We are pleased to present the selected achievements of our colleagues not only in the pedagogical and scientific fields. We warmly congratulate everyone!
Dean's Award of FPE for Extraordinary Achievement in Research and Teaching (2023)
The Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Research for 2023 was awarded to Prof. RNDr. Michal Mergl, CSc, who co-authored an article in the prestigious scientific journal Nature in 2023. The article discusses a 465-million-year-old trilobite with preserved intestinal contents. This fossil comes from the so-called Rokycany Pleso and was discovered over a hundred years ago, but it has only now been described using state-of-the-art synchrotron tomography imaging methods.
The Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching this year went to the Department of Special and Inclusive Pedagogy. It was awarded to Mgr. Šárka Káňová, Ph.D., not only for the opportunities, experiences, and offers of active engagement she provides to students of special pedagogy but also for her support and continuous development of the special pedagogy program offered at FPE ZČU.
Congratulations to both awardees.
Olomouc Region Award for Lifetime Contribution to Culture for Professor Jan Vičar (2023)
Professor Jan Vičar received the Olomouc Region Award for Contribution to Culture for 2023 in the category of Lifetime Achievement in Culture. He accepted the prestigious award on April 18 at the Olomouc Town Hall, becoming a member of its Hall of Fame. The distinguished Czech composer, musicologist, and educator is the guarantor of the doctoral study program at the Faculty of Education at the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň. The faculty also organized an author concert in his honor.
Dean's Awards Presented at the Ceremonial Meeting of the Scientific Council and the Council for Education of the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň (2023)
December 11, 2023, was a day of celebration at the Faculty of Education. The gradually intensifying celebrations of three-quarters of a century of university teacher preparation in Plzeň culminated on this day with a ceremonial meeting of the Scientific Council and the Council for Education of the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia in Plzeň.
The ceremonial meeting of the Scientific Council and the Council for Education of the faculty was held in the spirit of the faculty's historical anniversary and featured numerous awards and honorary recognitions presented by Dean Pavel Mentlík. He opened the meeting with the following words: “This meeting is the symbolic culmination of a series of events commemorating 75 years of university education for teachers in our West Bohemian metropolis. The Faculty of Education in Plzeň was established on September 14, 1948, ‘to educate new generations of teachers…’. I will omit the rest of the founding motto, which was heavily ideologically colored, on this festive day, but the quoted part remains entirely true today. I am very pleased that this anniversary is being intensely commemorated this year by the entire University of West Bohemia – as the birth of its oldest founding part.”
In connection with the significant anniversary of the faculty, the dean emphasized the importance of education with a quote from the teacher of nations: “Such is the coming age as are the citizens who are educated,” which was also used by the faculty's artists in this year’s faculty New Year’s card.
The awards ceremony followed, with the Dean’s Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Creative Activity being presented to Michal Mergl and Jan Slavík. Both made significant contributions to the development of science and research at the faculty. The Dean’s Award for Extraordinary Contribution to the Development of Education at the Faculty was presented to Jana Vaňková, primarily for her long-term and dedicated work for the faculty in the educational field.
Secretary Pavel Mičke, head of the study department Petra Vošahlíková, and assistant to the vice-deans Jitka Lavičková received the Dean’s Award for long-term provision of technical-economic activities at the faculty.
The Dean’s Honorary Recognition for long-term pedagogical activity and faculty development was awarded to Marie Slavíková, Jarmila Honzíková, Dagmar Šafránková, Ladislav Podroužek, and Petra Kalistová.
The Dean’s Honorary Recognition for long-term cooperation and support for teacher education in the region was awarded to Lucie Kantorová, Deputy Mayor for Education and Tourism of the City of Plzeň, for her support of Plzeň faculty schools. Additionally, Dagmar Škrlantová was awarded for her exemplary cooperation with the faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the refugee crisis following the onset of the war conflict in Ukraine. Another awardee was Irena Vítovcová, founder and chairwoman of the civic association ProCit, with which the faculty has long cooperated, and Jindřich Čermák, Councilor for Education of the Karlovy Vary Region, for his long-term support of the development of the Plzeň Faculty School project in the Karlovy Vary Region.
The Dean’s Honorary Recognition for long-term cooperation and support for teacher education was also awarded to Matouš Bořkovec and Jakub Drbohlav from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, who, especially within the framework of the Reform of Pregraduate Teacher Preparation, have significantly contributed to the development of future teacher preparation.
Dean also presented an honorary recognition to Václav Chaloupek, a faculty alumnus, recognized mainly as a protector and lover of nature, who has long contributed to building a positive relationship between children and nature.
The Dean’s Honorary Recognition for long-term support and cooperation with the faculty was awarded to school principals in our region who significantly contributed to creating the concept of the Plzeň Faculty School: Jana Wolmutová, Pavel Kocián, and Pavel Vlach.
Selected students were also awarded for their extraordinary contributions to student activities. The dean congratulated Michal Švec, Patrik Vaněk, Lukáš Vachovec, Petr Breit, and Vanessa Kantnerová.
During the ceremonial meeting, the PhDr. Miloslav Bělohlávek Award for the best thesis on a topic related to the history of the Plzeň region was announced, and the recipient was Jiří Polívka
Dean's Award of FPE for Extraordinary Achievement in Research and Teaching (2022)
In 2022, Jan Slavík received the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Research. Additionally, Vladimíra Lovasová received the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching, she was nominated by her students.
Dean's Award of FPE for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching (2021)
Unlike the research award, only students can nominate their teachers for the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching. This makes the nomination an even more valuable recognition for academics. This year, four colleagues from the art departments, the Department of German Language, and the Center for Biology, Geosciences, and Environmental Education were nominated. The winner was Ioana-Cristina Capatu, an Austrian member of the Department of German Language. She was nominated for leading a theater course in German, during which an original play was written, rehearsed, and performed in German, even amid online teaching.
