Mentors for employees

• how to cope with studying abroad
• help choosing the right career path after graduation (start-up, science, industry)
• time management and project management
• learning how to meet the right people for your career
• how to create synergy between diverse activities

Adam is a scientist, (un)successful start-up entrepreneur, business developer, and founder of a Swiss non-profit organization. In his first year of studying analytical chemistry at Masaryk University, he began conducting research—using imaging mass spectrometry to measure heavy metals in tapeworms. During an internship in Germany, he focused more on biology and the analysis of neuropeptides in mouse brains using MALDI. His desire to explore the world took him to Switzerland for seven years, where he published ten scientific papers during his doctorate, learned to understand a different mentality, and realized his own self-worth.
 
"It's amazing how different we all are and how we all have different paths." However, it is not always easy to find and persevere on that path, and with his experience, he will be happy to help you find your path after graduation, whether it leads to a foreign university, a corporation, or your own start-up.

• Contact with industry, applying knowledge from school in practice
• Chemical engineering and its applications
• Collaboration on case studies
• Applying research results in practice
• Consulting in industrial chemistry

• Experience with changing fields 

• Leadership, team management, consulting

• Finding your own career path

• Mapping your own skill set and how to use it

   

• Communication skills development
• Project management
• Insight into pharmaceutical industry manufacturing
• Work-life balance
• Time management

• self-development (personal vision, growth mindset, habit building)
• leadership
• lean six sigma projects
• malting, brewing, food production - systems

• Balancing personal and professional life, balancing time between work and family
• Finding priorities and organizing time
• Foreign experiences during studies
• Discussing the mentee's questions and individual needs

• Find out if I want to pursue a PhD and if science is for me
• Provide advice on how to find an internship abroad and help them make it happen
• Find a work-lab-life balance

During her first four years at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Terezie focused solely on her studies. She graduated with honors with a bachelor's degree. But what good did that do her? All she had was a nice photo from her graduation. During her master's studies, she decided that university was not just about exams and began to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the school. She participated in the ATHENS program and went to Serbia for a two-month IAESTE internship. Immediately afterwards, she went to Hamburg for 11 months, where she worked on her thesis in Dr. Willmans' group at EMBL. There she realized that science is great and she wants to pursue a doctorate. After six months of searching, she found Dr. Jiráček's laboratory at UOCHB, where she successfully completed her doctorate after 4.5 years. 
 
During her PhD, she realized that it is necessary not only to do science, but also to popularize it. That is why she became involved in mentoring high school students in a club at the University of Chemistry and Technology and mentoring high school students in the laboratory at her workplace. She also began to actively participate in popularization events organized by UOCHB. The highlight of pushing her personal boundaries was her participation in the FameLab 2022 competition. She did not lose her nervousness in front of the audience, but the audience did not seem to notice when they awarded her the Audience Award. 

She worked as a postdoc in Zuzana Kečkéšová's group at UOCHB. In addition to popularizing science, Terezie found another passion in organizing events such as lab retreats and workshops on non-academic job opportunities. She is currently actively involved in organizing monthly career lectures for postdocs. She is currently a postdoc at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where she is involved in malaria research and drug discovery activities.
 
If you want to chat with her about something other than science, you can't go wrong with history, climbing, and animal videos. 

• having an overview of what you are doing and how to get everything done
• finding the direction in which to move forward

Martin got into his current job through photography and graphic design. He was interested in how images are created, what happens in the background, and how we can manipulate them on a computer. He studied computer science at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, and today he works in signal and image processing, mainly in the field of medicine. For example, he is currently developing software for hospitals to evaluate CT data, which will enable the estimation of the percentage of lung involvement by coronavirus. At the same time, he also works at the open access microscopy workplace at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and at the NTK, where he helps with the introduction of Open Science in Czech science. Through his position at the NTK, he can constantly learn new trends in data management and pass them on, including in his teaching activities at the University of Chemistry and Technology.

After starting college, Martin felt that many things were missing, so he began to get involved wherever he could to help get things moving. He rose to the position of student president of the academic senate and joined several student associations. "I got used to having some kind of fulfillment, and all those extra activities also gave me the space to find out what I enjoy and what I'm good at. At some point, you get to a point where you're doing a lot of things and enjoying them, and you want to start getting paid for them. Then you have to force yourself to find out what makes you different from others and who might pay you for it." As a mentor, Martin would like to help students learn to take a broader view of the field they are involved in. He can advise them on which areas outside their study program to focus on. Moreover, he himself missed a similar program when he was studying at the University of Chemistry and Technology. 

• how to set your goals, preferences, and personal vision
• learn to organize your time effectively
• share different methods for finding out what you enjoy doing

Lenka graduated from a Waldorf school, which has a specific approach to education, and through her studies she became interested in working with people. At the same time, she always wanted to be connected to nature and animals, so she decided to enroll at the University of Chemistry and Technology with the aim of understanding chemistry and the basic relationships in nature so that one day she could work for the good of both people and animals. During her studies at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Lenka was an active member of the IAESTE association. Thanks to her work in the association, she realized that she enjoyed leading a team, working in an international environment, and that she believed in education. She began to form her vision here—to create opportunities for people to learn. 
 
As a graduate of a chemistry school, Lenka began working for a start-up and then for the American company CEA Prague, where she helped students who came to the Czech Republic find internships in the field and acted as a mentor. In 2019, she applied for and was hired as the director of the non-governmental non-profit organization INEX-SDA. INEX-SDA is involved in international volunteering and intercultural education. Lenka's work as director was divided into three main sections: the first was HR, i.e., employee care, followed by strategic management of the organization, and finally securing funding, which involved seeking grants and administering them. Lenka then founded a non-profit organization. She currently manages the finances of a neuroscience research project, where, given the novelty of the project, she devises and designs most of the systems herself.

