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The Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia enables students, academics and the general public to meet personalities who have something to say, to ask for their opinions and to discuss with them.

They follow the panel discussion Humanities and Social Science Education and their Role in a Democratic Society from last October, which not only filled the auditorium of the Faculty of Education in Veleslavínova Street to the brim, but confirmed that it is important to seek answers to the situation of the humanities, what society needs them for, what their relationship is to technical disciplines and many other related questions.

The University as an Opportunity talks , organised since the end of last year by PhD students from the Philosophy Department, continue in this vein. The topics are directly or indirectly related to the fields of education and science and the aim is to view them with some distance and in the context of the functioning of modern societies in the 21st century. There is a tendency to link the worlds of the humanities and the technical sciences, to look for points of contact and ways in which the two can benefit each other.

Professor Martin Fusek, an outstanding biochemist, employee of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he leads the technology transfer team, and chairman of the Research Council of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, said in the introductory video to the February talk about the possible cooperation between the humanities and the exact sciences. And maybe it also takes people to be interpreters.

During the meeting in Družba, he spoke mainly about the problems associated with applied research and its place in the university. He focused on the difficulties associated with bringing developed substances into society and the question of ethics in research.

The full recording of the discussion can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Arts of UWB.

The organisers are already inviting to the next discussion, which will take place on 27 March at 5 pm in Družba, with sociologist and member of the National Accreditation Office Professor Dušan Lužný as a guest. He will take the participants through the "behind the scenes" of university education, talk about his experience at the National Accreditation Office, explain the meaning and functioning of the accreditation process, reflect on the current level of universities, the quality of science and higher education, and at the same time shed light on what he sees as the positives and problems of the humanities and social sciences.