Eighty-five years have passed since 17 November 1939, a tragic day not only for Czech higher education. Under the Nazi occupation, the day was marked by the violent suppression of student demonstrations in Prague and the closure of Czech universities by the German authorities. If that day in 1939 associated with the arrival of darkness, the student protests that began on 17 November 1989 and were brutally repressed finally let light and hope into Czech society.
To commemorate both anniversaries, the academic community of the Charles University gathered atthe Carolinum on the evening of 17 November, and the Rector Milena Králíčková honoured a number of students and academics for their outstanding academic and pedagogical achievements. She also made the first presentation of the Cori Prize for contribution to equal opportunities.
The autumn of 1939 was marked by fear and apprehension about the future. Anti-Nazi protests took place across the country. At one of them, on 28 October, one of the participants, Jan Opletal, a medical student at the University of Applied Sciences, was shot and later succumbed to his injuries. The funeral procession that was supposed to honour his memory turned into another anti-Nazi demonstration. The Nazis then used all these events as a pretext and closed Czech universities on 17 November. Nine student officials were shot and twelve hundred students were taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The Czech students who went into exile then ensured that 17 November became International Students' Day in 1941.
It was on 17 November 1989, under the weight of another totalitarian establishment, that it was once again university students who were not afraid to speak out and who managed to awaken society, resulting in the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.
Both of these important anniversaries are commemorated by Charles University every year on 17 November. Throughout the day, commemorative and discussion meetings will be held, culminating in a celebration in the Karolina Grand Auditorium. The Rector of Charles University, Milena Králíčková, addressed the audience again this year and emphasised that we gather on this day every year "to commemorate together the moments that shaped the past and influenced the times in which we are living".
"We are commemorating an incredible 35 years since the events of November 1989. That was a major turning point in Central and Eastern Europe that transformed our lives. But it was not just a political change - it was a total and gradual transformation of our mentality, our values and the way we perceive ourselves. Many of the students who were active in the struggle for freedom then are now in schools and universities, leading new generations of students to not be afraid to think critically, to look for the right solutions and to fight for what they believe in. It is examples of courage and belief in a better future that inspire young people. Their experiences and their stories remain a living legacy. They are reminders of the never-ending desire for hope, courage and justice. They banish indifference and lethargy from our minds," CU's Rector Milena Králíčková said.
During her speech she also remembered the victims of the tragedy that took place at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in December last year. "We still need the active attention and determination of all our colleagues. The tragic event at the end of last year, which took place at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, affected our university community and reminded us how fragile can be a seemingly safe environment, which should be almost an adoptive family of every student and all members of the academic community. We must always strive to create a space where everyone feels accepted, respected and protected, regardless of their background or beliefs. We all remember the victims of this tragedy and their families who are struggling to cope with their irreplaceable loss. This painful experience forces us to reflect on how to protect our universities while preserving them as places of openness, respect and support."
Her words were followed by student repfresengtatives Andrea Rashovska, Senator of the Academic Senate of Charles University for the First Faculty of Medicine, and Ondřej Kříž, Senator of the Faculty of Catholic Theology of Charles University.
"We often hear that freedom is not a given. This is undoubtedly true. A free society must be constantly defended and cultivated. Although such an idea can sometimes threaten to become a mere cliché, we have the opportunity to infuse it with real meaning. We, who grew up without direct experience of totalitarianism, can back up our words with deeds that prove that they are not just empty platitudes," the students emphasised, recalling Václav Havel's essay The Power of the Powerless, dedicated to the memory of Professor Jan Patočka, one of the outstanding personalities of Charles University.
"The deep moral crisis Havel wrote about is not only about the past. It is also relevant today, when values are easily relativized and when it is easy to get lost in superficiality and simplistic views of the world. We, as students and creators of the future, have the opportunity to rethink what it means to be responsible. Each of us can contribute in small ways: apologizing when we make mistakes, lending a helping hand, admitting our mistakes, and kindly supporting others. In this way, we will ensure that the concept of 'freedom' will not be an empty one, but will become a real existential experience, enabling the emergence and development of a truly free society," the learners stressed.
The Arnošt of Pardubice Award
Then the Rector of the Charles University Milena Králíčková proceeded to award the prizes. First, she highlighted the best teachers and educational projects by awarding the Arnošt of Pardubice Prizes to academic staff for outstanding teaching activities and to groups of teaching or support staff for their contribution to improving the quality of educational activities. She presented the award together with Markéta Martínková, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs, and Jan Polák, Vice-Rector for Conception and Quality of Education.
