welcomed a group of LSU students, who took part in a traditional excursion around MENDELU, including the campus of the Faculty of Horticulture, where an almond tree was planted in memory of Ashley Grant, an LSU employee who recently died in a tragic accident. These events contributed to more intense collaboration and tighter bonds between MENDELU and LSU.

MENDELU highlights

Declaring AI usage in student works

The library has issued recommendations for how to declare the use of AI tools and how to cite them in student works. This document provides students and thesis advisers with guidelines about which types of AI tools must be declared and which do not. The recommendations provide several possibilities for how to declare AI use and proposes several ways to cite such use. The document was approved by the Rector’s Commission for Educational Activities and can be found on the Library website For AI use in publications, follow the instructions of publishers and journal editorial boards. For an overview of select publishers’ approaches to AI, see this article from the Open Science Centre.

Czech Day against Cancer at MENDELU

The League against Cancer is holding its 28th annual public donation drive. Flower Day this year falls on Wednesday, 15 May 2024. At MENDELU the drive is coordinated by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Faculty of AgriSciences. You will be able to purchase a pot marigold flower on campus and nearby the university. You can also buy a flower at MENDELU Library on the ground floor of Building A on Zemědělská Street. They will be available for purchase there from Wednesday, 15 May, until Friday, 17 May 2024. You can also support the fight against cancer and prevention by sending an SMS donation. You can find more information here

New rules for entry and parking in the MENDELU campus area

As part of the traffic calming measures on the MENDELU campus, entry into the campus area has been restricted since April 1st. Entrances will now be controlled according to predetermined rules, fees are changing, and official vehicles will receive a special entry card. Distribution of cards began on March 25th, 2024, and the number of entries will be adjusted according to the available parking capacity.

Craft Fair at Křtiny Castle

On Saturday, May 18th, potters, craftsmen, and artisans will welcome you to the castle courtyard. You can look forward to demonstrations of traditional crafts, accompanying programs, good food, and drinks. Admission is voluntary.

Selection procedure for employee mobility in Erasmus+

The Department of International Relations and Internationalization announces a selection procedure for employee mobility in the Erasmus+ program. Employees can apply from April 22nd to May 12th, 2024, for teaching or training. For more information and online registration, visit the OMVI website

Erasmus+

On 6 March, the results of competitions for the Erasmus+ programme and bilateral mobility agreements were announced. Thanks to a successful campaign, there was great interest from students. Of the 242 submitted Erasmus+ applications, we will support 170 trips abroad. Eighty-eight students applied for mobility placements through bilateral agreements, 34 of whom received support. This success reflects our students’ motivation and interest in gaining international experience.

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT

6. MARCH – Ekolist.cz – Zpracování gastroodpadu: HERE

8. MARCH – Brněnská drbna – Bezpečný relax pro cyklisty i pěší: HERE

17. MARCH – Deník.cz - Odhalování zakázaných steroidů v mase: HERE

20. MARCH – Brňan.cz – Rozdíly v aktivitě zvířat během lockdownu: HERE

21. MARCH – Český rozhlas Brno: Vliv změny klimatu na meruňky: HERE

From the world of science and research

2024 Open Access Fund is open!

Mendel University in Brno has opened the Open Access Fund for the fourth year. Fund rules and application form. English information here. We wish you luck!

Take advantage of Open Access publishing discounts in 2024

Corresponding authors from MENDELU can use an unlimited number of vouchers for the Open Access publication of their papers with the American Chemical Society, Cambridge University Press, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. The only condition is that the journal must be included on the list of journals the university subscribes to and the corresponding author must be affiliated with the university. After receiving reviews, the author must choose Open Access publishing; the publisher will then contact the MENDELU Open Science Centre, which will confirm the voucher or other discount on publication fees. There is a limited number of vouchers available for Wiley, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and De Gruyter. You can find more information here.

Do you know your researcher identifier?

