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Newsletter and Internal information 7/2025
4 Jul 2025, 9:37
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Čeština
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RECETOX Newsletter 7/2025
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Extensive infrastructure change during 9-11/2025
During the period of 09 - 12/2025, the center will go trhough a large-scale change of user networks, abandoning all Windows 10, replacing equipment that does not meet operational standards, migrating the entire server environment, implementing additional security layer for laboratories and migrating all user devices to the new domain.
These changes will affect every user and every device connected to the computer network. We will keep you informed – check .
For some of these steps we will need your cooperation. We will directly contact you and ask for your cooperation.
Thank you!
IT Department
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Media Communication: Workshop for Researchers
Do you communicate your research with the public or media and would like to improve in this challenging discipline, or gain more confidence in your presentations?
RECETOX Center has the opportunity to organize a media communication workshop in collaboration with experts and analysts from the Climate Facts project, intended for all researchers and academic staff interested in communication. If you are among them and you are considering participation, let us know via email at sabina.vojtechova@recetox.muni.cz.
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Dear colleagues and friends,
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Semester End Party!
We truly enjoyed spending time together outside the offices, lecture rooms, and labs — in a relaxed atmosphere full of laughter, and great conversations.
You can now relive some of the best moments in our photo album.
We’re already looking forward to the next gathering!
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The NIH announced the launch of the Global Exposome Forum, marking the first discovery-driven, international initiative dedicated to understanding how environmental exposures and lifestyle factors influence human health (Exposome Moonshot Forum, Washington Declaration). As part of this global effort, the European Infrastructure project EIRENE were acknowledged as one of the keys partners.
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Tadeáš Dvořák first studied psychology at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, where he examined the influence of the city and its factors on human thinking. He did not abandon the research topic but decided to expand it with a biological basis – he was interested in what exactly happens in the body during these processes. In the interview, he explains what urban stress research entails, how it can be objectively measured, and why such research is important for our health.
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In the second week of June, the 3rd ESFRI Stakeholder Forum Meetup was organised in cooperation with the Polish presidency. The Forum, with the key topic of "Sustainability of the Research Infrastructure ecosystem", aimed to discuss ideas and best practices regarding the enhancement of the quality and sustainability of Research Infrastructures, foster trust and cooperation among stakeholders, and promote integration within the R&I ecosystem, including building effective synergies with Technology Infrastructures.
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Punta del Este, Uruguay hosts the final negotiation round of the Open-ended working group Science-Policy Panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution on 14 - 18 June 2025. The panel will play a critical role of the expert support to the relevant policy negotiatiosn similar to Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or Intergovernmental platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES).
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With critical contributions from Czech cohorts, researchers edge closer to microbiome-based screening of colorectal cancer. An international research team coordinated by the University of Trento has demonstrated that the presence of specific microbes in the microbiome is an accurate indication of the disease. The study – conducted using a combination of machine learning and metagenomics and published in Nature Medicine – could make non-invasive screening methods more accurate in the future.
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On Monday, June 16th, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, appointed new university professors. We are very pleased to announce that among them is a representative of the RECETOX center at Masaryk University, who is a recognized expert in his field. The highest academic title was awarded to Hynek Pikhart, who leads the Environmental Epidemiology research group at the RECETOX center.
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A new study conducted by a team of European researchers analyzed data from 14 European cohorts comprising nearly 350,000 participants. The aim was to evaluate the impact of the combined effects of environmental exposures in urban environments on the incidence of asthma in both children and adults. Asthma developed in 7,428 individuals over their lifetime.
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Open calls
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA): Postdoctoral Fellowships with the deadline for submission of proposals on 10 September 2025; Staff Exchanges with the deadline for submission of proposals on 8 October 2025; Doctoral Networks with the deadline for submission of proposals on 25 November 2025. If you plan to apply or are interested in further information, contact Veronika Jálová as soon as possible.
European Research Council (ERC) - Advanced Grants with the deadline on 28 August 2025. For further information contact Veronika Jálová.
GACR LA (GA CR as a partner organisation)
- Ongoing calls for Bilateral grant projects with the following partner agencies: FWF (Austria), DFG (Germany).
More information available HERE.
TACR
- 2. VS Prostředí pro život 2 (2. Call Environment for life 2) - the call is open only for the sub-programme 1 (PP1): Innovation and operational research in the public interest with clearly defined priority research objectives (Annex 1 of Tender documentation).
More information available HERE.
Deadline: 23.7.2025
MEYS
- INTER-EXCELLENCE II, INTER-ACTION (LUAUS26) - call for bilateral projects (CZ – USA). More information available HERE.
Deadline: 9. 7.2025, RMU deadline: 7.7.2025
- THE EIG CONCERT JAPAN joint call for proposals: “Oceans: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation”. More information available HERE.
Deadline: 22.7.2025
AZV – European Partnerships
- EP PerMed – Networking Call: Supports networking activities such as workshops or hybrid/in-person meetings up to €30,000. (Only one event per application can be funded.) Main PI and one partner must be involved in an ongoing or past EP PerMed call; the third partner can be part of any (inter)national personalised medicine project. More information available HERE.