The Arnost of Pardubice Award for Outstanding Teacher was awarded to Marek Dvořák, Department of Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, Charles University.
Marek Dvořák is one of the most popular teachers at the Faculty. In addition to his excellent teaching activities, he has also been instrumental in innovating the teaching of criminalistics, where he strives for maximum integration of teaching with practice. He is also behind the introduction and organization of the criminal law exit seminars, the essence of which is the meeting of students and teachers on a specific topic in an informal setting, presentations and discussions on current topics in the field.
Petr Čermák, Department of Romance Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University.
Professor Petr Čermák has been working at the Institute of Romance Studies of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University for almost 30 years. He has devoted his entire professional life to teaching and scientific work for the university. He is mainly engaged in the synchronic study of Spanish, especially its morphology and syntax. During his career he has published many excellent teaching texts. He has supervised and continues to supervise a huge number of bachelor, master and doctoral theses.
The Arnošt' of Pardubice Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of innovation in educational activities was awarded to:
The team of the Clinic of Palliative Medicine of the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and the General University Hospital in Prague for the introduction of value anamnesis into the teaching process. The prize for the team was received by the Head of the Clinic, Associate Professor Kateřina Rusinová.
The team of the newly established Clinic of Palliative Medicine, the first of its kind in the Czech Republic, has introduced value-based anamnesis into the teaching process at the First Faculty of Medicine, where it is gradually being integrated into teaching across clinical disciplines. The value history provides key information about the patient's needs, their understanding of the disease, treatment, prognosis, information about the patient's personal trust, and the patient's values and preferences.
Vojtěch Novák from the Second Faculty of Medicine of Charles University for the Robotics Olympiad.
Robotic surgeries are already an integral part of surgical disciplines and are undoubtedly the future of minimally invasive surgery. In May 2024, the third edition of the Robotics Olympiad project took place. Under the guidance of a trained lecturer, the students gradually learned how to operate the surgical robotic console and were able to test their skills in this dynamically developing field.
CU Grant Agency Awards
During the gala evening on 17 November, the Rector of Charles University Milena Králíčková also awarded the CU Grant Agency Prizes for outstanding scientific results achieved within the framework of the special-purpose support of GA UK. The awards are intended for students or graduates of master's or doctoral studies.
The Rector's Prize for his project Modelling the polarisation of X-ray radiation of accreting black holes was awarded to Jakub Podgorný (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University).
The author modelled the X-ray properties of astrophysical objects such as accreting black hole disks, active galactic nuclei, X-ray flares, etc., including relativistic effects affecting the polarisation of X-rays produced in the vicinity of rotating black holes. The models developed have been used to analyse the data obtained by the IXPE satellite, leading, among other things, to a major publication in Science.
Youssif A. Youssif Budagaga (Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University) received the Vice-Rector's Prize for Scientific and Creative Activities for the project Introduction of ex vivo and in vivo models of lung tumours for the evaluation of the clinical value of dual drug resistance modulators. He received the prize from Vice-Rector Ladislav Krištoufek.
The project led by Youssif Budagaga focused on evaluating agents that have the ability to overcome resistance to chemotherapy in lung cancer. Major achievements of the project include publications in leading journals, presentations at scientific conferences and a major international collaboration with Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The project has prepared cell cultures from lung tumours to investigate proteins associated with drug resistance and to test the effects of selected agents that might reduce this resistance. These results open up new possibilities in the treatment of resistant lung tumours.
Emil Svoboda ( Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University) received the GA CU Chairman's Prize for the project Identification and partitioning of composites in four languages: a deep learning approach. He received the prize from the GA CU Chairman Vladimír Komárek.
As part of his project, Emil Svoboda created a unique tool based on deep learning that can automatically identify and decompose compound words in seven languages. This tool, freely available online, brings a major advance in natural language processing and opens up new possibilities for compound analysis. The results of the project have been presented at international conferences and published in prestigious linguistic proceedings.
Honorable mention for the project Pressure-Driven Structural and Magnetic Transformations in Type 221 Intermetallics was awarded to Petr Král (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University).
The results of Petr Král's research significantly advance the current state of knowledge in the field of structural and magnetic transformations in type 221 intermetallic materials at high pressures. During the project Petr Král carried out a number of experiments on large international infrastructures. He obtained a number of unique results obtained under extreme conditions (high pressure, low temperature, strong magnetic field). He has published his research results in prestigious international journals.
Honorable mention for the project Dynamics of brain mechanisms of perspective taking in humans was awarded to Anna Gunia (Third Faculty of Medicine, CU).
