HR Award – Activities 2025

Marie Šafner, IOCB Prague’s data steward, continued the series of research data management breakfast seminars, meeting with individual research groups’ data management representatives. Topics discussed included electronic laboratory notebooks, intricacies of ASEP, and the core facilities request system currently under development.

IOCB hosted Olga Medlíková, an experienced coach and presentation expert, who led a workshop on how to deliver engaging presentations, providing tips and techniques to effectively showcase expertise in specific research areas.

IOCB hosted Dr. Michaela Liegertová, a biologist and expert on using AI in research, for several practical workshops. One workshop was specifically targeted at group leaders, while two additional sessions were organized by the Postdoc club for researchers in general.

PhD representatives hosted another PhD breakfast, creating an opportunity for fellow students to meet, network, and share their study and research experiences.

The PhD peers series, organized and hosted by IOCB’s PhD representatives, continued with a discussion with Blanka Collis from the Research Support Office on preparing academic CVs. The session was followed by a CV clinic where individual CVs could be reviewed and discussed.

The Postdoc club hosted Dr. Ondřej Lidický, a cancer biologist and biochemist with theater experience, who delivered a practical workshop focused on leveraging body language and voice intonation to benefit your presentations. 

Marie Šafner, the IOCB Prague’s data steward, hosted the first breakfast seminar with data management representatives from individual research groups. The session covered a range of topics, including ORCID, file and data organisation systems, and the Chemotion repository for samples, reactions, and related research data.

The PhD representatives organized the inaugural PhD breakfast, providing an opportunity for fellow students to meet, network, and share their study and research experience. With approximately 95 students in attendance, the event was a great success, and future gatherings are already being planned.

Meanwhile, the Postdoc club hosted IOCB Prague’s social media manager Ladislav Loukota, who introduced strategies for engaging specific target groups through different social media channels and tailoring messages for each platform.

The Women in Science at IOCB group welcomed medicinal chemist Dr. Ivana Mejdrová. Now a postdoctoral researcher at the Ludwig Maximilian Universität in Munich, she is a past IOCB graduate and shared insights into the challenges of establishing an independent research group – an endeavor she is currently pursuing. The key takeaway was that things don’t always go as planned and that aspiring group leaders should start considering their future positions while finishing their PhD, as the clock on grant application deadlines begins ticking from the moment the doctorate is awarded.

Building on a previous discussion about working in a large pharmaceutical company, the IOCB Postdoc Club hosted i&i Prague project manager Roberto Fernandez Alvarez, who shared key insights on what to consider when transitioning to a startup.