Newsletter and Internal information 6/2024
11 Jun 2024, 8:47  |  Čeština

RECETOX Newsletter 6/2024

Internal information

Adjustment of tariff wages

With regard to the current collective agreement, the tariff wages of Masaryk University employees will be increased by 5% as of 1 July 2024. The increase will occur for all employees except for those whose contractual wages are linked to a specific project resource (e.g. individual ERA, MSCA projects), where it is not possible to increase the wages during the project implementation period. In such cases, only a reallocation of the tariff and other salary components can take place. Further incremental salary adjustments may then be made on the basis of regular annual staff appraisals. The HR department is processing these changes and you will shortly be asked to sign the current pay slips - we ask for your cooperation and cooperation here.

Common areas

We would like to ask all colleagues to keep the common areas tidy. In the last few days, used dishes have been left on the terrace. It is then missing in the kitchenettes. Thank you for your understanding.

Other information

PhD Conference

On May 29-30, 2024, RECETOX hosted its annual Ph.D. conference, which included the state doctoral examination for 9 students. During the conference, the best presented posters were awarded with "Best Poster Award". The posters were divided into two categories according to the student's year of study:

A) 1st-2nd year of doctoral studies
B) 3rd-4th year of doctoral studies

This year, the “Best Poster Award” was given to:

  • Eliška Řehůřková for the poster "Advancing Male Reproductive Toxicology with Innovative 3D hiPSCs-based Models of Testicular Steroidogenesis"
  • Renata Divinová for the poster "Introducing MetaboPeak: Streamlining Environmental Metabolomics Analysis for Terrestrial Plant Metabolism Modeling"

Due to their outstanding work, three more students received honorable mentions:

  • Daria Sapunova for the poster "REVEALING BISPHENOL EXPOSURE IN CZECHIA: Disparities Across Decades and Significant Determinants"
  • Lenka Suchánková for the poster "Multiannual Characterisation of PM1 Aerosol Optical Properties and Size Distribution at the Urban Atmospheric Site ATOLL in Lille"
  • Martina Čarnogurská for the poster "One for All...? Morphology-resolved Search for Mutations in Non-responders to Anti-EGFR Therapy in Colorectal Carcinoma"

We warmly congratulate the winners for their excellent work and look forward to the next Ph.D. conference!

You can find all this year's posters HERE.

National Czech Envi Thesis Competition

Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to extend an invitation to participate in the national competition the Czech Envi Thesis, which seeks the best bachelor's and master's theses on environmental topics!

Who can participate?
Anyone who successfully defended (or will defend by the end of September 2024) their bachelor's or master's thesis focusing on environmental issues from a social science perspective.

How?
Simply fill out the application HERE by September 30, 2024, and submit it along with your qualifying work through this website. In the final round, students will personally present their work to others.

The author of the best work will receive 30,000 CZK and even other finalists will not leave empty-handed.

For more information about the competition, please click HERE.

We would appreciate it if you could help spread the word about the competition among bachelor's and master's students.

Competition of Student Diploma Theses with the cooperation of the South Moravian Region

Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the XXII. edition of the Student Theses Competition, organized by the South Moravian Region in cooperation with Lipka, an educational institution focusing on environmental education.

Who can apply?

  • Bachelor's degree graduates
  • Master's degree graduates

Eligibility criteria:

  • Theses must address issues related to the environment, ecology, sustainability, or healthy lifestyles, preferably connected to the South Moravian Region.
  • Theses must contain original scientific research results.
  • Theses must have been defended in the academic year 2023/2024 (either in the autumn/winter or spring/summer period).

Awards:
The top-rated theses (both bachelor's and master's) will receive financial prizes ranging from 3,000 to 15,000 CZK!

Online aplication must be filled by June 30 on the link HERE.
For more information about the competition, click HERE.

We would appreciate it if you could spread the word about the competition among your students.

Join us in popularizing science!

Do you like science and fun? Want to inspire both children and adults while enjoying meaningful events?