Dean's Award of FPE for Extraordinary Achievement in Research (2021)
Nominations for the Dean's Award of FPE for Extraordinary Achievement in Research, submitted by the faculty's academic staff, were once again diverse in their fields this year. The winners were Gabriela Klečková and Justin Quinn from the Department of English Language for editing the monograph "Anglophone Literature in the Preparation of Teachers of a Second Foreign Language" (published by Routledge). As stated in the nomination, the book "introduces new ways of using literature and, more broadly, culture in programs preparing future teachers of the English language. The new conception of literature in such programs is based on a transnational approach aimed at promoting intercultural competence, or rather intercultural awareness, among future language teachers."
Vilém Baur Award (2020)
The recipient of the Vilém Baur Award for long-term work and contributions in the field of chemistry education was Mgr. Jitka Štrofová, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia. The award is presented by the Czech Chemical Society. More information is available here.
Czech Academy of Visual Arts Award (2020)
Professor Kurt Gebauer from the Department of Art Education and Culture at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia, was awarded the prestigious Czech Academy of Visual Arts (ČAVU) Award for the year 2020. Sculptor Prof. Gebauer was honored with the Artist of the Year title based on his long-term achievements, including a months-long exhibition at the National Gallery in 2020. The award was presented to him at a ceremonial event held at the National Technical Museum. More information about the ČAVU awards can be found here.
Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Research (2020)
Since 2021, the dean of our faculty has been awarding the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Research. In the inaugural year, faculty members nominated eight research accomplishments. These outputs were evaluated by a five-member committee composed of associate professors and professors exclusively from outside the University of West Bohemia.
The Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Research for the year 2020 was awarded to Mgr. Markéta Kuberská, Ph.D., from the Center for Biology, Geosciences, and Environmental Education, for her leadership during the challenging times of the COVID-19 crisis. She successfully managed a larger authorship team comprising faculty members and personnel from the Liberec science center iQLandia. Their output was a paper published in the journal "Pedagogika," focusing on dynamic curriculum spaces and their potential as a bridge between formal and informal education.
Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching (2020)
Since 2021, our faculty dean has been awarding the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Teaching. Only students are eligible to nominate exceptional teaching efforts. This year, nine nominations were received. The best teaching accomplishment was selected by a five-member committee comprising three student representatives, the head of one of the faculty's primary schools, and a representative from the Czech School Inspectorate branch in Pilsen, with which the faculty closely collaborates.
The committee chose two joint winners. The award was given to Doc. PhDr. Jaroslav Bláha, Ph.D., from the Department of Art Education and Culture, nominated by students for "above-average effort in online teaching, professional approach, and dedication brought to his lectures." The award was also presented to RNDr. Václav Stacke, Ph.D., from the Center for Biology, Geosciences, and Environmental Education, for organizing a unique week-long excursion to the Adriatic Sea during challenging times, conducted aboard a yacht.
JANA VEJVODOVÁ – MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AT UNIVERSITY
In 2021, Jana Vejvodová received the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Award for outstanding educational activity at a university. This year's focus was on mastering the challenges associated with distance learning. Jana Vejvodová from our faculty and five other candidates were selected by Minister Robert Plaga based on the recommendation of the award committee from among 45 submitted nominations.
PaedDr. Jana Vejvodová, CSc., is a didactics expert at the Department of Czech Language and Literature, Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia (ZČU). Over the past twenty years, she has also been involved in e-learning methodology and works in the team of the Department of Lifelong and Distance Learning at ZČU. As a tutor, she led three runs of the seven-month European online course NET-Trainers from 2006 to 2008, training university teachers from ten Czech universities and higher education institutions in online education methodology. She is the author and tutor of many online courses, four of which have received awards from the association EUNIS-CZ (European University Information Systems CZ).
As an expert in didactics and distance learning, she introduces students to the latest trends in teaching Czech language and integrates modern didactic approaches with effective use of information and communication technologies in her disciplines.
During the challenging summer semester of 2019/2020, she prepared both synchronous and asynchronous practically oriented online teaching for students in her disciplines. She also worked intensively with colleagues from the Department of Lifelong and Distance Learning at ZČU to create supportive methodological materials for emergency distance learning, which were intended for teachers at universities, secondary schools, and primary schools.
In this academic year, Jana Vejvodová also conducted educational online courses and webinars for university teachers, sharing examples of good practice.
Marie Čechová – Milada Paulová Award
In 2019, Prof. PhDr. Marie Čechová, DrSc., a professor at the Department of Czech Language and Literature at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia (ZČU), was awarded the Milada Paulová Award, a significant recognition for women in science. She was selected by the committee from among 13 nominees based on her lifelong contribution to linguistics.
Prof. Čechová's research focuses on contemporary Czech language, particularly on the state of knowledge and communication skills of youth, as well as on developing concepts for teaching Czech at various educational levels. Her contributions are also noteworthy in the development of Czech language education for foreigners in the Czech Republic.
Věra Höppnerová nominated for the Milada Paulová Award
Věra Höppnerová, a professor at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia, German studies scholar, author of dozens of German language textbooks and more than two hundred articles, earned a nomination for the Milada Paulová Award in 2018. The competition initiated by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the National Contact Centre Gender & Science, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, took place for the 10th time in 2018. The purpose of the Award is to appreciate the achievements of prominent Czech women researchers and inspire women researchers and students as they launch their own research careers. Věra Höppnerová was one of nine women nominated and although she did not win the Award, the nomination itself is a success.