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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• history
• US withdrawal
• Afghanistan
• geopolitics
• collapse

• Interviewee's personal archive, Shutterstock

The last three weeks brought about a dramatic turn of events in Afghanistan with the collapse of the central government and the return of the Taliban. How did the US get into such a position after almost 20 years’ involvement? Forum discussed the situation with Jiří Pondělíček of Charles University’s Department of North American Studies.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• CU staff
• cycling
• ebikes
• transport
• Prague

• Jitka Jiřičková
• Martin Pinkas

“Riding an electric bike is a euphoric experience. You no longer feel the bump of cobblestones or curbs. You can just pedal and revel in the speed,” says Forum’s Jitka Jiřičková. The new bikes should be available to staff at CU in September. Two of our vice-rectors, Radka Wildová and Jan Royt, tried the bikes ahead of time… as did our reporter.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• innovation
• WIPO
• intellectual property
• Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer
• WIPO Summer School

• Interviewee's personal archive, CU archive, Shutterstock

Charles University’s Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer is partnering with WIPO to hold an online Summer School this September. The school is an opportunity for participants to earn a prestigious credential from WIPO - a specialized agency of the United Nations.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• Video
• Tomáš Zima
• Coimbra Group
• Ludovic Thilly
• sustainability

• René Volfík, Shutterstock

The Coimbra Group Annual Conference began on Wednesday, this year hosted online by Charles University. Among the main topics are sustainability, post-pandemic cooperation, and help for students. The Coimbra Group brings together 41 universities from 23 countries.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• solidarity
• elections
• Belarus
• Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
• pro democracy

• Vladimír Šigut

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is on a four-day visit to the Czech Republic. The leader was invited to Prague by the speaker of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil. On Monday afternoon, she and her team met for talks at Charles University. On the agenda: ways to help students and to support democracy in Belarus.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• research
• Humans of CU
• CU Point
• Staff Welcome Centre
• Charles University services

• Vladimír Šigut, Shutterstock

Charles University saw important changes over the last year-and-a-half, among them the relocation of student/employee services, CU Point, to Celetná 13. It is a central hub including the CU Staff Welcome Centre, helping foreign researchers with work stays.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• Jan Kalfus
• The Carolinum
• pipe organ
• classical music
• ceremony

• Marcela Uhlíková
• Vladimír Šigut

From outside it has barely been audible but the last few weeks the historic Carolinum has echoed with the sounds of construction. Not just hallways but also a part of the Great Hall itself is being renovated, ahead of the installation of a new pipe organ. 

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• coronavirus
• medicine
• exercise
• youth
• seniors

• Vladimír Šigut, Shutterstock

Getting back in shape after the Covid pandemic was the topic of a live webinar hosted by Charles University on Thursday with a panel of experts discussing the impact of the virus on public health. A drop in physical activity among those who worked from home, as well as lingering post-Covid symptoms among patients, were looked at.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• coronavirus
• Videos
• education
• Comenius
• online learning

• Pavla Hubálková
• CU archive, Shutterstock

Sunday, 28 March, was Teachers’ Day in the Czech Republic, held on the anniversary of the birth of the renowned Czech educational reformer and theologian Jan Amos Komenský (Comenius) in 1592. Do today's teachers still rely on principles laid down by the great educationalist? And how have they fared during the pandemic?

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• Tomáš Zima
• coronavirus threat
• Videos
• conference
• Carolinum

• Vladimir Šigut

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.“

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• Hynek Glos, Vladimír Šigut, Shutterstock

A new study by economists at the CERGE-EI think-tank IDEA researching social interaction and the spread of Covid-19, provides answers to where mistakes were made during the pandemic. March 1 marks exactly one year since the Czech Republic registered its first two cases of the novel coronavirus.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• volunteers
• vaccination
• vaccines
• Bulovka University Hospital

• Martin Rychlik
• Vladimír Šigut

Vaccination has gotten underway at Bulovka University Hospital in Prague - a hospital that cooperates closely with Charles University medical faculties 1-3. Forum photographer Vladimír Šigut got a closer look.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• Miroslav Barták's personal archive, Marcela Uhlíková, Shutterstock

Next month it will be a year that Czechs first went into lockdown because of Covid-19. There are concerns that over that time more and more people are drinking at home and in excess. I spoke to Dr. Miroslav Barták of the Department of Addictology at Charles University about the growing risk.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• coronavirus threat
• Jan Konvalinka
• Videos
• education
• fake news
• debate series

• Vladimír Šigut, Hynek Glos

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.

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Written by: Jan Velinger

Category: News

• coronavirus
• vaccination
• General University Hospital

• Jiří Novák
• Martin Pinkas

Following vaccinations of health care workers and personnel and clients at senior homes, the Czech Republic rolled out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for seniors 80 and over just a few days ago. Our photographer took a closer look.

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