Deadline: 29.9.2025
If you are interested in submitting a project proposal, please contact Pavlína Dočkalová.
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Planned calls
Tentative schedule of European Research Council (ERC) calls 2026:
Starting Grants – opening on 9 July 2025, submission deadline on 14 October 2025
Synergy Grants – opening on 10 July 2025, submission deadline on 5 November 2025
Consolidator Grants – opening on 25 September 2025, submission deadline on 13 January 2026
TACR
Partnership Eurostars 3 – Call 9 (announcement 4.7.2025)
Biodiversa+ Partnership Call 2025: Restoration of ecosystem functioning, integrity and connectivity (announcement 9.9.2025)
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Other news
Meals on business trips
When an employee travels on a business trip, they may encounter situations where they are given the option of ordering meals as part of their accommodation costs or as part of a conference fee. They may encounter the following cases:
- Breakfast/lunch/dinner is included in the accommodation/conference fee cost, but the amount is not quantified; such cost can be reimbursed, and the employee must deduct the relevant meal allowance in the travel order.
- Breakfast/lunch/dinner is not included in the cost of accommodation/conference fee, etc., and is quantified as a separate item on the invoice. It cannot be reimbursed as a related cost (related cost=reimbursed by Masaryk University). For this purpose, the staff member receives a statutory meal allowance (calculated in the travel order) and pays for the meals himself.
Similarly (point 2), if the staff member pays for all the documents himself and claims reimbursement in the travel order on arrival, the separately calculated item for meals will not be reimbursed in full, but only as part of the meal allowance.
Final review of ERA Chair project “R-Exposome Chair” highlights research and educational achievements
On 25 June 2025, the final review of the Horizon 2020 project “R-Exposome Chair: Unlocking the potential of RECETOX in Exposome research” was held online via MS Teams, concluding the project that ran from October 2019 to March 2025.
Led by Ing. Jan Ostřížek, Ph.D., the project strengthened Environmental Health research and education by establishing a new ERA Chair team and research programme in Environmental Epidemiology, while also developing the centre’s support services. ERA Chairs prof. MUDr. Martin Bobák, M.Sc., Ph.D. and prof. Mgr. Hynek Pikhart, Ph.D., M.Sc. led a dynamic international research group studying environmental exposures and their health impacts, and played a key role in creating new educational activities.
During the review, EU reviewer Weronika Czarnocka and project advisor Emanuela Galeazzi acknowledged the high quality of the project’s outcomes and confirmed that all key performance indicators were achieved.
We would like to thank all participants for their valuable contributions and support during the final review meeting.
EXPANSE project concludes: Exploring the urban exposome for better health
The Horizon 2020 project EXPANSE (EXposome Powered tools for healthy living in urbAN SEttings), PI doc. RNDr. Pavel Čupr, Ph.D., concludes on 30th June 2025 after 5.5 years of impactful research.
EXPANSE tackled one of today’s most urgent questions: How can we stay healthy in modern cities? By analyzing the Urban Exposome – the combined influence of where we live, what we eat, our social networks, and environmental exposures – the project focused on cardio-metabolic and pulmonary diseases, which are among the leading causes of ill health in Europe. With data from more than 45 million Europeans, EXPANSE developed practical tools and strategies to support healthier urban living.
ONCOBIOME project concludes: Gut microbiome as a tool for personalized cancer care
The Horizon 2020 project ONCOBIOME (Gut OncoMicrobiome Signatures (GOMS) associated with cancer incidence, prognosis and prediction of treatment response), PI Mgr. Eva Budinská, Ph.D., concludes on 30th June 2025 after 6.5 years of dedicated research.
ONCOBIOME focused on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer development, progression, and treatment response. The project aimed to identify Gut OncoMicrobiome Signatures (GOMS) – microbial patterns linked to cancer occurrence, prognosis, and therapeutic outcomes. Based on large-scale studies involving more than 9,000 cancer patients across 10 countries and in connection with innovative clinical trials, the project contributed to the development of diagnostic tools to predict and personalize cancer care, particularly for breast, colorectal, lung cancers and melanoma.
FRANKIE project concludes: Impact of exposure to chemicals on neurodegenerative disease
The FRANKIE project (Impact of exposure to chemicals to the onset and progression of Lewy Body Dementia), led by Žiga Tkalec, PhD and funded by the Horizon Europe ERA Fellowship, ran from July 2023 to June 2025. It investigated potential environmental contributors and molecular mechanisms of onset and progression of neurodegenerative disease.
We thank the principal investigators and scientific teams for their excellent work, expertise, and dedication. Their contribution was crucial for the successful completion of projects, representing a significant step forward in the fields of urban health, personalized cancer care, and neurodegenerative disease research.
