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Petr Pavlas, assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of ZČU and research assistant at the Department of Comenius and Intellectual History of the Early Modern Period of the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, received two prestigious awards this year.

The Otto Wichterle 2020 Prize was presented to him, as well as to 21 other exceptionally high quality and promising scientists under the age of 35, by the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Eva Zažímalová, in June. Last week, Petr Pavlas was awarded the Josef Hlávka Prize 2020 for young talented researchers of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic up to 33 years of age. The prestigious award is given by the Josef, Maria and Zdeňka Hlávka Endowment Foundation. "The official award ceremony of the Josef Hlávka Prize was postponed due to the current epidemic crisis and the Hlávka Foundation plans to hold it at the castle in Lužany near Přeštice in spring 2021," said Petr Pavlas, who won the prize for his research on J. A. Comenius, the history of philosophy and the intellectual history of the early modern period.

Petr Pavlas not only teaches at the Faculty of Philosophy, but is also its graduate. What is his relationship to the University of West Bohemia? "The very fact that I graduated here between 2006 and 2015 with all three levels of higher education - Bachelor's degree in Humanities, Master's degree in Analytical Philosophy and Philosophy of Science and PhD in Theory and History of Science and Technology - shows that I was very happy here as a student and I am equally happy here now as a teacher. I consider Pilsen Philosophy not only to be a quality school, but also an original and distinctive one. Of those of my teachers who have unfortunately passed away, I am particularly fond of Robert Falkenauer, Milan Mráz, Jiří Fiala, Petr Vopěnka and Maria Větrovcová. My supervisor Daniel Špelda, who most significantly shaped and guided me during my PhD and to whom I owe much, has moved to Brno, but I could name a number of other excellent teachers and experts from whom I learned a lot and who continue to work fruitfully in the department and give it a face. The Department has also grown stronger since I was a student with more erudite experts and great teachers. I am honoured to be their colleague," he says.