Female Winners of the MU Rector's Awards

doc. PhDr. Šárka Portešová, Ph.D.

Rector's Award for Long-term Excellence in Research

Šárka Portešová is fully engaged in the academic field of research on gifted children. She takes a comprehensive approach to the topic, taking into account their development and examining the procedures leading to their identification. She also deals with the systemic tools for working with gifted children at the level of regional or national policy and focuses on the development of their skills and talents. She has received more than twenty national and international grants for such research and has published a total of 19 articles in the WOS database.

The importance of the contribution of her research lies mainly in the applicability of the results. Through her work, Associate Professor Portešová has significantly influenced the way of thinking about gifted children and the possibilities of harnessing their potential. The results of her research are used in practice by the Center for the Development of Gifted Children, which operates at the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Social Studies. The applied research results of this center also include the creation of an online GIS system - Invenio, which is used to screen the abilities of pupils in grades one to six using psychodiagnostic computer games. The system also allows for an organic search for exceptionally gifted primary school pupils.

Mgr. et. Mgr. Alena Macková, Ph.D.

Rector's Award for Outstanding Research Achievements for Young Scientists under 35

Alena Macková, a researcher at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism (KMSZ) and holder of a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Master's degree in Sociology, is achieving extraordinary results as a young scholar. She has extensive experience from various scientific workplaces and is currently leading her own research team at KMSZ, which focuses on the role of media and the Internet in the transformation of politics, political communication, and civic participation. Alena Macková is also the lead investigator of the project “Political Polarization in the Czech Republic: The Case of the Multiparty System”, where she is focusing on the growing attitudinal polarization in the Czech Republic and its relation to citizens' media practices. She also actively publishes the findings of her work, mostly in foreign journals.

Eliška Buršová, Kristýna Fialová, Tereza Kompauerová, Mgr. Adéla Kubíčková, Alena Smetanová, Bc. Lucie Zikmundová

Rector's Award for Volunteering

During the pandemic, Masaryk University students decided to lend a helping hand to the homeless, one of the most vulnerable groups. The increasing strictness of the government’s restrictions caused the partial reduction or temporary closure of social services, leaving homeless people in a desperate situation. For this reason, the Brno City Council, in cooperation with the non-profit organization Podané ruce, decided to open a contact center for homeless people on Vlhká Street in April last year. The center has been serving the basic needs of the clients ever since. Masaryk University has also made a significant contribution to improving the functioning of the center, as it decided to offer help to the burdened social workers by announcing a volunteer call, to which these particular students responded. They decided to support the initiative by offering their help and together with other volunteers, they became an additional force that significantly contributed to the functioning of the center. The students worked at Vlhká during the spring when they were intensively involved in the launch of the operation and the establishment of basic procedures for providing help and support to homeless people. Some of them stayed connected to the center and are still involved in its development. In addition to their work in the center, the students are also participating in communication with the public and meetings with representatives of other institutions and organizations involved in working with homeless population. They have also been sharing their experiences in traditional media, as well as social media, and in classes with their classmates. Thanks to their work at the center, they have gained a unique opportunity to learn about the methods and procedures of working with clients. They have also further developed their professional competencies by doing this work under the direct guidance of the staff from the organization Podané Ruce.