Kolář lab at UCT Prague

Conference on the academic culture

published 2024-06-16

On Wednesday, June 13, Czexpats in Science organized a conference titled "Through Academic Culture to Scientific Excellence." Over 80 researchers, research managers, and policymakers gathered to discuss the role of a positive working environment, trust, publication ethics, and interpersonal relationships in achieving groundbreaking discoveries. The keynote talks were delivered by Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council; Kateřina Rohlenová, a cancer biologist from the Institute of Microbiology, CAS; and Matthew Rampley, an art historian from Masaryk University in Brno.

Michal H. Kolář gave the opening speech and moderated the afternoon panel discussion. This conference, the first of its kind in Czechia, concluded a three-year project awarded to Michal and Czexpats in Science by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Press release (in Czech)

from left: Alice Valkárová, Pavel Doleček, Michal H. Kolář, Maria Leptin, Vlaďka Petráková, Matouš Glanc

foto: Jan Havlík

Here is the full text of the opening word by Michal.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,

About three years ago, with my colleagues and friends from Czexpats in Science we wrote a grant proposal to the Alexander von Humbold foundation. Our project focused on academic culture. We wanted to improve Czech academia by sharing the experience of people who spent some time working in academia abroad. Back then, we planned a series of seminars and workshops for young researchers, mainly for PhD students, postdocs, and fresh PIs. We thought it would be great to conclude the project by a conference. Perhaps the first conference on this topic in Czechia ever. I admit I was not really sure if this would come true.

And now, here you are and I am pleased to welcome you to this conference. Today, we will try to highlight the role of academic culture in addressing the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, should I quote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For some of you, the expression "academic culture" might still sound a bit vague. To me, the academic culture is a set of unwritten rules in which we conduct research. It is about upholding the highest standards in our research and teaching, ensuring that our work is both honest and impactful. It is something hidden behind research publications. After reading a research publication, we usually have a decent feeling about the results of the research and their implications for society or further reserach. But we know nothing about how the research was done. Here I would underscore the how.

I am a biophysicist, someone who is interested in molecules of living organisms and the motion of these molecules. My career path was sort of linear. Although I am now a full-time researcher, no one asked me during the hiring processes how I would motivate my students or what I would do with someone crying in my office. Science is a social activity, something deeply connected with interpersonal communication and meeting people. Still, there are no courses called "psychology for chemists" or "conflict mitigation for cell biologists." What I find almost scary, no one has ever taught me how to do research. Of course, I know how to collect data, or what statistical measures are used to compare two distributions. Already with the publishing process, I am getting to a gray zone. At my university, there were no classes on how to choose a journal, where to publish my research. It is a scandal, but I have no formal education on how to sort my co-authors on a paper or negotiate the first authorship.

Today, I hope we will cover some of these topics in better detail. I am looking forward to inspiring talks and stimulating discussions. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the conference.