Dear colleagues, dear students,
We are on the threshold of a new academic year, and I wish our entire faculty, all its staff, students, and alumni the best of success. I would especially like to welcome our new students to the faculty and wish them every success in their studies. Especially to those in the first year of Pharmacy, I advise you not to underestimate the first months of study and to continuously prepare for the lessons and the exams, especially in subjects where there might be any uncertainties or problems in mastering the study materials. The exam period comes very quickly and by then it is too late to catch up. I like to say over and over again, and on all occasions, that nothing would make us happier than if all students mastered their course requirements and graduated successfully! It is up to you how you approach and dedicate yourself to your studies.
There were several significant events during the holiday months. First of all, I must mention the start of construction of our new Charles University Campus in Hradec Kralove, where we should completely move in 2026 together with the Faculty of Medicine in HK. On 11 August, we handed over the construction site to the winning contractor, MEPHARED - BAK & SYNER, and we can already observe intensive work on the meadow next to the first building of the Campus in the vicinity of the University Hospital. The situation with the financing of the construction is still not fully resolved, and so the management of our university and both faculties are still waiting for a number of negotiations with representatives of the Government of the Czech Republic and with the relevant ministries. At the beginning of September, the Minister for European Affairs, Martin Dvořák, visited our faculties to personally inform himself about the situation with the construction of our campus.
Furthermore, I would like to congratulate our graduate Ivona Cristina Igreja Sá, Ph.D. from Prof. Petr Nachtigal's group, who won the prestigious Dimitris N. Chorafas Award, given in cooperation with the Israeli Weizmann Institute of Science to the best graduating PhD student in a given year! I am proud to say that she is the third winner of this award from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Charles University out of nine laureates from Charles University. Another success was scored by a new member of the Department of Biophysics and Physical Chemistry, Dr. Eugen Hruška, whose PRIMUS project "Quantitative Prediction of Drug Metabolism" was accepted for funding. I thank both colleagues for their excellent representation of our faculty! Thanks also go to all the proposers and co-proposers of a total of 12 Czech Health Research Council projects, as well as to the three teams led by Assoc. Petra Matoušková, prof. Petr Pávek and prof. Dalibor Šatínský, who applied for support within the University Research Centres UNCE!
Finally, let me thank all the students and staff of the faculty who were involved in the promotion of our faculty at the end of the previous academic year. I am really happy to see how many major or minor events were organized or participated in last year! Just to name a few, I will mention the Science Fair, Sciencefest, Open Days, a wide range of activities within the Junior Charles University, excursions of high school students to FaF, trips of our students to high schools, Gaudeamus fairs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Na Karlovku, Weekend of Open Gardens and other events at the Garden of Medicinal Plants, and finally also appearances of our staff on radio or television, either briefly with expertise on a given topic or as part of popularization programmes. And already on 6 October, we are going to have another important promotional event, namely the Night of Scientists, this year for the first time directly at the premises of the Faculty of Pharmacy in Akademika Heyrovského Street. The organisers, headed by Vice-Dean Lucie Nováková, have prepared a very attractive programme: www.faf.cuni.cz/Nocvedcu. Do not hesitate to share this invitation and contribute to spreading the good name of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Thank you, and I wish you a successful academic year 2023/2024!
All the best,
doc. PharmDr. Jaroslav Roh, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty