Department Profile

Present Day

The Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University provides a pleasant environment for study and research work in several standard biological fields of study, as well as in highly specialised disciplines including biology and physics, chemistry, medicine or biotechnology.

In the field of education, as well as research and development, the Department cooperates with leading domestic institutions, such as the Academy of Sciences, Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem, the Zoological Garden in Ústí nad Labem, as well as several foreign institutions, such as the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection at the Lodz University, or the Technical University in Dresden.

The seat of the Department of Biology is in the Za Válcovnou premises, which includes a building with classrooms and laboratories, the new building of the Centre for Biological and Environmental Studies (CBEO), the Educational Botanical Park, a growth chamber and two greenhouses with a total area of 422 m2.

The research focus of the Department is quite broad. It covers both standard areas (such as zoology, botany, microbiology, plant biotechnologies, ethology) and, in cooperation with the Centre for Nanomaterials and Biotechnology (CENAB), areas that are considerably interdisciplinary, with reach into the issue of material sciences or nanotechnologies (biomaterials, nanobiotechnology).

The main research topics in recent years:

  • ethological studies of spiders, research in the construction and function of the spinning apparatus and their relation to the microscopic structure of spider silk (doc. RNDr. Jaromír Hajer, CSc.)
  • study of the physiology (namely cryptobiosis) and ecology of tardigrades – strain Tardigrada (Mgr. Michaela Czerneková, Ph.D.)
  • systematic documentation of protected and endangered plant species of the Central Bohemian Uplands (doc. RNDr. Karel Kubát, CSc.)
  • ethology of wild and domesticated animals and human ethology, physical anthropology and ethology of primates (doc. RNDr. Eva Jozífková, Ph.D. et Ph.D.)
  • research of the formation and structure of soil biofilms created by cooperating micro-organisms (doc. RNDr. Milan Gryndler, CSc.)
  • the issue of bioremediations (Mgr. Hana Auer Malinská, Ph.D.)
  • morphology, structure and mutual interactions of microbial organisms living free or in biofilms (RNDr. Oldřich Benada, CSc.) 

History

The history of the Department is closely related to the Faculty of Education. It was a part of the Faculty of Education until 2004 and it prepared students in the studies of teaching biology in approbation with other sciences and humanities. In 2004, it became a part of the Institute of Natural Sciences and in 2005 of the newly founded Faculty of Science at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem.

At present, the Department provides studies in the bachelor’s single-major study programme of biology in full-time and combined form, bachelor’s study programme of teacher’s preparation in full-time and combined form (Bc.), follow-up master’s single-major study programme of biology in two specialisations in full-time and combined form, and follow-up master’s study programme of teacher’s preparation in full-time and combined form (Mgr.).

More information about the individual study programmes can be found here.