Changes to the 2026 and 2027 ERC Work Programmes
The European Research Council (ERC) has published planned changes for the 2026 and 2027 Work Programmes that will affect, among other things, structure of the project proposal and evaluation process. Below you can find main novelties:
1) Grant application
Part I of the Scientific Proposal (formerly, the Extended Synopsis) should describe the overall idea of the proposed research project, including the current state of knowledge and how the research will contribute to the field, the scientific questions the project will attempt to answer, the objectives of the project, and the overall approach or research strategy to achieve those objectives. As in the past, the length of this section will be limited to five pages.
Part II of the Scientific Proposal should describe the implementation in detail: the research methodology, work plan, risk assessment and mitigating measures, justification for the requested budget and resources, and any further necessary background not included in Part I. The length of this section, will now be limited to seven pages for Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grant applications and ten pages for Synergy Grant applications. Hodnocení žádostí
2) Evaluation
Feasibility will no longer be assessed at Step 1. All aspects relating to feasibility should be covered in Part II of the Scientific Proposal.
3) Additional funding
In addition to the increase of the additional funding for applicants from third countries to €2 million, which already applies from the ERC Advanced Call 2025, the additional funding is also to be available to cover personnel costs as of the 2026 calls.
4) Extended eligibility of applicants for Starting and Consolidator Grants
Applicants who have been victims of gender-based violence or any other kind of violence will be able to obtain an extension of the period following their PhD that allows them to apply for Starting and Consolidator Grants.
5) ERC Work Programme 2027
In recognition of the variety and diversity of present-day academic career trajectories, the Scientific Council has decided to widen the eligibility period for both its Starting and Consolidator Grant schemes. From 2027 on, researchers will be eligible to apply for a Starting Grant immediately after successfully defending their PhD, and at any time within the following ten-year period. Consolidator Grant applicants will be eligible to apply between five and fifteen years after defending their PhD. All current policies for the extension of the eligibility periods will remain in force. However, researchers will be awarded no more than one Starting Grant and one Consolidator Grant during their career.
Further information about planned changes is available at the ERC website.
If you plan to apply or are interested in further information, contact Veronika Jálová as soon as possible.
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Below you will find selected publications:
- Strada, R., Dunlop, D., Vorba, M., Raj, A., Tütüncü, B. B., Myllyperkiö, P., Slanina, T., Kumpulainen, T., & Šebej, P. (2025). Restricting intramolecular motion converts non-fluorescent semicroconaine dyes into turn-on aggregation-induced emission probes. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 9(13), 2031–2040.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00030K
- Tkalec, Ž., Koudelka, Š., Klánová, J., & Price, E. J. (2025). Dual LC column characterization for mass spectrometry-based small molecule profiling of human plasma and serum. Analytica Chimica Acta, 1356, 343942.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2025.343942
- Recabarren, T., Torres, M., Jacobsen, C., Pozo, K., Girones, L., Arias, A., Urrutia, R., Ye, G., Přibylová, P., Klánová, J., Ahumada, R., & Pozo, K. (2025). Land-ocean export of microplastic in central Chile: The contribution of the Biobío River using a particle tracking model approach. Environmental Pollution, 374, 126196.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126196
- Janoš, T., Ballester, J., Méndez-Turrubiates, R. F., Čupr, P., & Achebak, H. (2025). Short-term effect of temperature on cause-specific, sex-specific, and age-specific ambulance dispatches in Czechia: a nationwide time-series analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 54(3).
https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaf051
- Dalecká, A., Jeong, A., Szabó, D., Tamasi, B., Imboden, M., Schaffner, E., Keidel, D., Shen, Y., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Cirach, M., de Hoogh, K., Vlaanderen, J., Vermeulen, R., Peters, A., Melén, E., Peasey, A., Bobák, M., Pikhart, H., & Probst-Hensch, N. (2025). Air pollution, greenspace, and metabolic syndrome in older Czech and Swiss populations. Environmental Epidemiology, 9(3), e393.
https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000393
- Hofman, J., Brenerova, P., & Borilova Linhartova, P. (2025). State-of-the-art approaches in the investigation of human seminal bacteriome using metagenomic methods. Frontiers in Reproductive Health, 7.
https://doi.org/10.3389/frph.2025.1557912
- Bartoskova Polcrova, A., Lam, T. M., Pikhart, H., & Lakerveld, J. (2025). Social disparities in exposures to neighbourhood obesogenic built environments in Czechia. Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaf065
- Sharma, B. M., Muncke, J., Boucher, J. M., Zimmermann, L., Brunner, T. A., Arora, P., & Scheringer, M. (2025). Complementing global chemicals management through shaping consumer behavior. IScience, 28(6), 112700.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112700
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We are looking for new colleagues
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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
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We welcome new colleagues to the center and wish them a lot of work success!
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- Mendel festival - 19 July, 10 - 18, Bohunice Campus
- Festival of Science - 5-7 September, 9:00-18:00, Brno Exhibition Center, pavilion A1
- Garden Party at Kotlářská- 15 September, 14:00-18:00, Kotlářská 2, MU Faculty of Science
- Researchers` Night - 26 September, 17:00-23:00, Bohunice campus
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