Dear colleagues, dear students,
The examination period of the winter semester is over, and I hope and believe that it was successful primarily for our students. If there are still any unfulfilled requirements, I wish you success in fulfilling them as soon as possible.
The construction of our campus is progressing well in early 2025, although the intense construction activity is not as visible from the outside, as most of the work has moved inside the buildings. During January and February, the procurement for the purchase of laboratory equipment was successfully concluded, and other contracts have been announced or will follow soon. In addition to the many tasks and challenges associated with the actual construction, we are also addressing, among other things, the connection to the adjacent area of the Mileta Junction to ensure a smooth and seamless connection—in other words, so that it will not be noticeable in the future.
As most of you probably know, on February 11, 2025, an amendment to the Higher Education Act was approved by the Chamber of Deputies, introducing many innovations and changes. One of the most significant changes will be in the organization of doctoral studies, particularly the introduction of a guaranteed income for doctoral students. Students who start their doctoral studies in October 2025 can thus look forward to a minimum income of 1.2 times the minimum wage, which at the moment is roughly 25,000–26,000 CZK. For existing students, we are planning a gradual two-step increase in the guaranteed income so that, by the 2026/2027 academic year at the latest, it will also be at least 1.2 times the minimum wage. Other changes and innovations introduced by the law will be implemented in the university and faculty regulations in the coming months.
At the beginning of the year, we were very pleased with the success of faculty projects in the grant competition of the Czech Health Research Council (AZV). Of the five standard projects submitted, three were successful and accepted for funding. I would like to express my gratitude and congratulations, especially to the main proposers of these successful projects: Dr. Ondřej Holas, Assoc. Prof. Josef Malý, and Prof. Přemysl Mladěnka. Prof. Petr Pávek and his team also achieved an outstanding success at the start of the year, as their work, summarizing the successful discovery and development of a potential new drug MI-883 with hypolipidemic effects, was published in the prestigious multidisciplinary journal Nature Communications. This success only confirms that the “Czech Head” Award in the Lorem category is in the right hands!
Unfortunately, the beginning of the new year also brought us very sad news. At the age of 76, the Dean Emeritus of our Faculty, long-time head of the former Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, and Emeritus President of the Czech Pharmaceutical Society, Prof. RNDr. Luděk Jahodář, CSc., passed away. His contributions to the development of our faculty as well as to the field of pharmacy as a whole will never be forgotten.
At the end of this newsletter, I would like to remind you of and invite you to the 53rd Pharmaceutical Ball, which will take place on March 21, 2025, in Petrof Gallery. However, as tickets have already sold out, I can only hope that you managed to secure yours in time so that we can enjoy this traditional social event together.
However, before the ball, on Thursday, March 13, our colleagues Mgr. Jan Rataj and Mgr. Patrik Sedláček are preparing the first round of the so-called FaF Pub Quiz, a knowledge competition designed primarily for FaF staff and PhD students. I hope that you will not miss this event, form teams within your department, research group, or simply among friends and colleagues, and compete for the honor of being the first to win the FaF Dean's Cup!
I wish you a successful summer semester!
Assoc. Prof. PharmDr. Jaroslav Roh, Ph.D.
Dean of the faculty