Comenius University News

Comenius University welcomes international students for the summer semester

The matriculation ceremony started with an address by the Comenius University Vice-Rector for International Relations, Jozef Tancer, who warmly welcomed all the students to the university. After the address, there was a presentation about Comenius University, the university library, and the Slovak language course which is offered to international students by the university in cooperation with Studia Academica Slovaca. A presentation on Slovak customs and traditions, entitled “The Unwritten Rules”, was given by Helena Tužinská from the Faculty of Arts. Students from the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) told the students about the activities that they organize and what they can expect from their Erasmus+ stay, including information on who they should contact if they need help. The ESN has prepared a rich range of activities, and students can look forward to things like a guided tour, a boat trip, and a communal dinner. Eighty-four students have come to Comenius University for the 2019/2020 academic year’s summer semester. The largest group of students are from France (22), followed by Italy (13) and Turkey (11).

The EFPTA international conferece for teachers of psychology

You are cordially invited to the EFPTA International Conference, organized by the European Federation of Psychology Teachers' Associations, Comenius University in Bratislava (the Faculties of Education, Arts, and Social and Economic Sciences) and the Slovak Association for the Teaching of Psychology. This conference is primarily intended for teachers of psychology and related subjects at various levels of education. Plenary lectures will be given by Paivi Kohta (Finland) and Daniela Ostatníková (Slovakia). The programme will also include experts from ten countries who in the form of short lectures and workshops will present various topics and methods of teaching psychology. The aim of the conference is to support and promote the development of psychological literacy and quality psychological education in schools, the exchange of experience, the dissemination of good practice, and innovative methods of teaching psychology and psychological topics from primary to tertiary levels of education. The conference will be held with the support of Comenius University Rector Marek Števček. More information about the conference The conference programme

The international day of women and girls in science – 11 February

Petra Soláriková, psychology Knowing and discovering things is my passion, and being a scientist fulfils this desire. It is about observing and becoming involved in a process, experimenting, and being curious. I like to understand things and ask how things works and why. However, I often have more questions than answers. I was attracted by the interconnection of psychology and the natural sciences, which makes sense given that science has no boundaries. It has taught me humility towards everything that nature and many people have created. I am pleased to be part of the creative process, a team of inspiring people, and of new knowledge that also affects my everyday life. Emese Renczes, biomedicine When I was deciding what to do after finishing high school, studying at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Comenius University was my second option. Well, nothing happens by accident! Even though I did not study medicine, I am now a researcher at the Faculty of Medicine. As a graduate student, I had the opportunity to taste the scientific atmosphere at the Institute of Molecular Biomedicine. There I met people with a wide range of knowledge, a high level of expertise, and an unquenchable curiosity, who had a great influence on my decision to become a scientist even then and who are still a motivating force for me today. Broňa Brejová, bioinformatics My scientific field is bioinformatics, which is an area between informatics and biology. Although I came to this field by chance, I enjoy it very much because it allows me to get to know two different disciplines which are developing rapidly. As a scientist, I can constantly observe new discoveries and contribute to them (at least to a small extent), work with clever students, and meet people from all over the world. Mária Kondeková, anthropology I became interested in science at primary school. I wanted to know about the unknown. This led me to go and study science, where I delved into anthropology and the study of fingerprints and palms. Did you know that fingerprints serve as individual identifiers but also reflect a variety of developmental disorders, chromosome aberrations, and congenital psychiatric diseases? This is a world of unexplored possibilities that captivated me and has made me a scientist. Petra Pačesová, sports psychology I have always been interested in people: their thinking, behaviour, expressions, and "movement" in situations that are common and demanding. This is why psychology is where my scientific and practical activities are centred. Psychology is all around us, and it has an important place in sport, which is an area I care deeply about. However, I did not choose this profession. It gradually chose me, because in sport combining scientific knowledge with practical application is now a necessity. ONLY 30 PERCENT OF WOMEN ARE IN SCIENCE Women and girls make up half of the world's population and thus half of its potential. In addition to fundamental human rights, gender equality is also essential to achieving a peaceful society with full human potential and permanently sustainable development. Currently, less than 30 percent of the world's scientific researchers are women. According to UNESCO data from 2014 to 2016, only about 30 percent of all female students choose to study in fields of science, technology, or mathematics. The United Nations is responding to this societal phenomenon. It believes that science and gender equality are both vital to achieving internationally agreed developmental goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past fifteen years, the international community has put great effort into inspiring and bring women and girls into science. Nevertheless, women and girls continue to be excluded from full participation. FAMOUS WOMEN IN SCIENCE At the same time, it is enough to realize that we were able to look at a black hole for the first time in 2019 thanks to Katie Bouman, a computer scientist who was involved in the development of an algorithm. The Italian neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini was behind the discovery of nerve growth factor, and Marie Curie-Sklodowska can be thanked for her contribution to radioactivity and the discovery of the elements of polonium and radium, which made her the only woman to be awarded two Nobel prizes. There are many things in science that we owe to women. However, there are still not as many as there could be if science, technology, and informatics were not burdened by gender stereotypes and long-standing prejudices.

