Robotic tentacle and repatriation of refugees. UWB has completed the 2nd year of the Doctoral School

Academic careers, international projects and science communication. These were the main topics of the educational modules of the second year of the Doctoral School of the University of West Bohemia, which took place in the winter semester. The event aimed to promote understanding of academic work.

"I believe that the Doctoral School is not only important for a deeper understanding of academic work, but also key to the long-term sustainability of doctoral education based on sharing experiences across generations. I am sincerely proud to be a part of the Doctoral School and to work with students who are undoubtedly the driving force of research at UWB and the future of science," said František Mach, Vice Dean for Science at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.

In the winter semester 2024, the second year of the Doctoral School of UWB took place. It was organized by three faculties - Electrical Engineering (FEL), Philosophy (FF) and Applied Sciences (FAV). The main topics of the educational modules were academic career, international collaborative projects and science communication. The aim of the Doctoral School is the systematic development of doctoral study programmes so that students improve their individual competences and support their personal development beyond purely professional competences. This concerns in particular their knowledge and skills in research, e.g. related to open science, data management, science communication, but also so-called transferable skills in the field of academic career building or cooperation in interdisciplinary project teams.

The school was attended by PhD students from across the study programmes of the cooperating parts of UWB. In the individual educational modules, experienced lecturers and lecturers passed on their own experiences from the academic and research world. The aspect of interdisciplinary cooperation that the involvement of the various faculties of UWB can offer proved to be crucial. For example, Jakub Tureček (FEL) presented a paper on Magnetically controlled soft robotic tentacle, Jan Vosejpka (FAV) on Photoelectrochemical water decomposition, a cheap source of green hydrogen, or Nataliya-Mariya Mochernak (FF) on Voluntary repatriation of refugees during conflict.

"I am happy that there is a joint building of the Doctoral School across the components of UWB. This cross-disciplinary and cross-faculty collaboration is beneficial to all, whether in terms of information sharing, lecturing capacity or just because we and our learners have another opportunity to inspire each other and get to know each other more. I believe that this cooperation will continue and that we will take the Doctoral School one step further," said Tereza Šlehoferová, Vice Dean for Strategy and Development of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of West Bohemia.

The Academic Career and Communication of Science module ended on 26 November in the Družba café. The students presented their research topics in front of a wider professional public and a jury of distinguished guests: Tomáš Karlík (scientific editor of ČT24), Pavla Hubálková (editor of WIRED magazine), Jan Taušl (commercial director of VODÁRNA PLZEŇ a.s.) and Eliška Bartáková (member of the Pilsen City Council).

The programme also included a panel discussion with inspiring personalities - Luďek Broz, social anthropologist from the Institute of Ethnology of the CAS and head of the ERC BOAR project, and Pavla Hubálková, winner of the RVVI Council President's Award for Popularisation of Research.

The implementation of the second year of the Doctoral School was supported by the internal Programme for the Support of the Development of Educational Activities (specifically from the projects PRVA-2024-022 and PRVA-2024-023).