In work life, medicine means the most to me

In addition to the (receding) Covid crisis, the beginning of the term of the new rector of the Charles University, Professor Milena Králíčková, is also a time of the war conflict in Ukraine and activation of support for the affected students and Ukrainian academic community. Although some areas had to take a back seat for a while, most university issues, such as the creation of a new student information system, construction of the Albertov Campus, support for equal opportunities, or preparation of the post of university ombudsman, could not stop even for a day.

 

You have been closely observing the Charles University since 2014, when you became the vice-rector for student affairs. What are now your irons in the fire, what are the most important things to do?

The Charles University is a living organism that can never stop. I have had several hot irons to deal with since the first day of my tenure. Very quickly, we had to complete several large National Renewal Plan projects which involved scientific collaboration across a number of faculties. We must also continue with preparing the construction of some major infrastructure projects. In short, at the university there are a lot of issues and processes that cannot stop for even one day.

You inherited from your predecessors the multi-year project Campus Albertov and construction of the Biocentrum and Globcentre buildings. What are the current developments? There is talk behind the scenes that the Globcentre will not be built.

In the upcoming call of the National Recovery Plan, the Biocentre project is ready, but the Globcentre project does not have a specific source of funding as yet. It is, however, in the strategic plan, and we will try our best to get funding for it as soon as possible. It is clear to me that building in stages is much more challenging. University campuses in Pilsen and Hradec Králové were built that way and we must take into account that this will probably happen here as well. But I believe we will manage.

One of your priorities is computerisation. Our students are eagerly awaiting the new student information system. When can we expect it?

For the new SIS, 2022 is the year of the preparation phase. We are now creating the technical platform and architecture of the different modules, and these will be implemented starting from 2023. The highest priority for us are the modules related to course registration, student applications for accommodation and social scholarships and subsidies, and the like. We will proceed module by module.

Is the new SIS going to include a mobile application?

We are aware of the fact that students are very much in favour. And yes, we are preparing accessibility from mobile devices.

You took your office at a time of Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine. Which issues had to take the back seat because of this?

The war in Ukraine added a lot of work. From the very first days, we focused on supporting our current students who in some cases found themselves overnight completely destitute. At the same time, we were setting up a framework of clear rules, for example an algorithm on how to help incoming Ukrainian students or Ukrainian academics. You are right to note that for instance the work we wanted to do to simplify and improve the care for incoming international academics had to take a back seat for a while. That is now, in addition to the Staff Welcome Centre, partly also the responsibility of the International Department. All these staff members had to focus on helping Ukrainian students. We had to suspend this activity for a few weeks, but now we are fully engaged in it again.

So, what help does the university offer to people from Ukraine now?

There are many target groups we must help. As I mentioned above, we are helping our current Ukrainian students, because some are now in an urgent social situation. Another area of support directed at incoming students from Ukraine is the opportunity to intern as a ‘free mover’ in ongoing study programmes. At the same time, these students are beginning to learn Czech, because most will be probably directed to the Czech study programmes. We also help foreign female academics who often arrive with their children. We have now almost 400 Ukrainian refugees, mostly mothers and children, at the Větrník student dormitory. There is humanitarian aid on site for them, including Czech language classes, which take place at the Hybernská Campus. In addition to the Czech language lessons for adults, this location includes a corner for children. And Czech is also being taught intensively at the Institute of Language Training, where they have quickly prepared both Czech language classes and related care for young children. I am happy to say that a number of our students became involved as volunteers either at these facilities or for example at the Congress Centre or the Central Train Station in Prague.

How are the abovementioned female academics employed at the university?

We have employed several male and female academics from Ukraine for example at the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, or at the Faculty of Science. But most say that when the war ends, they want to return to Ukraine. The Rector's Office now makes a financial contribution to faculties which employ these academics – it covers part of the cost of employing them. We offer a monthly support of 15,000 CZK for each Ukrainian academic employed by our faculties. This support is planned for three to nine months, at most until the end of 2022. While the Ministry of Education contributes the same amount to Ukrainian students on internship, part-time staff from Ukraine is paid by the university from its own funds.

In your election programme, you mentioned the need for equal opportunities. Are you more in favour of quotas or a less strict form of support? How is the Charles University doing in this respect, is there an analysis?

During my term in office, I do not plan on enforcing quotas at the Charles University. While a number of analyses have shown that they can be in some cases effective, I am not in favour of making progress in the area of equal opportunities in this way. The University is now developing an effective, concrete, and constructive equal opportunities plan. The document has already been approved by the Academic Senate of the Charles University. An Equal Opportunities Board is being set up: it will include representatives of all faculties and monitor the plan’s implementation in practice. The plan was preceded by an analysis, which was likewise based on data from the faculties and served as the basis for the Equal Opportunities Plan. It covered, for example, the wage policy of university institutes and faculties but also other areas.

So how did the analysis turn out?

At some faculties, equality is not in place. Unfortunately, at a number of our faculties there is still a pay gap, that is, a difference between the financial valuation of women and men. That is definitely one of the things we should be looking at. Analyses have shown that problems for parents start during their studies, when for example as Ph.D. students they face problems associated with parenthood. We need to concentrate on making it easier – right from the beginning of their careers – for parents to return from parental leave. This applies really not just to women but to parents in general. We should ensure that parenthood is not a complication at any stage of a scientific career. This is very much the case for female postdocs. After obtaining a Ph.D., parenthood often prevents them from realising a much-coveted stay abroad. We should try to compensate for this and offer them suitable opportunities.

Did the data show any links between equal opportunities and certain fields?

