Dear PhD Candidates,

As the year draws to a close, I would like to to thank you for your dedication, curiosity, and perseverance. Your work lies at the very heart of our faculty’s mission, and your commitment to research, teaching, and innovation continues to strengthen our academic community.

I would also like to warmly congratulate those of you who have received prestigious awards, grants, and recognitions this year—whether for outstanding publications, conference presentations, or success in competitive funding schemes. These achievements reflect not only your individual talent and hard work, but also the high standard of doctoral training at our faculty.

I truly appreciate your resilience in navigating the challenges that doctoral studies inevitably bring. You contribute fresh ideas, critical thinking, and enthusiasm that enrich and inspire our research environment.

As we look ahead to the coming year, I wish you good health, creativity, motivation, and the courage to pursue ambitious ideas. May the next year bring you exciting discoveries, fruitful collaborations, and progress toward your doctoral goals. I hope you will also find time to rest, reflect, and enjoy the festive season with your loved ones.

Thank you for being an essential part of our academic community. I look forward to following your achievements in the year ahead.

With warm wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a successful New Year,

Tomáš Kašpárek, vice-dean for research and doctoral studies

PhD HUB - Meeting place for MU doctoral candidates

Would you like to meet and get to know other doctoral students at MU?

Come to the regular meetings organized by PhD HUB. For example, Gaming Event December 17, at 4 p.m. 

You may find an overview of upcoming events on the PhD Hub website.

Interdisciplinary Meeting of Young Researchers and Students 2026

We are pleased to invite you to the Interdisciplinary Meeting of Young Researchers and Students 2026, organized by the Czech Chemical Society and the Czech Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with the support of our general partner Merck Life Science spol. s r.o.

May 17–20, 2026 • Chateau Třešť, Vysočina Region

The traditional conference brings together talented young scientists from the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biomaterial-related disciplines.

Use this unique opportunity to present research results, exchange ideas, and build professional connections across disciplines. 

Offer of educational events for the development of teaching skills

CERPEK (Pedagogical Competence Development Centre of Masaryk University) invites teachers and doctoral students to workshops for the development of teaching skills, especially for the upcoming exam period, which can help participants in planning lessons, preparing for new semesters, and modifying existing courses.

You may check the offer at the portal of Masaryk University (in Czech language only).

Ten doctoral graduates received the MUNI Vice-Rector's Award

Ten graduates of the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University received the Vice-Rector's Award for Research and Doctoral Studies for their excellent results in doctoral studies, together with their supervisors. A total of 36 young scientists were honored.

Among the successful graduates, those who successfully completed their doctoral studies within the standard period of study and whose dissertations were based on high-quality research results were awarded.

Four Brno PhD Talent Awards for our Ph.D. candidates

Four doctoral students from our faculty were successful in this year's Brno PhD Talent competition for promising young scientists.

The competition, organized by the South Moravian Center for International Mobility, is intended for students in the fields of life sciences and technical sciences. The winners receive CZK 360,000 to develop their research.

Fulbright Commission - information for those interested in student scholarships – 2026/27

Are you wondering how to take your doctoral research to an international level? The Fulbright Commission offers fully funded research stays in the US for doctoral students!

Application deadline: February 1, 2026 (for stays of 4–9 months in 2026/2027).

Do you have any questions? Write to the program coordinator: Andrea Semancová (semancova@fulbright.gov.cz).

EDUC Research Fellowship Call

The EDUC Research Fellowship Call is designed to offer researchers at all career stages (R1-R4) the opportunity to engage across disciplines, sectors, and cultural contexts. It funds short- to mid-term research mobilities aimed at developing new skills and fostering research partnerships within the EDUC Universities and their broader ecosystems.  

The call is launched on 1 December 2025 and will remain open as a rolling call until the allocated funds are exhausted or until 1 November 2026, whichever comes first.

Only individual researchers can apply for a grant for this call, with the following requirements: 

• Be employed by or formally associated with their home institution (EDUC university) at the time of application submission and for at least 30 days after the completion of the fellowship (full-time or part-time contract as researcher/professor, or PhD candidate). 
• Obtain authorisation from their head of unit/department or supervisor, if required by institutional regulations. 

New rules of the Excellence Publications Support Fund

From January 1, 2026, revised rules will apply to the Excellence Publications Support Fund!

It will now be possible to request support for articles by first and corresponding authors from the Faculty of Medicine in Q1 journals; for articles in Q2 journals only for first-author publications by doctoral students of the Faculty of Medicine.

The fund’s drawdown will be updated and published on the fund’s website every month. The application submitted to the Document Office will include a commitment of the department head that in case the fund's resources are exhausted, the publication fee will be paid from the department's resources.

EDUC-WIDE - 2. INFRA CALL

The European Digital UniverCity (EDUC) Alliance just launched its second call for research projects, offering applicants the opportunity to request access to EDUC research infrastructures.

The call is open to PhD candidates and researchers from EDUC universities. Applications can be submitted until 27 February 2026. You can find more information here.

This and more in the news on MED MUNI web / Research and Development!

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