Rector Awarded Outstanding Students of Charles University

On November 25, students of medicine, social sciences and humanities, natural science, theology and education received the annual Rector of Charles University Awards. A special award for achievement in sports was given to the world champion in the sports discipline of rock’n’roll dance girl formation.

A special award was given to Bc. Veronika Petříková for representing the Czech Republic and the Faculty of Science in the sports discipline of Rock’n’roll Girl Formation. The future 2^nd year student of the graduate student of chemistry in the programme of Biology Education for Secondary Schools won the first place in this discipline in 2009. Her colleague from the department received the award in her absence.

The Karel Weigner Awards for the best graduates in medicine were received by MUDr. Kateřina Pokorná from the 3^rd Faculty of Medicine and Bc. Diana Vajsarová from the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové.

	MUDr. Kateřina Pokorná volunteers for Médecins Sans Frontieres, organizing the Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City project. She has also been organizing the open days at the faculty since 2004 as a member of Trimed – the faculty’s student association. In 2005-2007, she served as the president of the Czech branch of the International federation of Medical Students Associations.
	Bc. Diana Vajsarová has graduated from the distant learning programme in nursing. Her thesis “Knowledge of First Aid in Life-Threatening Situations Among Parents of Pre-School Children” proposed a series of preventive measures based on the findings that showed that most parents have insufficient knowledge of first aid procedures.

The Karel Engliš award for the best graduates from humanities and social sciences was handed to Dana Smrčková from the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Mgr. Dana Smrčková’s thesis “School Media – Press, Radio, Television and the Internet: The Case of the Olomouc and Ústí nad Labem regions” has already been awarded by the Dean of the faculty and contributed to the knowledge of media literacy in the Czech Republic.

The Jaroslav Heyrovský Awards for the best graduates in science were given to Lenka Řežábková and Pavel Repko from the Faculty of Science.

In her Master’s thesis, Mgr. Lenka Řežábková, a student of biochemistry, has succeeded in explaining the regulation mechanism of the RSG3 protein in relation to the 14-3-3 protein, using the methods of molecular biology, protein biochemistry, protein crystallography and fluorescence spectroscopy. Her unique findings were published in the Journal of Structural Biology. She could not accept the award in person due to being on a research stay

abroad.

Bc. Pavel Repka focuses on clinical and toxicological analysis and specializes in analytical chemistry. In his Bachelor’s thesis, he gathered a huge quantity of data that he analyzed and interpreted in an outstanding fashion.

The Josef Dobrovský awards for the best graduates from theology were granted to Kristýna Kupfová from the Protestant Theological Faculty and Helena Křenková from the Catholic Theological Faculty.

	Mgr. Kristýna Kupfová graduated with a thesis that has been acclaimed as the best in the field of systematic theology in the last few years. She was among the top students in her programme.
	Mgr. Helena Křenková graduated from theoretical theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty. She wrote her thesis on “The Influence of Spirituality of Teresa of Jesus on the Spiritual Life of Marie Dominica Mazzarello”.

The Václav Příhoda Award for the best graduates in the field of education was received by Aneta Mirová.

	Bc. Aneta Mirová is currently enrolled in the Mathematics Education and Descriptive Geometry for Secondary Schools programme. She has been active in organizing the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics affiliated Pikomat competition for middle school pupils and the MaSo competition for the aspiring mathematicians among secondary school students.
P.K. Translation: Jaroslav Švelch