One cannot generalise over entire fields. It always depends on the particular department and the supervisor whether they allow part-time employment and what conditions they create for the Ph.D. student, postdoc, or young associate professor. In any case, the numbers are now clear. We have slightly more female students than male students at the university, and the number of Ph.D. students and postdocs is balanced. But once we look at the numbers of male and female associate professors or male and female professors, the scissors between the number of men and women are opening. That is why we need to enforce conditions that would make it easier for female scientists to follow their scientific careers.

Could you mention some specific points of the Equal Opportunities Plan?

It is about actions that should be implemented all the way from particular departments (e.g., allowing for part-time contracts) to those undertaken by the management of individual faculties or the university as a whole. These include, for example, equal representation of men and women in the composition of the various expert commissions, boards, and committees.

The medical faculties welcome the fact that as the new rector you have, given your area of expertise, a detailed insight into medical higher education. Where and in what ways should medical schools move forward under your leadership?

Our medical schools have great management teams, and each faculty has its specific goals. If I were to name one common denominator for the required efforts, I would very much like to boost practical instruction and include it in the curricula from the lowest grades. I can see that each faculty is trying to do this, though each in a slightly different way. Be it teaching on simulators or other methods, practical instruction has a vital place in the teaching of medicine, just as it does for example at faculties of science.

In addition to teaching, a key task of medical faculties is their role in science. According to some foreign experts, biomedical science at Charles University is unnecessarily fragmented among the five medical faculties. Do you share this view?

Any cooperation between our medical faculties is certainly beneficial and I want to support it. To this end, the previous management prepared the Cooperatio system, which was launched this year. Unfortunately, I am not at all sure – although it was meant to work that way – that the impact of this programme will be improved collaboration across faculties. That is why we will evaluate Cooperatio at the end of 2022 and see whether this objective is being met, whether the mechanisms are working, and how one could fine-tune the less functional aspects. In addition to bringing teams together across faculties, Cooperatio should also create a suitable environment for the assessment of particular areas of science. In the future, though, collaboration across medical faculties should certainly be encouraged. Collaboration bears fruit everywhere from joint doctoral programmes all the way to joint institutional funding.

After the whirlwind of the first six months as rector, you would like to return to teaching medical students. Based on your experience, what kind of doctors do you think they are becoming?

I always tend to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. That is why I am so pleased to see that the Covid era has inspired many of our students to become active and engage in volunteer work. They could be thus better prepared for crisis situations. If I were inclined to see the glass half empty, I would note that some students did not acquire certain practical skills during the Covid-19 years. It will be now up to each of them to realise where their shortcomings are in terms of their professional growth. To improve their knowledge and skills, they should take advantage of the opportunities they have during their studies. But it was not just teaching that was affected. For many students, the lockdowns had an impact on their mental health, and they sought the help offered by the Charles University Point.

At what stage is now the emerging post of the university ombudsman?

We have a draft of the remit and activities an ombudsman should address. By mid-April, these documents were sent for commenting to the individual faculties. Now we will create a regulation, a rector’s directive, which will give the post of ombudsman a real framework. Then we will announce a competition for the post.

Is it intended that such post should be created at individual faculties?

On the contrary. We want the university ombudsman to function for all faculties that did not establish such post as yet. Some already have one, for example the Faculty of Law, but the university ombudsman should be there for everyone. The function should operate in a ‘suprafacultative’ manner. It will be important for the ombudsman to have some point of contact at each faculty, for instance in the vice-deans for studies, but there will be no requirement for an ombudsman at each faculty.

As a rector of the Charles University, you now also have more opportunities to familiarise the public with your professional work. Are you planning any outreach initiatives in the area of reproductive medicine?

I am not thinking in that direction at all. A rector is here to represent the whole university. It is not up to her to promote her particular field.

You take decisions affecting 17 faculties, thousands of staff, and tens of thousands of students. Are there times when you have the power of veto? And who is your advisor in contentious situations?

On a number of things, I do have the veto power. My closest advisors are the six male and two female vice-rectors and other members of my board. But I must not forget the highest decision-making body, the Academic Senate of the Charles University.

Do you also consult with your family members?

Yes, people's stories do not change much. In some ways, we are now dealing with the same worries as our parents did, and it is good to share our envisaged solutions with our children. I have two daughters, a kind husband, but also a mother; they all hear from me about what is going on at the university, and I, in turn, like to hear their opinions.

Where would you study if you could choose from among current universities? Would it be in the Czech Republic or abroad?

I would definitely study here. I would not change it for anything. I am convinced that the quality of studies at the Charles University is such that it attracts the brightest high-school students even today. Although many choose to study abroad, I wish from the bottom of my heart that my daughters would choose to study at the Charles University. It is a great choice. Moreover, if they are attracted to studying abroad, we have the great advantage that the Charles University is among the ten most active universities in Europe in the Erasmus programme. If you are in any kind of undergraduate or graduate programme, the likelihood of going with Erasmus anywhere in Europe or even around the world is really high. I believe that the Charles University should be the first choice for even the best high-school students.

If you could choose an international institution, where would you go for an internship?

I spent a year at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the laboratory of reproductive endocrinology. That is where I would like to return. I would enjoy standing at the same lab table with my colleagues there. On the other hand, it is an equally a great pleasure to see these colleagues here at the Charles University where many of them come to lecture.

What field of study other than your current one would you consider if you were to decide again?

I would again choose medicine and a specialisation in gynaecology and obstetrics. The years I spent in the delivery rooms were in professional terms some of the happiest years of my life. I would not choose any other field because medicine means the most to me in my working life.