SEVERAL SCIENTISTS FROM ABROAD MIGHT ARRIVE AS EARLY AS NEXT YEAR

The Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) has obtained funding for a project worth millions to combat Slovakia’s brain drain. This will enable the Academy to continue a project entitled SASPRO, which has managed to lure 38 young scientists to Slovakia in recent years. Most of them chose to stay in the country even after the conclusion of the project. They’ve formed their own science teams and are thus contributing towards the quality of scientific research in Slovakia. “I'm incredibly glad that after the successful SASPRO 1, we can now launch the SASPRO 2 project. This time, an opportunity will be given to 40 scientists currently working abroad who would either like to return to their homeland or who come from other countries but want to pursue science in Slovakia. We will provide them with ideal conditions and likewise will expect them to deliver high-quality output,” said SAS chairman Pavol Šajgalík. The project worth approximately €9 million was submitted to the Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions-COFUND category. “This time, we decided to collaborate on the project with Comenius University in Bratislava and the Slovak University of Technology. Both universities will welcome 10 scientists to their workplace and the remaining 20 will work at the SAS institutes. There is a wide range of research fields they can engage in,” said project leader Dr. Zuzana Hrabovská. Among the other competing projects, SASPRO 2 received an excellent overall ranking of 95.8 percent from the European Commission, which automatically placed it among funded projects. The European Commission will co-finance the project, which is scheduled to last five years, at a level of approximately 50 percent. The partners in the project plan on launching the first call in July 2020. The first scientists might start their work placement in January 2021.

Bratislava will host a top-level health psychology conference

Health psychology studies not only psychological factors that affect the maintenance of health, but also the management of diseases and people’s subjective experiences of them. Researchers deal with barriers in communication between patients and doctors, fear of medical interventions, refusal of vaccination, or even attempts to change lifestyles. This year’s annual conference is themed as Chartering New Territories: health psychology is becoming an increasingly important discipline today, bringing scientific practices to places, where only intuitive practices have prevailed thus far. Major speakers include Mariët Hagedoorn from the Dutch University Medical Center Groningen, who is going to talk about an often-overlooked issue of relationships between the chronically ill and their carers. Daryl O’Connor of the University of Leeds, UK, will talk about the effects of stress as a silent killer. Geert Crombez of the Belgian University of Ghent will give a presentation on the role of psychology in chronic pain research. The domestic scene will be represented by Andrea Madarasová Gecková from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, who, together with the clinical psychologist Dušan Selka, co-founded the field of health psychology in Slovakia. She will discuss the topic of research of patient stories in the online environment. “We have been working on the Slovak candidacy since 2015. I am pleased that this year, Bratislava will follow in the footsteps of cities like Aberdeen, Padua, Galway and Dubrovnik and welcome hundreds of world’s leading experts in health psychology. I believe that we will prepare a high-quality event with valuable content,” said Radomír Masaryk, Chair of the Organising Committee of EHPS 2020. “This conference is another contribution to Comenius University’s endeavours to do world-class science. The ambition of our university is to provide our researchers, students and the general public with the latest scientific knowledge and to open up the most up-to-date scientific topics,” said Marek Števček, the Rector of Comenius University. More information about the conference can be found on the EHPS website or on the FB event page. The European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) is promoting empirical and theoretical research in health psychology within Europe as well as the interchange of information related to health psychology with other associations and experts throughout the world.