Do you have an ORCID account? Do you need to update your WoS profile? The Open Science Centre invites you to the Researcher

Identifier webinar, which will take place on Wednesday, 3 April, at 10:00 on MS Teams. You must register for the event.

An in-person workshop titled “How to Update Your Researcher

Identifiers” will also be held on Thursday, 4 April 2024, at 1:00 p.m. in Library A’s seminar room. Again, registration is recommended. We will help you update your ORCID and ResearcherID in WoS.

Notice for PhD students

In addition to the PhD school regularly held in autumn, PhD students can also take advantage of diverse offerings in the summer semester. For example, students can look forward to the Unlocking the Secrets of Effective Scientific Writing workshop, which will be held in April and be led by researchers with years of international experience.

April PhD workshops with ata steward

Get your research or project done with practical research data management skills. In April the Open Science Centre has prepared several practical workshops with the data steward (30–45 minutes in length). Bring your own notebook and try filling out your own Data Management Plan (DMP), and learn how to upload your data to the data repository and how to save different versions of files. You can register for the following workshops:

• Write Your DMP I – 9 April 2024, 10:00 (form)

• Write Your DMP II – 16 April 2024, 10:00 (form)

• Try Out the Data Repository – 18 April 2024, 10:00 (form)

• Research Data under Control – 23 April 2024, 10:00 (form)

From the world of science and research

Brno Ph.D. Talent

On Tuesday, 12 March 2024, a ceremony was held at the New City Hall at which recipients of the Brno Ph.D. Talent 2023 scholarship were recognized. Among the 25 winners were Jana Kurcová, a student at the Faculty of AgriSciences of Mendel University in Brno. The aim of the meeting was to award scholarships of 330,000 Kč to each student, to introduce young successful researchers who received the scholarship in previous years, and to bring together the research community in Brno for networking. The Brno Ph.D. Talent programme has been financed since 2009 from the City of Brno’s budget and is one way the city supports local talented researchers in their career. For more information, see here

MENDELU Ph.D. Talent winners announced!

The winners of the MENDELU Ph.D. Talent competition have already been announced. Ten talented students made it to the second round of the competition, where they tried to convince the impartial expert jury about the excellence of their current results and the quality of their research projects. In the end, five of them were awarded a year-long scholarship.

• Ing. Martina Bernatová - Impact Assessment of Conservation Biological Control on the Vitality Parameters of Deciduous Trees

• Mgr. Michal Kolář - Lignin-based Particles for Smart Packaging Application in the Food Sector

• Ing. Richard Kovárník - Automation in Forest Management: Micro-data Valuation of Forest Culture Ecosystem Services

• Ing. Jana Kurcová - Protein-based Nanozymes for IN SITU Activation of Prodrugs

• Ing. Marie Zahrádková - Evaluation of Nanomaterials’ Antifungal Effects Against Selected Grapevine Trunk Disease Pathogens

Congratulations!

Members of National Accreditation Bureau board met with MENDELU leaders and Internal Evaluation Board

On 14 and 15 March 2024, members of the Internal Evaluation Board met with the leaders of individual university units. On the first day, the meeting was also attended by the chairman and vice-chairman of the board of the National Accreditation Bureau, Robert Plaga and Tomáš Fliegl, who presented planned changes in the Higher Education Act and the status of the National Accreditation Bureau. These changes will have a fundamental effect on how the Internal Evaluation Board will work. You can read more about this meeting here

Invitation to meeting of degree programme guarantors

We would like to invite all degree programme guarantors to a meeting organized by the Department of Quality and Risk Management on Thursday, 18 April 2024, in Room Q02 of Building Q. It starts at 1:00 and ends at 3:00. The meeting will focus on feedback on the Internal Evaluation Board’s activities, the new ISAK information system, methodological support from the Department of Quality and Risk Management, and a joint discussion about participants’ questions and concerns. vYou can find more information on the Department of Quality and Risk Management website. We will be glad if you make time for this meeting and share your thoughts and ideas with us.