We're looking for enthusiastic and proactive students for our upcoming events:
Mendelfest - July 20, 2024
Festival of Science - September 6-8, 2024
Researchers' Night - September 27, 2024

We are planning educational activities on the theme of Water, its transformation, and balance, designed to captivate children, students and adults alike. Activities will include educational posters, a water purification model, and various hands-on activities related to microplastics and micropolutants contaminating the water on Earth.
Come and enjoy a great atmosphere, share your knowledge and enthusiasm, and be part of something that will create an unforgettable experience for everyone involved!

Registration HERE.

RECETOX News

"The first science communicators for me were already high school teachers,” says researcher and laureate of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic award, Barbora Rudzanová.

Barbora Rudzanová is a doctoral student in the field of Environment and Health, a researcher at the RECETOX center for toxic substances research, and recently also the holder of the Jiřina Michlová Prize from the Learned Society of the Czech Republic for the year 2024. In the interview, she explains why she is dedicated to the impact of chemical substances on human health, what makes her work at RECETOX unique, and what she believes the popularization of science brings.

Read the article HERE.
 

The 34th European Meeting of the SETAC Organization for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry took place in Seville

The 34th European meeting of the international non-profit organization SETAC, or the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, took place in Seville, Spain, between May 5 and 9, 2024. The RECETOX center also regularly participates in the meeting.

Read the article HERE.

Grant Office

Open calls

Horizon Europe Calls

  • GAČR – Lead Agency
  • USA – National Science Foundation (NSF) continuous call
  • Austria – Austrian Science Fund (FWF) continuous call
  • Germany – German Research Foundation (DFG) continuous call
  • Switzerland – deadline 8.10. 2024

If you are interested in submitting a project proposal please contact Mrs. Pavlína Dočkalová.

AZV
Deadline: 26.6. at 12:00 am
- applied research projects, i.e. projects designed to obtain new knowledge directed towards a specific, predetermined practical objective with a given application of the results in the health sector. Applied research in healthcare is aimed at solving problems related to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human diseases.

If you are interested in this call, please contact Pavlína Dočkalová as soon as possible, but no later than Thursday 30 May 2024, for more information about the call.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 call is open and it closes on September 11th, 2024. If you have a suitable candidate, who fulfils the eligibility criteria, contact Mirjana Stanojević ASAP.

Other news

Dear colleagues,
The Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe project coordinators would like to remind you of the importance of complying with project obligations and fulfilling the timesheets and other requirements. If you are employed on an H2020 or HEU project, you must fill in the Description of the Work Activity on the Project at the beginning of your involvement with the project. You are also obliged to fill in the monthly Timesheets throughout your involvement with the project. If you are not sure if you are employed on one of the H2020 or HEU projects, or if you want to know more click here. Here you can find the new video manual for filling in the Timesheets. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Mirjana Stanojević or Eva Kuklínková.

Personal changes

Monika Kellnerová leaves RECETOX.
For the national project agenda please contact:
Ing. Pavlína Dočkalová - project coordinator
Ing. Magdalena Vozárová - project economist

Travel Orders - Entering the Correct Department

When you enter travel orders in INET, please ensure that you fill in the correct department number for which you are travelling. That´s mean under the financing section of the travel order called Financial Resources. You must choose there the department yourself, it is not entered automatically! That, typically, should be the department under which you are registered. Failure to select the correct department will result in travel orders being rejected and returned for correction regardless of the day of the departure.

Thank you for your cooperation and for further information do not hesitate to contact us!

Training and other grant-related events

ERC grants

The European Research Council (ERC) provides attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators (Principal Investigators) and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking and ambitious research. Research funded by the ERC is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge and to set a clear and inspirational target for frontier research across Europe.
ERC grants operate on a 'bottom-up' basis without predetermined priorities and are open to researchers of any nationality. The host institution must be established in a Member State or an Associated Country.
The sole criterion for evaluation is scientific excellence – of the research project and the Principal Investigator.

