International Day of Women and Girls in Science: How did female researchers from FSV UK succeed in the academic world?
On February 11, we traditionally celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the aim of which is to remind us of their essential role in the scientific environment and to support their involvement in research. On this occasion, we mention a number of successes achieved last year by female academics from the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University.
At the beginning, let us remind you that two of our female academics successfully obtained the title of professor last year. Antonie Doležalová from the Institute of Economic Studies and Kateřina Králová from the Institute of International Studies received the appointment decree from the hands of President Petr Pavel. The title of professors in the field of modern history, based on the proposal of the scientific and artistic councils of universities, belongs to them from November 29, 2023.
Researchers from the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism have also achieved significant success, having received a prestigious three-year grant from the European program Horizon Europe in the spring. An all-female team of six experts participates in international research on media resilience in cooperation with other European research institutions. “Getting the Horizon Europe grant is a significant achievement and milestone for us. Thanks to it, we can use our long-term expertise and experience with Czech media research on an international scale, and thus gain a much greater influence on the quality and protection of the media environment, which has the power to change political systems, social values and the rights of individuals,” described Alice Němcová Tejkalová, one of the academics involved.
Also Jana Votápková from the Institute of Economic Studies achieved success on a European scale. She participated in the FLASH project, which succeeded in the European Commission’s Horizon Europe call. The four-year multidisciplinary project aims to conduct a thorough analysis of health care financing mechanisms in Europe. In cooperation with external experts, the researcher will create a proposal for a model of sustainable financing of health insurance in the Czech Republic and a model for quantifying price differences in cross-border health care.
Last year, female academics from FSV UK also participated to a large extent in international conferences. In November, the Lessons and Legacies conference was held for the first time in Czechia, the co-organizer of which was Hana Kubátová from the Institute of Political Studies. At the event, leading experts on the history of the Holocaust from around the world discussed the latest research on the persecution and genocide of Jews and Roma during the Second World War.
The prestigious conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) was also held at IPS in September thanks to the extraordinary commitment of scientists and volunteers. The event was attended by 2,400 researchers, doctoral students, academics and others from almost fifty countries. You can watch the roundtable with Petra Guasti and Hana Kubátová here.
Barbara Pertold-Gebicka from IES was one of the main organizers of the 35th edition of the prestigious international European Association of Labor Market Economists (EALE) conference with the participation of almost 500 economists from all over the world. Student volunteers also contributed to the smooth running of the event.
Doctoral students also achieved respectable success last year. Martina Hrušková from the Institute of Sociological Studies won the Josef Hlávka Prize for her diploma thesis, which dealt with the issue of gentle and sustainable public procurement in a typical country of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU. Doctoral student Johana Kłusek from IMS, in turn, was among 53 laureates from around the world who received a Sylff Research Grant. The CSE President’s Award for authors under the age of 25 went to Martina Lušková, a PhD student at IES, for her work “The Effect of Face Masks on Covid Transmission: A Meta-Analysis”, in which she examined the effects of wearing masks and respirators on the transmission of the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. And the doctoral student Karolína Poliaková from ICSJ went far abroad, having received a Fulbright scholarship for research at the prestigious Columbia University in the United States.
Attention also deserves Zuzana Havránková from IES, who was elected a member of the prestigious organization Academia Europaea, whose main goal is to support policy-making in Europe through SAPEA, an advisory body of the European Commission. Her election was preceded by a demanding selection process based on nomination, review and confirmation of the excellent results of her research activity in the field of economics.
Let’s also mention the female academics who have received considerable media attention in recent months. The faculty media awards for the year 2023 was awarded to Marie Jelínková from ISS and Irena Kalhousová from IMS. Marie Jelínková received the award especially for active media presence and long-term work in the field of migration. Also thanks to her participation in the faculty’s Expert Group for Ukraine, she became a frequent commentator on issues related to the integration of Ukrainian migrants. Irena Kalhousová contributed to a society-wide understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The award is also for spreading the good name of the Herzl Center for Israel Studies and the entire FSV UK.
Over the course of the year, several female scientists also accepted invitations to the De Facto faculty podcast, where they talked not only about their academic work, but also about their everyday lives. Malvína Krausz Hladká, Vice-dean for academic affairs, for example mentioned in the interview how she wants to continue to improve the study environment at the faculty. The already mentioned Irena Kalhousová mentioned her future plans for international cooperation. In the podcast, Eliška Vejchodská from ISS spoke about the issue of environmental protection, and Markéta Supa from ICSJ, for example, described why she decided to combine studies in Czechia and abroad.
