Social Responsibility

The social relevance of the research conducted must be assessed based on the type of research.

The principal focus of FE MU is the education of students, i.e., future teachers. In this sense, the DPCHVE plays indispensable role for the whole of society. According to current research, up to 35% of class lessons in natural sciences / technically oriented subjects at primary schools are not delivered by certified teachers. This represents a serious threat to the socio-economic development of the Czech Republic. The DPChVE’s efforts help mitigate this threat not only by its direct teaching activities, but also by its support for teacher development through didactic research knowledge transfer by means of specialist-oriented networking (conferences, workshops) and publications. In this way, the whole of society in the Czech Republic benefits from improvements in teaching strategies and the enhancement of the skills of teachers, which holds true for each section/field of the DPChVE, namely, physics, chemistry, and technology. The projects led by staff of the DPChVE involved the active participation of the students.

With regard to field-expert R&D, which members of the DPChVE largely conducted at FSc MU/CEITEC, from the wide variety of research topics notable examples relate to the plasma treatment of water, where a national patent and PCT was granted (CZ patent No.308 532),and highly beneficial research for society focused on water cleaning technologies and agricultural technologies. Analytical techniques for the preservation of cultural heritage are also worthy of mention.

The DPChVE’s staff also participate as volunteers in different eventhood FE MU and present their research in public lectures, on TV and in journals. A notable example of such activities is the collaboration with Brno City Museum on the experimental reconstruction of historical daguerreotype for the 180-year anniversary (Dr. Horska (FE MU), Dr. Vachůt (BCM), the almanac Forum Brunense 2021).The department also participates in education at the traffic playground based on a faculty agreement with Brno City Police. It is quite clear that the main societal relevance of the DPChVE’s activities relates to the education of hundreds of students who become future teachers, and who benefit from the contemporary knowledge transferred during lectures and thesis projects. These graduates are eagerly sought by the schools across the Czech Republic. This work is especially necessary for bridging the knowledge gap of previous generations of teachers’ to the future demands put on new STEM specialists, as the Industry 4.0 revolution rules. This places the highest demands on STEM teachers at elementary schools to impress potential future STEM specialists who are encountering this ecosystem for the first time.

Recognition of the research effort of the DPChVE’s members by the scientific community is exemplified by the awards received by the following individuals:

  • Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Hana Cídlová, Dr. – Vilem Baur Award (Czech Chemical Society, 2020) – for long-term activities and merit in chemistry
  • Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Petr Sládek, CSc. – Award of the Dean of Faculty of Education; recognition of cooperation with the General Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic (2014)
  • JUDr. Mgr. Ing. Kateřina Šmejkalová, – Dean’s Award 2017 for humanitarian activities
  • Assoc. Prof. Cídlová is also a committee member of the Czech Chemical Society’s Chemical Education Working Group,and is a former member of the Academic Verification and Evaluation Panel for the Evaluation of Results in Research and Development (02 SHVb -Social Sciences)of the Research, Development and Innovation Council, Office of the Government of the Czech Republic (2017).
  • Assoc. Prof.RNDr. Petr Sládek, CSc. is also a member of the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists(JČMF) and committee member of the Physical Pedagogical Society, and was a committee member of the Czech Physical Society (JČMF).
  • PhDr. Jan Válek, Ph.D. is a member of the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists and member of the committee of the Czech Physical Society (since 2022, he has held the position of Secretary).

The dissemination of results is also accomplished by means of popularization events for schools and the public. Some examples are MjUNI –Masaryk University’s ‘junior university’ (the DPChVE is a faculty coordinator), the activities of the Czech European Researchers’ Night, the Czech science festival “VědaFest”,and collaboration with VIDA! science centre in Brno, the public-funded popularization centre for natural sciences, in which the DPChVE’s students are also involved. Members of the DPChVE are involved in principal and applied research published in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. The DPChVE’s members are also reviewers for internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals (see, e.g., Publons records).

Public awareness of the research conducted at DPChVE is raised by means of regular Didactic conferences with international participation (see e.g. the last 14th Didactic Conference in 2021) organised in collaboration with the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists and DTI University (Slovakia) and the Information Society for Education and Training (a member of ZSVTS -Association of Slovak Scientific and Technological Societies).