UCT Prague defended its second place among Czech universities and is ranked 373rd in the world.

For the second time in a row, UCT Prague defended its second place among Czech universities in the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2022. In the global competition, the university is included in the 373-376^th ranking group.

The excellent result in the QS World University Rankings 2022 was most influenced by UCT Prague’s small student-to-academic instructor ratio. Individual support for education and the inherent involvement of students in the research process even earned UCT 26th place in the world and first in Czechia in this aspect of rankings system evaluation process.

“The third success in a row is, of course, a nice outcome of all the staff and students of our university. We strive to build a supportive and fair environment for everyone, where everyone can participate in scientific activities. But I understand that the ranking is just a number. It is more important that we work on ourselves and continue to improve,” said Pavel Matějka, UCT Prague Rector.

The international environment of the university, with a high number of students (by Czech standards) from abroad in recent years, contributed to the good ranking. The university has also recently attracted international academics who have linked their careers to UCT Prague. However, likely in part due to the pandemic situation as well, there was a year-to-year decline in this aspect of the university’s rankings in the system, which meant a fall by one place in UCT Prague’s overall rankings from last year’s 342nd place.

Other Czech universities were also successful in this year’s edition of the rankings. The largest Czech university, Charles University, placed in the 266-267 world ranking range. CTU Prague moved to the 403-406 ranking range; Masaryk University achieved 551-560; Palacký University in Olomouc, 601-650; and BUT Brno, 701-750. A total of 15 Czech universities were ranked.

The full list of rankings and a description of the QS methodology can be found on the QS World University Rankings 2022 website.

Professor Zdeněk Sofer received support for his second ERC CZ program project in a row, within a public tender for research, experimental development, and innovation. The five-year project entitled “The Next Generation of Monoelementary 2D Materials” will be supported by CZK 64 million and it thematically follows up on the first ERC CZ grant awarded to Prof. Sofer last year.

The project deals with the study of methods of exfoliation of 2D materials, preparation of monolayers using physical and chemical methods, and their functionalization using covalent and non-covalent interactions. The newly synthesized materials will be studied for energy storage applications in the form of batteries and supercapacitors, heterogeneous catalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, and optoelectronic applications in hybrid OLED structures.

The ERC CZ program is aimed at supporting excellent research in the Czech Republic by implementing projects submitted to the calls of the European Research Council (ERC) that have not received support from European funds. Specifically, these are projects that were included in Categories A or B in the second round of international peer review by ERC expert panels. In this sixth ERC CZ program call, only 6 of these prestigious grants were awarded.

DocEnhance created a transferable skills pilot course Data Stewardship that address the future needs and competences of researchers. The aim of the course was to focus on transferable skills, as these skills facilitate the transition into employment and are widely applicable, regardless of scientific field and chosen career path.

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague was happy to host online pilot course designed and developed by the UiT – The Arctic University of Norway on Data stewardship in May and June 2021. 

As research data becomes more openly available, data stewardship is a skill in high demand, both within and beyond academia. This brand-new project introduced PhD candidates to the complexity and significance of data management. The course consisted of three basic modules. Each module was specific and focused on deepening skills that are sought-after within both the academic and private sector.

Module 1 was available for study needs from the faculty Moodle (e-learining) system. PhD candidates were given a general introduction to the basics of how to handle research data in a PhD thesis through videos and assignments.

Module 2 was based on active participation. Lecturers from UCT Prague lead PhD candidates to make use of what they learned in Module 1, through practical assignments working in small groups with other PhD candidates.

Module 3 – organised as a workshop, offered practical assignment/tasks in cooperation with some business or public service entity, which helped PhD candidates to prepare for a career outside academia. 

14 students, who completed the course, mastered theory and concepts of data management and learnt how to collect, analyse and manage research data with hands-on digital skills training, and on-site practical assignments in non-academic settings.

Internal and external lecturers in organised workshops helped students to better understand to how to put theory in practice. We welcomed representatives from EOSC Future (Mr. Gareth O'Neill), National Library of Technology in Prague (Martin Svoboda), from CERIT SC (Luděk Matyska), Unipetrol (Tomáš Herink, Michal Zbuzek, Arnošt Křižan) or from Zentiva (Marcela Tkadlecová, Jaroslav Havlíček, Tomáš Pekárek).

The UCT proudly announces that the same course will take place in 2022. Further information and official announcement will be revealed later. We all hope to encourage more students to take part in this interesting project.

DocEnhance has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society programme under grant agreement no. 872483

Ph.D. student at the Department of Informatics and Chemistry

My name is Isabel and I am from Spain, a country which has no common history with the Czech Republic (CR). Before coming here, I only knew how to locate CR on a European map and the name of the capital, Prague. Because of this, I did some research before moving, using my good friend, Google. Just the basics: cost of living, religion, language, currency, the price of beer, and so on. And so I moved to Prague with no hesitation.

My first contact with the city was when I landed at Prague’s airport, where my supervisor picked me up and brought me to the university dorms. That day, one of the windows of his car broke and we couldn’t close it, so the whole trip on the highway was spent with the two of us trying to talk with a loud windy sound in the background. Once we arrived at the dorms, I realized why he had gone with me, because the person at the reception desk didn’t speak English at all. Finally, I got a room key, but when I opened the door, there were two beds! I had never shared room before and besides, there was no Wi-Fi. The next day, at the university, my colleagues asked me if I wanted to go for lunch with them at 11:30! I was completely shocked because it was so early (now I must admit that I love it, but it took me several days to get used to it).

Since this “first contact”, I have been surprised about several facts of life here. Like the -ová at the end of every female surname; how dorms, student canteens and public transport have extremely cheap prices; the way one tips (saying the amount you want to give, including tips when you pay); holidays in February for skiing; how funny it sounds to hear Ježiš Maria in a truly non-religious country; how easy and efficient public transport is; how much Czech people like to go to the mountains/forests for hiking— and also to rivers in the summer; how easy it is to get to other countries, even by bus; and of course, the fact that beer is cheaper than water. There are some good and bad aspects, but for now I just have one big bad point: the university dorms are located very far from the university, which is something that only exists at this university, as far as I know. So far, so good.

I like to live in Prague. It is a wonderful and beautiful city full of opportunities for working, traveling and learning. I know I will never regret moving here. Not just because of the city; I am truly lucky with my colleagues and my supervisor.

Originally published in SPIN 1/2018