Open calls:
ERC Advanced Grants with the deadline on 29 August 2024. The European Commission has allocated additional 125 million EUR which allows to fund another 48 Advanced Grants this year.

Forthcoming ERC calls:
-ERC Starting Grants - tentative deadline on 15 October 2024 (expected to open in July 2024)
-ERC Synergy Grants - tentative deadline on 6 November 2024
-ERC Consolidator Grants - tentative deadline on 14 January 2025 (expected to open in September 2024)

ERC support scheme at MUNI:
1.Introductory meeting with the applicant to discuss:

  • the plan, expectations and needs of the given scientist,
  • basic principles and rules of the ERC,
  • project evaluation system and provider expectations (Do's and Don'ts)

  • the process of preparing and creating a schedule.

2.Applicant's package – based on the agreement resulting from the introductory meeting. Typically, it includes key documents such as project proposal templates (B1 and B2 with adequate instructions and comments that should help applicants write the project), guidelines and links to other important information sources (database of supported projects, lists and descriptions of evaluation panels, etc.).
3. Assistance with the preparation of materials required for registration to Workshops of Expert Group for ERC.
4. Sharing the contacts to ERC holders and other scientists with real experience with ERC who could provide useful feedback.
5. Proposal review (B1 and B2) by experienced project manager.
6. Troubleshooting related to the budgeting, ethics and other parts in part A.

For further information contact Veronika Jálová.

Selected publications

Below you will find selected publications already available at WoS in last month.

  • Galvis, J., Guyon, J., Dartigues, B., Hecht, H., Grüning, B., Specque, F., Soueidan, H., Karkar, S., Daubon, T., & Nikolski, M. (2024). DIMet: an open-source tool for differential analysis of targeted isotope-labeled metabolomics data. Bioinformatics, 40(5).
    https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btae282
  • Lennon, S., Chaker, J., Price, E. J., Hollender, J., Huber, C., Schulze, T., Ahrens, L., Béen, F., Creusot, N., Debrauwer, L., Dervilly, G., Gabriel, C., Guérin, T., Habchi, B., Jamin, E. L., Klánová, J., Kosjek, T., Le Bizec, B., Meijer, J., … David, A. (2024). Harmonized quality assurance/quality control provisions to assess completeness and robustness of MS1 data preprocessing for LC-HRMS-based suspect screening and non-targeted analysis. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 174, 117674.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2024.117674
  • Iwegbue, C. M. A., Oshenyen, E. V., Peretiemo-Clarke, B. O., Olisah, C., Nwajei, G. E., & Martincigh, B. S. (2024). Polybrominated diphenyl ether contamination in sediments from rivers in the western Niger Delta of Nigeria. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 202, 116040.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116040
  • Navarro, I., de la Torre, A., Sanz, P., Abrantes, N., Campos, I., Alaoui, A., Christ, F., Alcon, F., Contreras, J., Glavan, M., Pasković, I., Pasković, M. P., Nørgaard, T., Mandrioli, D., Sgargi, D., Hofman, J., Aparicio, V., Baldi, I., Bureau, M., … Martínez, M. Á. (2024). Assessing pesticide residues occurrence and risks in water systems: A Pan-European and Argentina perspective. Water Research, 254, 121419.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.121419
  • Pinto-Vidal, F. A., Novák, J., Jílková, S. R., Rusina, T., Vrana, B., Melymuk, L., & Hilscherová, K. (2024). Endocrine disrupting potential of total and bioaccessible extracts of dust from seven different types of indoor environment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 469, 133778.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133778

We are looking for new colleagues

Currently, we have these open vacancies:

We would be grateful for sharing them as well, or if you already know about a great candidate for one or few of the positions, feel free to recommend them to us by sending their CV to rcx-hr@recetox.muni.cz

Newcomers at RECETOX

We welcome new colleagues to the center and wish them a lot of work success!

Gabriela Škovranová
Researcher
Research group of Petra Bořilová Linhartová
Environmental Health
 

Kévin Bernal
Postdoc
Research group of Pavel Babica
Environmental Toxicology

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Masaryk University

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