CU as Part of a European Super-university

Students will have a unique opportunity to study at several universities at the same time and to create their own study programmes according to their desired expertise. This option will also be available to both the doctoral students and the researchers. Curricula will be flexible and it will be possible to adjust study programmes to suit one’s individual needs. This idea was proposed by the European Commission, calling for the establishment of up to 20 European universities alliances within the European Union by 2024. One such alliance is a nine-university consortium, of which Comenius University in Bratislava forms part, along with its partners: the University of Ghent, the University of Bordeaux, the University of Uppsala, the University of Groningen, the University of the Basque Country, the University of Göttingen, the National University of Ireland in Galway, and the University of Tartu. The alliance is currently working on submitting a project called ENLIGHT (European University Network to Promote Quality of Life, Sustainability and Global Engagement through Higher Education Transformation). If the project is successful, a kind of super-university will be created, which will bring international cooperation to a significantly higher level. In this context, a working meeting of the nine universities’ representatives is held on 22–23 January 2020 in Bratislava. They also received support from the ambassadors of Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Estonia and Spain, with whom they met yesterday at the Primate’s Palace. If the consortium proves to be successful and the project receives support, it will receive five million euros over a three-year period to prepare the curricula. “Thanks to the ENLIGHT alliance, Comenius University students will gain access to lots of new educational mobilities – from international online courses, summer schools, months-long study programmes to joint Master’s programmes,” said Jozef Tancer, Comenius University’s Vice-Rector for International Relations. The alliance will be based on reciprocal mobility, which will increase mutual internationalisation thanks to the mobility of students, teachers and administrative workers. “The alliance will strongly support the University’s cooperation with the non-academic environment and thus react to specific societal challenges through its teaching,” Jozef Tancer added. “Today’s university needs to be a strong player at national as well as European and international level. Entering such a consortium will open up entirely new opportunities for our researchers as well as students – from innovative formats of exchanges to research cooperation. If, for instance, a doctoral student finds that one of our partner universities may be of greater help with his research project, he will be able to spend part of his doctoral studies there. Thanks to this initiative, studying at Comenius University will become increasingly more international,” said Marek Števček, the Rector of Comenius University. The idea of joining European universities was presented for the first time in 2017 by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at the Sorbonne University in Paris. The objective is to contribute to the competitiveness of European universities globally.

OPEN DAY AT THE FACULTIES OF COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA

Those interested in studying at our university will find out about information concerning studies, the entrance requirements for the 2020/2021 academic year as well as the individual study programmes. The CU faculties will also present their facilities to the public.

The Open Days will take place at the following faculties:

Faculty of Natural Sciences at CU – 24 January 2020 Faculty of Physical Education and Sport – 24 January 2020 Faculty of Arts at CU – 25 January 2020 Faculty of Education at CU – 25 January 2020 Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty at CU – February 2020 Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin – 3 February 2020 Faculty of Pharmacy at CU – 12 February 2020 Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Informatics at CU

winter semester – 12 February 2020
summer semester – 10 June 2020

Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at CU – 5 March 2020 Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology of Cyril and Methodius at CU – 13 May 2020 Faculty of Management All are most welcome to attend.

A publication on the University’s centary comes to life

This book presents the history of Slovakia's oldest university in a clear and concise way, and it contains many historical and contemporary photographs. "Via Comeniana also aims to raise pride in this educational and scientific institution, especially among the vast family of university graduates, students, educators, employees, and supporters," the authors state. The Rector of Comenius University, Marek Števček, pointed out that the centenary of Comenius University is also the anniversary of the beginning of higher education in the Slovak language. "The history of this country is tied to the history of our university," he added. In addition to the centenary, 2019 saw the commemoration of thirty years since the Velvet Revolution, which brought freedom. Pavol Demeš, who is also a member of the General Board of Comenius University, said: "Of the thirty-six universities operating in Slovakia, I do not know of any that is as readable and clear as it is about the Velvet Revolution as Comenius University." Demeš considers the book launch to be a personal triumph and is glad it took place before Christmas. The work was brought to life by the Rector of Comenius University and the head of the Comenius University Archive, Maria Grófová, with a symbolic sprinkling of ones and zeros to mark the centenary of the university. “Whoever writes and publishes books may wonder how long it takes to study the proven facts. We work with facts, and once they get into a book they have their own lives,” Grófová said. At the event, the Rector awarded the Commemorative Medal of Comenius University to the authors of Via Comeniana, the Comenius University Press, and the Comenius University Archive for all the activities it does to maintain the historical memory of the university. A Silver Medal of Comenius University was also awarded to the head of the archive, Maria Grófová.

A questionnaire for students on the quality of tuition

In cooperation with Times Higher Education, which is one of the world's most respected institutions evaluating the academic and scientific performance of higher education institutions, Comenius University has decided to participate in a survey on tuition quality. You can join this Europe-wide survey to assess tuition quality from the perspective of students through your official university e-mail address until the end of February 2020. It takes fewer than ten minutes to complete. After completing the questionnaire, you will be sent a verification email with a link that needs to be confirmed in order for your opinion to be included in the overall results of the THE Europe Teaching Rankings for 2020. Join the survey

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY HAS FOUR NEW PROFESSORS

The newly minted professors received their letters of appointment from the Head of the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, Štefan Rozkopál, who had been entrusted with this role by the president herself. The new professors from Comenius University are: prof. PhDr. Mária Dobríková, CSc., Slavic Languages and Literature, Faculty of Arts prof. Mgr. Anna Lašáková, PhD., Management, the Faculty of Management prof. JUDr. Sergej Romža, PhD., Criminal Law, the Faculty of Law prof. JUDr. Ing. Bernard Pekár, PhD., Administrative Law, the Faculty of Law A complete of the appointed professors can be found at: www.prezident.sk.