For Lenka, inspiration is the greatest value that guides her in life. "I think mentoring is all about letting yourself be inspired. I admire when people have the will to develop themselves; I think it's very important. And when a person is willing to draw on the experience and knowledge of someone else, they can be inspired."

• career guidance
• how to prepare for an interview
• choosing a job in another city

Matěj chose to study Biotechnology at the University of Chemistry and Technology. Over time, however, he discovered that what he enjoyed most about chemistry was numbers and that he needed "hard data" to best understand the context. That is why, while still a bachelor's student, he switched to the field of Drug Production and Synthesis and eventually settled on Analytical Chemistry, where, as he himself says, he finally found his calling.
 
After completing his master's degree, he sensed that the role of an analyst with a clearly defined task for which he would seek solutions in a relatively short time frame would suit him best in his working life. However, he decided to join a one-year trainee program at Contipro, where he tried out a number of positions in research and development. His first assignment was a project focused on the development of vaginal suppositories, and thanks to his work on it, he discovered that he also enjoyed more creative roles, where he could think strategically and plan individual development stages well in advance. After completing the trainee program, he focused on pharmacokinetics—testing drug forms and medical devices on in vitro and in vivo models. This work combines testing with advanced methods of analytical chemistry and mathematical modeling. For Matěj, it was the ideal combination of more creative development and working with data. 

After two years in the workforce, Matěj decided to pursue a Ph.D. He was attracted by the possibility of later using the title in management positions and the opportunity to do a doctorate in a dynamic company environment. He also gained insight into how other workplaces operate, as he completed his Ph.D. studies at Palacký University in Olomouc and went on an internship in Vienna as part of his studies. In addition to new knowledge and a degree, his three-and-a-half-year studies also brought him further collaborations and new contacts thanks to good networking in the academic environment.
 
Matěj now works at Contipro as the head of a working group focused on pharmacokinetics. "I don't really wear a lab coat anymore. In addition to evaluating and planning pharmacokinetic experiments and developing new analytical methods, I lead long-term research aimed at clarifying how orally administered hyaluronan can work in the body and save our joints. It is a multidisciplinary topic that involves not only analysts, but also biologists and other specialists.” Matěj is now learning how to assign tasks within the team in a way that is appropriate to the interests and skills of each employee. He sees mentoring as an opportunity to establish contacts and collaborate with people who have a genuine interest in science and development.

• how to build a company from scratch
• retail at national and international level
• food production
• insider view of building a company with legal implications

• insight into and sharing of experiences from scientific and research practice
• gaining contacts in the field
• preparation for selection procedures from the perspective of both the applicant and the employer (in the Czech Republic and abroad)

• presentation skills and effective communication, critical thinking and analysis
• orientation in the corporate environment, insight into the functioning of the pharmaceutical industry
• stakeholder management, technical project management
• horizontal people management - Matrix arrangement
• "Right-track" decision-making, negotiation and advocacy skills, psychology of negotiation and motivation

• Discussion about career opportunities (science/industry/start-ups and other options)
• Help with identifying and setting up potential start-ups
• Contacts at innovative companies in the field of biotechnology

• Creation of teaching materials, presentations, and videos; advice on how to incorporate modern approaches into teaching and social media
• Support for the development of presentation and communication skills, which are key to conveying scientific knowledge and popularizing chemistry and other fields
• Practical advice on how to popularize science online and offline, including building your own educational brand
• Inspiration and tips on how to teach chemistry in an interesting way even without experiments
• Sharing my own experiences with establishing and running an educational company

• Methodological support during studies
• Expert advice in the above-mentioned fields
• Motivation to study

Professionally, I work as the deputy director for theoretical teaching at a secondary school, and I am also involved as a methodologist and lecturer at NPI ČR and a lecturer in pedagogy. I studied Chemistry and Environmental Protection Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry at Brno University of Technology, and then continued my studies in the doctoral program in Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, and Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University in Brno. I then studied English at the Faculty of Education and Philosophy and completed an MBA at the University of St. Francis in Chicago.

In my free time, I devote myself to self-education, traveling, and studying languages.

• science communication
• personal PR
• career change from scientist to science journalist
• international internships (Fulbright at Northwestern University in Chicago, summer internship at EMBL in Heidelberg)

Pavla originally thought she would become a scientist. She studied clinical biochemistry and chemistry teaching at the University of Chemistry and Technology and completed her PhD in neuroscience at the Third Faculty of Medicine at Charles University.
However, during her Fulbright scholarship in the US, she realized that instead of conducting research in a laboratory and "searching for a cure for Alzheimer's," she wanted to devote herself more to science communication. She now works as a freelance science journalist, writing most frequently for WIRED.CZ magazine and co-hosting the program Žárovky (Light Bulbs) on Český rozhlas Dvojka radio. 
This year, she published a book entitled Neviditelné ženy ve vědě (Invisible Women in Science), which contains twelve inspiring interviews with Czech female scientists and many interesting facts and data, for example about how women were often "invisible" even to the research itself. 
She also communicates science on social media, writes a newsletter, and is the co-author of the first book on science communication in Czech. In 2024, she received a government award for science communication.

• presentation skills and effective communication 
• orientation in the corporate environment and job search 
• insight into the functioning of the pharmaceutical industry 
• scientific positions in the pharmaceutical industry 
• CV writing, publication writing, moving abroad for work 
• communication with corporate and academic management at all levels 
• leadership and (de)motivation 
• horizontal management of people and teams (project work) 
• structured project management 
• crisis management and highlighting team successes 
• risk and opportunity analysis and risk/opportunity management 
• decision making (not only in projects) 
• how to "sell" your innovative ideas even to conservative management