Parenthood and cutting-edge science – two missions that require the whole person, but which young scientists at the beginning of their career often struggle to combine due to the lack of sufficient institutional support. This is why many of them quit science before they can change the world or why they postpone parenthood so as not to lose touch with science early in their careers. The Martina Roeselová Memorial Fellowship seeks to help them in this situation. The IOCB Tech Foundation will now support ten researchers with a total of CZK 1.5 million.

Support for young parent scientists

The Martina Roeselová Memorial Fellowship is intended for postgraduate students and early-career scientists in the natural sciences who are trying to combine competitive scientific research with quality care of pre-school aged children.

"Our foundation was created, among other things, to support the development of science. However, we do not want to replace government agencies that fund scientific projects, but to focus on the blind spots in the system that lack institutional support. This also applies to young scientists at the beginning of their career who are trying to make it in the extremely challenging environment of contemporary science, often at a time when they are also starting a family and caring for their offspring," says Barbara Eignerová, Chair of the IOCB Tech Foundation Management board. "Our fellowship aims to help them combine and manage both more easily. We don't want to lose promising young scientists just because they can't afford flexible childcare for a few hours a day."

Martina Roeselová’s legacy

The fellowship was established a few years ago at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS in memory of the late scientist and beloved mentor Martina Roeselová. In addition to a successful scientific career, she raised three children with the support of her husband Marek, while tirelessly supporting budding scientists and trying to improve the conditions in academia for them to successfully combine family life and scientific work.

This is a legacy that Martina Roeselová Memorial Fellowship builds upon, providing financial support to young scientists from Czech universities and research institutions so that they do not lose contact with science during the first years of parenthood and can continue to pursue their research.

10 new recipients in 2023

The IOCB Tech Foundation has now chosen 10 recipients for 2023, each of whom will receive CZK 150,000:

  • Dora Čertnerová, Ph.D., Faculty of Science, Charles University
  • Vojtěch Hamala, Institute of Chemical Processes of the CAS
  • Kateřina Hromasová, Czech Technical University in Prague / Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS
  • Barbora Chattová, Ph.D., Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
  • Karolína Lavičková, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague
  • Helena Peschelová, CEITEC / Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
  • Kateryna Semenovykh, Institute of Physiology of the CAS
  • Ondřej Sotolář, Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University
  • Alžbeta Štefela, Ph.D., Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University
  • Niluka Wickramasinghe, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague