Fulbright Reality Czech

Pavel Doležal je biolog.  Na Přírodovědecké fakultě Univerzity Karlovy vede skupinu Mechanismy transportu proteinů přes mitochondriální a bakteriální membrány. Jeho výzkum se zaměřuje na biogenezi mitochondrií, zejména na vznik, evoluci a regulaci přenosu proteinů do organel, které jsou klíčové pro energetický metabolismus a programovanou buněčnou smrt. V akademickém roce 2023/2024 vyjel jako stipendista Fulbrightova programu na California Institute of Technology. Co si z pětiměsíčního pobytu na špičkovém vědeckém pracovišti odvezl zpět domů? „Především jiný pohled na organizaci projektů a týmovou práci. Snažím se, aby moji studenti měli větší autonomii a zodpovědnost za své projekty. Chci, aby každý z nich měl pocit, že jeho práce je smysluplná a že je skutečným tvůrcem svého výzkumu.“ Rozhovor s Pavlem Doležalem vznikl ve spolupráci s Ladislavem Loukotou ze stránky  Vědátor  a je čtyřicátým třetím dílem seriálu příběhů k 30. výročí Fulbrightovy komise. Videozá...

Ondrej Ditrych is a political scientist, a proud recipient of Fulbright scholarship held at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School (2007/2008). He currently serves as the director of Institute of International Relations Prague, Czech Republic, and as an academic fellow at Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences. The Fulbright scholarship I was most gratefully awarded as a junior doctoral student at Charles University was a true beginning of a wonderful journey of curiosity and discovery of the nature of politics and society. More than a decade later spent on this journey, I now have the privilege to be at the helm of Institute of International Relations Prague. A true institution for the Czech science of international relations, founded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet independent by statute, the Institute is something of a ‘hybrid’: a place for interdisciplinary academic research of all things international which we seek, at the...

Hannah Rempel is an Associate Professor of Library Science at Oregon State University. This year, Hannah has spent two semesters teaching at Charles University’s Institute for Information Studies and Librarianship in Prague as a Fulbright Scholar. Even though her stay in the country was cut short because of the pandemic, Hannah has continued teaching Czech students online from across the Atlantic Some Pre-Quarantine Context The time was January 2020. You may remember this time as BCV (Before CoronaVirus). Or more accurately and selfishly as BCVMDM. That would be Before CoronaVirus Mattered Directly to Me. It was the gap between my two semesters teaching at Charles University’s Institute for Information Studies and Librarianship in Prague. I was using this time to prepare for the upcoming semester, and was reworking a course I had previously taught so that it was tailored for my Czech bachelor’s and master’s students. I had taught prior iterations of this class as a continuing educa...

„I got you babe… I got you babe…“  Tak se mi ozývá hudba z budíku každé další ráno v karanténě. Jak někteří filmoví nadšenci poznali, je to stejná píseň, která zní ve filmu Na Hromnice o den více, na kterou se probouzí každý den hlavní postava, ztvárněná Billem Murrayem. Hlavní hrdina prožívá stále tentýž den znovu a znovu, což ho přivádí uprostřed té monotónnosti téměř k šílenství. Co se mi zpočátku zdálo jako malý vtip, připomínající právě tento film, zapříčiněný pandemií koronaviru covid-19, bohužel přešlo velmi rychle během několika týdnů do celostátního stavu nouze. Kromě toho ale i do stavu nouze mysli, v níž jsem našel stav znudění prolínající se s otráveností stejně jako hlavní hrdina filmu. Svůj pobyt v Česku jsem započal jako cizinec studující obor česká média a politologii na Fulbrightově stipendijním programu americko-české organizace založené za účelem podpory vzdělání, vědy a kultury mezi oběma zeměmi na Univerzitě Karlově. Poté, co americké velvyslanectví uk...

Student Spotlight Interview: Robert Patrick Jameson by Chloe‘ Skye Robert Patrick Jameson is a Fulbright student with affiliation to Charles University. He is, in his own words, re-examining the history of the personal computer behind the Iron Curtain, specifically Czechoslovakia from circa 1975 to 1997. In our interview, he discusses how computers were popularized, adopted and used (particularly during the 1980s) and how they influenced the transformation of the Czech economy, as well as his deep dive into socialist-era tech magazines!  Fast Facts:  Hometown:  St. Paul, Minnesota Age:  29 College, Major/Minor:  M.A. History, Iowa State University. Currently enrolled in History Ph.D program at the University of Kansas, with a major field in Russia and East Europe and minor fields in Urban History and History of Technology. School in the Czech Republic:  Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences  Favorite Czech Phrase: Strč prst...

S tudent Spotlight Interview: Arvind Kumar by Chloe‘ Skye     Arvind Kumar is a Fulbright grantee in a US Fulbright student program in affiliation with Charles University in Pilsen. He is a recent Duke graduate who took a gamble on a Czech lab trying an experimental surgery technique and was enjoying the manifold benefits of his decision! We discussed stem cell research in the Czech context, his experience taking care of piglets, and how he gets to act the part of a TV surgeon in real life.  Fast Facts:  Hometown:  Rosalyn Heights, NY Age:  21 College, Major/Minor:  Bachelor of Science in Math and Chemistry, Duke University School in the Czech Republic:  Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen Favorite Czech Phrase: ‚asi jo‘ (probably) Favorite Czech Food:  Duck breast with red cabbage Tell me what your research is about. I work in a lab that specializes in experimental surgery on piglets using new, inno...

Scholar Spotlight Interview: Azeta Hatef by Chloe' Sky  Summary Azeta Hatef is serving this year as a Fulbright Scholar through an affiliation with Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia. Inspired by her personal journey as an Afghan-American, she studies, researches and teaches international communications and world media systems. Read below to find out about her research in the Roma community, how ethnography informs her method, and why she thinks Fulbright is such a valuable experience. Fast Facts   Hometown:  Fremont, California Age:  30 College, Major/Minor:  B.A. – Berkeley; M.A. – Syracuse; Ph.D. - Penn State in Mass Communications Czech University:  Masarykova Univerzita Favorite Czech word or phrase:   učitelka , teacher Favorite Czech food:  Azeta is a vegetarian. She likes the meatless classic smažený sýr , or fried cheese. Favorite Quote: “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through ...

By Maureen Heydt   The Fulbright Czech Republic program welcomed several new US Scholars for the 2017 spring semester. The Scholars are teaching at universities throughout Prague and the Czech Republic. These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity. Professor Stanley Thompson    Professor Stanley Thompson Professor Stanley Thompson of Ohio State University is serving this semester as a US Fulbright Scholar to the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic. Professor Thompson’s discipline is economics, and in particular agricultural economics, and he is coordinating a wide array of activities at his host institution for his Fulbright stay. Below, he discusses his work this semester, how he thinks it will affect his teaching on return to OSU, and what the Fulbright mission means to him.  -------------------------------------- Fast Facts ------------ --------- ------------------- U.S. Position: Professor, Department of Ag...