Academic Bodies

Doc. RNDr. Martin Kubala, Ph.D., graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague. He majored in Physics specialized in Biophysics and Chemical Physics. He completed his Doctoral studies at the same faculty and worked there as an Assistant for one year. Since 2005 he has been working in Biophysics at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc where he habilitated in 2010.

He specializes in the use of optical spectroscopy to study the relationship between the structure and properties of organic molecules and especially biological macromolecules. He has been working on one of the most important animal cell enzymes, sodium-potassium pump, where he, in addition to its structure and function, also analyzes its interactions with pharmacologically important substances.

He also devotes great effort to the educational part of academic work. At the Department of Biophysics he has built the field of Molecular Biophysics and is the guarantor of Bachelor's and Follow-up Master's Study programs. His pioneering actions in the field of popularization are projects Badatel and Newton for secondary school students, which help motivate the most talented students to study in Olomouc.

Martin Kubala has been leading the Faculty of Science in his second term of office since February 1, 2022.

Doc. Mgr. Karel Lemr, Ph.D., is a graduate of the study programme Optics and Optoelectronics at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc. He defended his dissertation entitled "Experimental quantum information processing with photon pairs" in 2012. In the same year, he was awarded the Siemens Prize for it. He has been a member of the Joint Laboratory of Optics since his doctoral studies. From 2008 to 2014 he was also a researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and between 2004 and 2010 he was a physics teacher at the Slovanské gymnázium (Slavonic Grammar School) in Olomouc.

The main focus of his scientific activities is the field of experimental quantum optics and quantum information processing. Within this scientific discipline, he conducts the works of Bachelor, Master and Doctoral students and cooperates intensively with colleagues from abroad. His habilitation thesis, defended in 2016, is also devoted to quantum information processing. In recent years, he has been participating in the development of optical methods for cultural heritage research within the framework of interdisciplinary cooperation.

Karel Lemr participates not only in teaching university students, but also in popularizing physics towards the public. He participates in popularization projects organized by both the university and other educational entities.

• international mobility of students and academics
• internationalization of studies and workplaces of the faculty
• promotion of the faculty abroad and providing information about the faculty in English
• Fischer scholarships

Prof. RNDr. Miloslav Dušek, Dr. (*1964), studied Quantum and Nonlinear Optics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague, where he also received his doctorate. Since 1994 he has been working at the Department of Optics of the Faculty of Science, UP. In 2007 he was appointed a Professor.

He has been dealing with quantum optics and quantum processing and information transfer. In the 1990s, he was involved in the development of a prototype device for quantum distribution of a cryptographic key. He has written more than 80 scientific publications cited more than 2,800 times, and he is the author of Conceptual Issues of Quantum Theory monography. He briefly worked at Boston University (1999) and at the Slovak Academy of Sciences (2001).

In 2010-2014 he was the Vice-Dean for External Relations, and since 2010 he has been member of the Scientific Council of the faculty. Since 2018 he has been the Vice-Dean for International Relations at the Faculty of Science. He was also a member of the government commission for the evaluation of research intentions. He was chairing a conference within SPIE Security + Defense symposium for many years. Currently, he is a member of the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports, he is involved in the evaluation of EC projects and he is the Czech representative in the Quantum Community Network.

He actively participated in popularization of science, he is the founder and co-organizer of Olomouc Kaleidoscope of Physics. During his time at the Optics Department, he has been involved in the administration of many research projects. He participates in teaching courses of Bachelor, Master as well as Doctoral degree programmes. Under his leadership, seven doctoral candidates have successfully completed their studies.

• organizing Scholarly Board meetings
• proceedings to grand associate or full professorship
• support for the establishment of scientific teams
• support for the renewal of equipment for scientific and creative work

Prof. RNDr. Jan Hlaváč, Ph.D., (*1969) is a graduate of Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc. There he also received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1997. He was appointed associate professor in the same field in 2001 and professor in 2015.

His research is focused on the development of new synthetic methods usable for the preparation of organic compounds, synthesis of compounds with antitumor activity, systems for targeted drug delivery and drug release, and more recently in the development of new fluorescent probes to detect various biochemical processes and the presence of relevant biomolecules inside cells. He published the results of his research as a co-author in more than 90 scientific articles, which were cited more than 750 times.

He gained experience in managing human resources and scientific projects through his many years as head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, as well as chairing the Expert Group of Organic, Bioorganic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Czech Chemical Society, GACR panel, Experientia Foundation Grant Committee, etc.

As a solver or co-solver, he has participated in a number of research projects focused on organic or medicinal chemistry. His research work included students of all levels of study and a number of workers from abroad as part of their postdoctoral internship.

In his free time, he looks for new challenges in the field of care for marine animals, sports cynology and the development of his physical and mental capacities for the restful survival of today.

• running and auditing agenda of Bachelor and Master study programmes from admissions procedure to graduation
• appointing members of committees for Bachelor's and Master's final state examinations
• proposing the granting of merit and social scholarships
• dealing with student disciplinary issues
• supervising activities of Department of Foreign Languages and Department of Teacher Training

Mgr. Jan Říha, Ph.D., (* 1973) graduated in Teaching Training in Mathematics and Physics at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc. There he also completed his doctoral studies in General Physics and Mathematical Physics. Since 1999 he has worked at the Department of Theoretical Physics, UP Faculty of Science, since its abolition in 2006 he has been a member of the Department of Experimental Physics.

