The president appointed three professors
On 18 January 2022, the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, appointed 33 new university professors in the Presidential Palace. Three of them are from Comenius University.
The title of Professor was awarded to the following experts from Comenius University:
- Prof. MUDr. Alexandra Bražinová, PhD., MPH, Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University,
- Prof. MUDr. Ivana Dedinská, PhD., Internal Medicine Diseases, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University,
- Prof. Ing. Vladimír Frecer, DrSc., Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University.
The President said in her address that the new Professors are accepting their decrees at a difficult time for Slovakia. "The pandemic affected all aspects of our society and it did not spare universities either. The largest survey of its kind in Slovakia, in which 20,000 university students were queried, showed that universities managed the pandemic very well from the organizational point of view. The flip side is that 39% of graduating students are not convinced they obtained adequate knowledge and neither do they feel prepared for life after graduation."
The president also said that we are at a point when we have an opportunity to revitalize the whole education system and reform our universities and higher education institutions. "In this regard, I rely on your input and contribution, because you know better than anyone else how to advance our education and research to the next level."
The President also reminded the newly appointed professors that the society expects them to provide quality education and produce top notch research, while building the society’s respect towards education. "We expect you to be actively involved in public discourse in consequential disputes, and to demonstrate through public debate how actual scientific knowledge differs from noisy, but impactful ignorance," she added.