HR Award – Activities 2026
31 March 2026: IOCB Green Club children's clothes and toys swap
IOCB’s Green Club organized a children’s clothes and toys swap, where colleagues brought and exchanged outgrown toys, books, and equipment.
26 March 2026: Workshop on behavior in crisis situations
A workshop was organized for IOCB staff to learn how to behave in crisis situations. Lectures by Miloslav Švéda, an ex-police instructor, included both theory and the possibility to try out some of the situations hands-on.
24 March 2026: PhD industrial site visit to Coca-Cola
A group of PhD students visited the Prague-based Coca-Cola laboratories to gain an insight into how science is done in a non-academic setting.
9 March 2026: Lecture by Dr. Isabel Torres (Mothers in Science)
To mark International Women's Day, IOCB hosted Isabel Torres, CEO of the NGO Mothers in Science. She delivered a seminar entitled Navigating parenthood and STEMM careers: Data, challenges, and a personal journey, presenting data from the Mothers in Science NGO's large survey of mothers and fathers as well as non-parent scientists.
Discussing the motherhood penalty and societal biases, as well as cultural expectations, the discussion continued with HR colleagues, crucially addressing potential solutions that can be implemented at the individual, institutional, and societal level.
1 March 2026
In advance of the IOCB Postdoctoral Fellowship application deadline on 1 April, IOCB launched its new recruitment campaign video clip “Heroes”, prepared in collaboration with film producer Filip Remunda.
17 February 2026: Postdoc club with Dr. Katarína Pšenáková
The IOCB Postdoc Club hosted Dr. Katarína Pšenáková, Head of Biology at PharmTheon, who gave a lecture on “Building Bridges Beyond Academia and Biotech: From a Global Hub to a Local Engine of Innovation”.
11 and 13 February 2026: International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026: Inter-institutional sharing of knowledge
On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026, IOCB Prague Equal Opportunities Officer Blanka Collis was an invited guest at the Science Breakfast hosted by Palacký University Olomouc, with the discussion focused on barriers faced by early-career women researchers. This included inequalities, stereotypes, and looking for possible routes to supporting talent and diversity.
Staying with this theme, Blanka Collis and Petra Ben-Ari (IOCB HR Excellence in Research Award coordinator) represented IOCB Prague at an event organized by the National Contact Centre for Gender and Science and hosted by the British Embassy in Prague, focused on the topic “Holding Power Responsibly: Leadership, Integrity, and Safety in Higher Education”. This was introduced by British expert Dr. Anna Bull and discussed in a subsequent panel discussion, with outputs of this and preceding discussions accessible here.
10 February 2026: PhD breakfast
The PhD representatives hosted the first PhD breakfast of 2026, designed by students for students to meet, greet, and share experiences.
29 January 2026: Find your PhDestiny film launch
The PhD community, together with the PR department, hosted a premiere of the PhD at IOCB movie, “Find your PhDestiny”, created in collaboration between the PhD community and film director Amálie Kovářová.
25 January 2026: Dana Hocková lecture by Prof. Agnete Kirkeby
The Women in Science at IOCB Prague hosted another lecture in the Dana Hocková series, presented by Prof. Agnete Kirkeby from the University of Copenhagen. In her scientific seminar, she discussed her long-standing research into human pluripotent stem cells, which can be used to grow dopaminergic neurons that can subsequently be transplanted to begin treating Parkinson's disease and potentially other neurodegenerative disorders. In her career talk, she described the journey to bring a lab-discovered treatment to the clinical trial stage, and how even a seemingly hopeless and fruitless PhD can lead to success as a group leader.
You can read more about her visit here.
22 January 2026: Brainstorming strategic meeting at Villa Lanna
At the end of January, the IOCB management met with most of the institute’s group leaders for the traditional strategic meeting at Villa Lanna to discuss strategic directions, future plans, and feedback on various key topics.
14 January 2026: PhD student ice skating
The PhD representative group organized an ice-skating outing for the PhD community.
12 January 2026: AI workshop for PhD students
In collaboration with the Czech National Library of Technology, the Research Support Office organized an AI workshop for PhD students.