Eva Navrátilová has been granted a major award for her work. The director of the Academia Film Olomouc international science documentary film festival received the Research, Development and Innovation Council Chair’s Award for the Promotion and Popularisation of Scientific Research. It was presented by Marek Ženíšek, Czech Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, and members of the parliamentary committees for education and science, the chair of the Czech Science Foundation, vice-chairs of the Council of Higher Education Institutions, and other prominent representatives of ministries and the academic sphere attended the ceremony at the Straka Academy in Prague.
The Research, Development and Innovation Council (R&D&I Council) Chair’s Award is bestowed for the popularisation or promotion of research, experimental development, and innovation. The award has been announced annually by the Research, Development and Innovation Council since 2016 and is intended not just for scientists, but also journalists, teachers, entrepreneurs, and other personalities who publish on topics related to science and technology and contribute to their popularisation.
Mgr. Eva Navrátilová is an expert in scientific communication and research popularisation with more than fifteen years of experience. She works at Palacký University as the director of the Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) international science documentary film festival, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. She is also the expert guarantor of the Prague Science Film Fest and co-author of the video portal Watch & Know (watchandknow.cz), which focuses on popular science films and interviews with leading scientists. Previously, she was involved in popularisation projects at the VIDA! science centre in Brno and created marketing campaigns for scientific documentaries. Navrátilová’s work has long focused on making science understandable and accessible to a wide audience, including the youngest generation. She is accomplished communicator who can explain topics across scientific disciplines in an engaging and comprehensible way and create programmes that not only educate but also inspire and strengthen public confidence in scientific knowledge and critical thinking. You can read a detailed profile on her in the past year’s issue of UP Žurnál. Photo: Jakub Čermák
“The popularisation of science is not only a supplement to research, but an increasingly important part of it. Without the ability to communicate scientific knowledge to the public in a highly comprehensible way, science loses its social dimension and, as a result, even people’s interest in science. In this regard, Eva Navrátilová’s work is an example of how science can be conveyed to people with respect for scientific work and at the same time with humanity and comprehensibility,” said Ženíšek.
Navrátilová was nominated by Jan Stejskal, Dean of the Palacký University Faculty of Arts. “Eva Navrátilová has long been committed to popularising science and research with extraordinary dedication. With her proven talent, experience, and personal enthusiasm, she contributes significantly to the positive image of Czech science in the European context. Although she is not a scientist in the strict sense of the word, her work often has a fundamental impact on how science is perceived in society,” said Dean Stejskal.
Eva Navrátilová’s work is an example of how science can be conveyed to people with respect for scientific work and at the same time with humanity and comprehensibility.” Marek Ženíšek, Czech Minister of Science, Research and Innovation
“The Council Chair’s Award for the Promotion and Popularisation of Scientific Research is dedicated to individuals who make a significant contribution to bringing scientific knowledge closer to the public. Navrátilová has been dedicated to communicating science and research with enthusiasm and undeniable talent, and her activities go far beyond the scope of ordinary popularisation,” Minister Ženíšek emphasised.
Eva Navrátilová thanked her colleagues and her home faculty. “I greatly appreciate this award. I see it not only as recognition of my work, but above all, that of all the teams I have had the opportunity to work with over the years. I am also very grateful that my home Faculty of Arts nominated me for this award. It was thanks to its support and its inspiring teachers that I came to love the popularisation of science. It is also thanks to them that I am able to stand before you here today,” said the laureate during the ceremony.
"I greatly appreciate this award. I see it not only as recognition of my work, but above all, that of all the teams I have had the opportunity to work with over the years." Eva Navrátilová
UP Rector Michael Kohajda also congratulated the director of the Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) festival on her award. “Eva took over the management of AFO in 2022, when the festival had been held online-only for two years in row due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She managed to bring the festival – and science with it – back to the streets of the city with great fanfare. Thanks to her, AFO boasts huge attendance, positive feedback from performers at home as well as abroad, and offers an attractive platform for student involvement in the running of the festival. I see her award as praise for Palacký University for hosting this unique science film festival for six decades, making Olomouc an integral part of the global science popularisation scene,” Kohajda said.
In previous years, the R&D&I Council Chair’s Award for the Popularisation of Scientific Research has been awarded to personalities such as science journalist Pavla Hubálková, biochemist Jan Konvalinka, editor Ivan Boháček, neuropathologist and writer František Koukolík, geologist and climatologist Václav Cílek, botanist Václav Větvička, biologist Jaroslav Petr, and astrophysicist Jiří Grygar.
