The second-largest university in the Czech Republic, Masaryk University in Brno is well known nationally, but less so elsewhere. Professor Petr Dvořák, head of the university’s biology department and vice-rector for research, plans to change that. He hopes to see his university ranked in the top 400 worldwide within a few years. His trump card? The appointment of renowned molecular biologist Professor Mary O’Connell as the university’s first ERA Chair.   

 

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The EU’s ERA Chairs pilot initiative gives a helping hand to Europe’s less developed universities and other research organisations wanting to compete at a global level. Outstanding researchers are known to have a decisive and positive impact on the culture and performance of research institutions. Yet issues such as a lack of research funding and access to resources can make these researchers hesitant to move to promising institutions.

ERA Chairs seek to create the conditions and opportunities needed to attract high-quality researchers and research managers, helping them move to and engage with interested universities and research organisations. The aim is to improve research excellence at the institutions and put them on the path to success and recognition.

In this case, the funding will be shared by Masaryk University and the Central-European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), in which the university plays a leading role.

O’Connell arrived in Brno in November 2014, bringing with her the wisdom and experience gained during over 30 years of international appointments. After graduating in her native Ireland, she spent spells at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, at MIT in Boston, at the Biozentrum in Basel, Switzerland, in Edinburgh and in Stockholm.

This experience, together with her contacts with the international community, made O’Connell a very attractive candidate for the ERA Chair.

Ambition: the path to success

Dvořák has clear ambitions for his university. In addition to seeing it climb from the 500-600 mark in international rankings (World’s Best Universities Ranking, QS Ranking) to inside the top 400, he plans to overhaul its recruitment system, modernise its PhD training system, make it a more powerful player in terms of science, and increase the percentage of international staff from around 5% currently, to 10%. He also wants to see more international researchers among his senior staff – most non-Czech researchers are today at post-doc or group leader level.

O’Connell shares these aspirations, and has already got to work on some of the targets. She is, for example, currently setting up her research group, and is planning on bringing in several international researchers, including some established scientists who are following her from previous positions. This will raise overall research excellence and, in turn, attract more funding.

She is also attracting academics with a series of external life science seminars – although is eager the point out that the initiative is not hers alone. The seminars will be an opportunity for researchers within the life science community to meet each other regularly. This, in turn, will lead to greater awareness of what peers are working on, and – hopefully – increased collaboration.

O’Connell also has plans to raise the profile of the university. “When people hear about ‘Masaryk University’, I want them to know that it’s in the Czech Republic. Bringing in external speakers helps.”

To ensure O’Connell’s input on recruitment and PhD training, Dvořák has created an international advisory panel – a first among Czech universities – in which she plays a leading role. This enables her to supervise strategic decisions about science and strategy.

O’Connell is looking forward to getting stuck into a more administrative role than she has had in the past, and is confident that her experience puts her in a position to advise on “what works and what they can ignore”. And her colleagues at CEITEC clearly agree: they have been “incredibly receptive to new ideas; kind, understanding and willing to try new things,” she says.

The right choice

In research terms, O’Connell is interested in the role of RNA modifications in innate immunity. Of the trio of large molecules on which all living organisms are built – DNA, RNA and proteins – scientists had always thought of RNA as the messenger and having a rather passive role. “But we realise now that may different types of RNA can be modified,” says O’Connell. This RNA modification can have a significant influence on innate immunity, and may contribute to autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

The work done by O’Connell’s group will be financed from the CEITEC and university budgets. But both will definitely get a return on this investment, and not just in monetary terms, says Dvořák, highlighting learning from best practice in particular.

Indeed the whole process of identifying the right ERA Chair has been good for the university and CEITEC, according to Dvořák. “We needed to identify our weak points and find a person who could help us with those points. I think Mary is a good choice.”

It is clear that Dvořák sees plenty of advantages in the appointment. But what made it interesting for O’Connell? “The minute I came to visit, I knew I wanted the job,” she says. She talks excitedly about a new university building that recently won a national award, adding, “It’s so alive here and the people are very enthusiastic.”

As for settling in in Brno, O’Connell is no stranger to packing her bags and re-establishing herself in new university in yet another country. “I carry my little office with me,” she jokes.

 

Online version of article can be found HERE