Medici PRO Očkování (Med Students for Vaccination) is an initiative begun more than three years ago before anyone had heard of Covid-19. The pandemic has put the group front and centre. It’s aim is to provide the public with honest and factual information about why it’s important to get the jab. Forum spoke to the organisation’s Jaromír Astl.

Experts vs. “experts” - Scientists in the Media was the title of an online panel discussion on Thursday hosted by Kampus Hybernská. Four invited speakers – two well-known science journalists and two scientists, discussed the difficulties of their fields and where they overlapped, as well as the damage caused by some experts spreading denial.

“Have we learned anything new about the education system during the pandemic? And why is the economics of education becoming more important these days?” are questions host Katarína Stehlíková put to CERGE-EI’s Daniel Münich in the latest Talking Economics.

With vaccines widely available in Europe, it is easy to forget, even just a year-and-a-half later, the urgency with which they were developed. Duncan Matthews, an expert on IP law at Queen Mary University of London, was a key guest at the WIPO Summer School at Charles University. One of his lectures focused on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Speakers at a one-day conference at Charles University focusing on the pandemic more than a year on agreed: an outbreak  such as the one we have seen was a ticking time bomb. Despite how prepared we might be in terms of knowledge, virologist Ladislav Machala said globalisation had shown we have never been “more vulnerable.“

Even as a little girl she dreamed of being a doctor one day and later admired the organisation Doctors without Borders. Now, med student Markéta Malecová is a few months away from completing her studies and becoming a doctor herself. She has already made an impact, helping children at a very special hospital in Uganda.

Lucie Bankovská Motlová teaches at the Dept. of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology at the Third Faculty of Medicine at Charles University. She is outspoken about her field, how it can help patients live regular lives and gives valuable advice on how to maintain good mental health during the pandemic. 

The idea to sew face masks came to her long before they were widely needed during the pandemic: Faculty of Arts student Kristýna Šimralová attended a lecture on opportunities for the Deaf, showing how even tough barriers can be overcome. She opted to make face masks with a clear window, which make it easier to read lips.

This week Charles University hosted a webinar as part of its continuing public debate series Česko a jak dál. The topic was disinformation and fake news in connection with Covid-19. Disinformation has been part of the mix from the very beginning of the pandemic.

Even though vaccination for Covid-19 has begun in the Czech Republic, there are still many people who remain sceptical and have expressed fear or doubts. Anyone among the broader public wanting to view a serious debate on the matter should look up a discussion that was live this week organised by the Neuron Endowment Fund.

The US-based immunologist Václav Větvička says there couldn’t have been more than five people on the plane when he recently traveled back to the Czech Republic. Because of Covid−19. As a scientist, Větvička has been outspoken about what we can – and should – be doing to stay safe. And really do we have any other choice before we get the vaccine?

Well-known evolutionary biologist and parasitologist Jaroslav Flegr, who teaches at CU’s Faculty of Science, anticipated in August that things weren’t going to go the way we hoped regarding the coronavirus. As of last week, cases jumped to record levels in the Czech Republic.

Researchers from Charles University’s First Faculty of Medicine together with three private sector firms have developed a new test for flu and Covid-19 which should be available in September.

f the novel coronavirus had never hit, Ruth Tachezy would have been doing other things: applying for funding, heading a national reference laboratory, and publishing. She would have been helping her students at the Faculty of Science and would have been preparing for an upcoming conference and a mountaineering vacation. Instead, she opted to tackle a higher “mountain”.

As the coronavirus continues to strangle the world in its grip, it has grown apparent that an important tool is the introduction of smart quarantines

A team of scientists from the Institute for Democracy & Economic Analysis (IDEA) has offered its expertise to try and curb the negative economic impact of coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out large numbers of volunteers across the country, offering help in a time of unprecedented crisis.

Students at Charles University’s medical faculties wasted little time pooling their strengths in the face of the emerging crisis.

An investigation into the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has examined how long it can survive on different surfaces. If someone touches a contaminated item – a set of keys, their phone, or even cash – can they get sick?