Anna Gunia investigated how the brain works when perceiving situations from the perspective of other people. As part of the project, she developed a new experimental paradigm for studying this ability. She identified specific brain activity related to perspective switching and created a new approach to investigate the link between spatial perception and theory of mind. The research may contribute to a better understanding of the brain processes involved in empathy, which could lead to new therapeutic approaches. She has presented the results of her research at international conferences and through a study in the leading journal NeuroImage.
Honorable mention for the project Comprehensive Study of Bronze Age Grinding Stones at the Kaymakçı Site in Western Anatolia went to Kristina Doležalová (Faculty of Arts, Charles University).
Kristina Doležalová focused on the study of Bronze Age grinding stones from the Kaymakçı site (Turkey), investigating their provenance and traces of wear. Using an innovative experimental method using replicas of stone grinding tools, she contributed to the understanding of the processes involved in grinding and crushing plant and animal food. In the Open Science programme, she also involved high school students in these experimental activities. The results were presented at international conferences and in prestigious journals. These results can be considered excellent in the whole Czech archaeology.
The Cori Prize
For the first time ever, the Rector of Charles University Milena Králíčková also awarded the Cori Prize for contribution to equal opportunities. The prize is named after the Cori family, who jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947. Gerty Theresa Cori thus became the first woman in the world to receive this award in medicine. The Coris met at the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague, where they both graduated in medicine. Although they were both from Prague, they had lived permanently in the USA since the 1920s and had already claimed the Nobel Prize as American citizens.
The Cori Prize is awarded by the Chancellor for a one-time activity or a long-term activity, such as a project or a significant educational achievement that helps to create equal opportunities. The award was presented by the Rector of Charles University Milena Králíčková together with the Chair of the Equal Opportunities Council of Charles University Associate Professor Irena Smetáčková and member of the Rector's College for Social Affairs and Sustainable Development Lenka Henebergová.
This year the Cori Prize was awarded to:
Alena Macurová, Institute of Bohemia for Foreigners and Communication for the Deaf, Faculty of Arts, Charles University.
Professor Alena Macurová is the founder of a completely new field in the Czech context: sign language linguistics and Deaf Studies. In 1998, she was at the birth of the Czech in Deaf Communication at the Faculty of Arts, which later transformed into the current Bachelor's degree programme in Languages and Communication of the Deaf and a follow-up Master's degree programme in Czech in Deaf Communication. Thanks to it, research on Czech sign language began to develop in the academic environment and in 1998 Czech sign language was legislatively codified and placed on a par with spoken languages. She made a significant contribution to changing the Czech public's view of the deaf and sign language, and was a promoter of the cultural-linguistic approach to deafness. Thanks to her, deaf people began to perceive themselves not as disabled, but as members of a linguistic and cultural minority. Thanks to her, deaf people gained wider access to education, they were able to start studying at universities, and more appropriate methods based on a bilingual approach began to penetrate lower-level schools. Together with the teams she assembled and coordinated, she prepared several Czech textbooks for the Deaf and participated in a number of educational projects and programmes.
Hana Havelková, in memoriam, co-founder of gender studies at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University. The award was received by her husband Professor Miloš Havelka (Faculty of Humanities, CU) together with their daughter Barbara Havelka, who works at Oxford University.
Hana Havelková was, and remains, an internationally renowned figure in the field of feminist sociology and political philosophy. She has devoted her entire professional life to education and research, equal opportunities in science and gender-sensitive cultivation of the Czech academic environment in the post-socialist period. She is by far the most cited Czech and Czechoslovak feminist scholar and theorist of state socialism.
Hana Havelková has been lecturing at Charles University since 1994, first at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, then in 1996 at the Institute of the Foundations of Education, and later at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. At the turn of the millennium she was at the birth of the Master's programme in Gender Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, which is still the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic and Central Europe.
Throughout her academic career, she complemented her teaching and research work with active involvement in government institutions and civil society organisations, such as her work at the UNESCO European Centre for Human Rights Education, her work on the board of the non-profit Gender Studies Foundation, her long-standing chairmanship of the Czech Helsinki Committee, and her work on the committees of the Czech Government Council for Equal Opportunities and Representation of Women in Politics.
A fine concert to mark a significant day
The award ceremony was followed by a concert prepared by Collegium pedagogicum, the mixed choir and orchestra of the Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University Piccolo coro & Piccola orchestra under the baton of conductor Marek Valášek. For this occasion they rehearsed the Bible Songs and Te Deum by Antonín Dvořák.
You can find additional information in Czech and English in the official press release.