He deals with the optical activity of crystals, the application of the Wolfram Mathematica program in the natural sciences and the didactics of physics. As the main solver, he participated in the development of the faculty of several OP HRD, EC OP and OP RDE projects. As part of his pedagogical activities, he conducts mathematics seminars for physicists and mathematical software seminars, participates in teaching electromagnetic field theory, ray and wave optics, electricity and magnetism, the basics of modern physics and quantum molecule theory.

• agenda associated with doctoral studies
• communication with study field committees and individual workplaces regarding doctoral study standards
• preparation of new accreditation of doctoral study programmes
• guaranteeing Research stays within doctoral studies and the course Management of science and research

Prof. Mgr. Ondřej Bábek, Dr. (* 1969) is a graduate of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University in Brno, specializing in Geology and Geochemistry. He was appointed an Associate Professor in 2005 and a Professor in 2014.

Since 1996, he has been working at the Department of Geology of the Faculty of Science at Palacký University Olomouc; in 2006-2017 he also worked at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University in Brno. His main professional interest is stratigraphy and its application in paleoclimatology, the history of sea level changes and the history of anthropogenic contamination. So far, he is a (co)author of about 100 publications, of which 68 are registered at WoS and have been cited more than 1,500 times; his h-index is 24. He has been collecting material for his research all over the world, including Ireland, the French Pyrenees, the Alps, Belgium, Utah and Nevada, Siberia or southern China. He has been the solver or co-solver of over 10 GAČR projects and has been involved in solving other national and international projects.

Prof. Bábek teaches courses in historical and general geology, sedimentology, stratigraphy and paleoclimatology and he is also organizationally active. Since 2010, he has been the Head of the Department of Geology at the Faculty of Science UP, he is a former member of the Scholarly Board of the faculty and currently a member of the Scholarly Board of UP. He is active in national and international geological community, for example as a member of the Czech National Geological Committee, a former member of the P210 GAČR panel, a member of the Subcommission of Carboniferous Stratigraphy at IUGS, a member of Editorial Board of the Bulletin of Geosciences or a national correspondent for the Czech Republic at the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS).

Ondřej Bábek is married and has two children. His hobbies include travelling connected with photography, especially in the mountains, he enjoys recreational sports (bike, cross-country skiing, tennis) and playing the banjo.

• developing cooperation with high schools, especially the partner ones, and collaborating organizations
• guarantor of information about faculty for employees and the public (faculty Newsletter, website, social media)
• guarantor of faculty promotional materials, ensures participation of faculty at university fairs
• student competitions
• patronage of popularization activities (Science Fair, Night of Scientists etc.) and cooperation with Fort Science and Botanical Garden
• taking part in activities leading to better employability of faculty graduates (Window into Practice)
• cooperation with graduates, guarantor of annual graduations
• developing area of employee and student care
• support of faculty student organizations

Mgr. Ota Blahoušek (*1974) is a graduate of the Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, majoring in Systematic Biology and Ecology. Since 1999 he has been working as a specialist and secretary for science in the Laboratory of Growth Regulators, the joint laboratory of Palacký University in Olomouc and the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

He studied cytokinins, their role in the interactions of plants and their pathogens. In 2004, he completed a three-month internship at the Department of Plant Systems Biology at the Research Department of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology and Ghent University in Belgium. He was a member of the Czech Society of Experimental Plant Biology and the Phytochemical Society of Europe. In the years 2002-2006 he was a member of the Academic Senate of the UP Faculty of Science.

In the years 2008–2015, he ensured the creation of multimedia materials in a number of EC OP projects intended for the development of communication and e-learning. He also participated in the graphic and technical preparation of the Bulletin of the Czech Society of Experimental Plant Biology, the annual reports of the Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research. In 2001–2020 he was a member of the expert committee for ensuring the welfare of experimental animals.

He provides part of the administrative affairs of the department (preparation of accreditation materials, schedule creation, publishing activities), preparation and production of promotional, graphic and multimedia materials, websites, Facebook, Instagram, conference preparation.

He specializes in photography and video production, collaborates on the creation of documents with environmental and scientific topics. He spends his free time with his family, camera, drone or cycling - ideally all together in nature.

Ing. Lenka Káňová (*1971) graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Technical University of Ostrava. She became the Secretary of the Faculty of Science on April 1, 2018.

Throughout her professional career she has been specializing in management, economics, accounting and administration. She started her career at ČSOB Bank, where her agenda covered medium-sized clients and loan management. She gained teaching experience while teaching economic subjects at secondary schools.

She worked as the Head of the Economic department and as a Financial manager of research and development projects supported by the European Union's operational programmes at the University of Ostrava for twelve years. In 2010 she became the Secretary of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and took charge of management and internal administration of the faculty, budgeting and controlling the budget, distribution of funds and monitoring of their drawing, administration of buildings and other assets including their acquisition, methodical management of all faculty departments regarding personnel and economic aspects.

Lenka Káňová has two children. In her spare time she likes to play sports, especially skiing, hiking and cycling.