Scientists of 2015 are Ján Tkáč and Monika Rychtáriková
10. 5. 2016 | 2668 visits
Scientists of 2015 are Ján Tkáč and Monika Rychtáriková
Notable Slovak scientists gathered to attend the 19th annual Slovak Scientist of the Year award for 2015. The evaluation committee recognized the achievements of excellent scientists in five categories; Dr Ján Tkáč, head of the Glycobiotechology Department of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) Institute of Chemistry, won the main award of Slovak Scientist of the Year 2015. The event was organized by the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, the SAS and the Association of Slovak Scientific and Technological Societies under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska.
Prof. Peter Plavčan, the Slovak Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport, assured the attendees at the ceremony, held in the Hall of Mirrors of the Primateʼs Palace in Bratislava, that he would strive to improve the status of scientists in society as well as their working conditions.
Scientist of the Year 2015, Ján Tkáč, received the award for the use of nanotechnology in the construction of various devices for applications in the field of glyconomics and diagnostics of a variety of diseases, including prostate cancer. A team led by Ján Tkáč is examining the "sweet cover" on the surface of the cell that communicates with other cells, as well as bacteria and viruses. In this way, they are able to detect many diseases at an early stage. Apart from prostate cancer, the scientists are working on the detection of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis. They have also started dealing with leukemia.
"I highly appreciate receiving this award which is of great importance for me from the professional point of view and, at the same time, it is, for me and my team, a commitment to continue with our work," Ján Tkáč said after receiving the award. In his speech of thanks he praised especially his young and talented team.
The President of the SAS, Prof. Pavol Šajgalík, was also happy about the award going to an excellent scientist who is the only Slovak to date to have received a prestigious ERC grant. "It is a great honour for us in the SAS, although the result wasnʼt a big surprise for me because Dr Tkáč is a unique scientist and personality too. The ERC project is associated with a *particular person, not an institution, so he could go wherever he wished and would be very welcome anywhere in the world. However, he has decided to carry out the project in Slovakia and I am very glad about that," Prof. Šajgalík said. He also appreciated the significance of the event, which attracts publicity that is extremely important for supporting and financing it.
Slovak Female Scientist for 2015 is Dr Monika Rychtáriková of the Department of Building Construction at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, receiving the award for her work in the field of acoustics, especially for the hands-on application of knowledge about building and spatial acoustics, above all in the area of virtual acoustics and for research in the acoustic orientation of blind people in interiors.
In the category of Personality of the Year in EU Programmes, the expert jury recognized the achievements of Prof. Tibor Hianik of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of the Comenius University in Bratislava.
Daniel Šlosár of the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnology at the Technical University in Košice (TUK) received the Personality of the Year in Technology award for the development of a portable electric generator, the Chargebrella, which is able to create electricity to charge various mobile devices in places where no electrical energy source exists.
In the Young Science Personality category, the award went to Dr Tomáš Pleceník of the Department of Experimental Physics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of the Comenius University in Bratislava. The jury recognized especially his excellent research, scientific and publishing activities in the physics of solid substances connected to the use of nanotechnology in sensorics, biomaterials and superconductors.
The expert jury under Dr Eva Majková, the SAS Vice-Chairperson for Research, selected from among 48 nominees - scientists engaged in the area of natural and technological sciences who are active in Slovakia. It took into account their scientific achievements during the preceding two to three years in an international context. "In comparison with the past we have better infrastructure and improving conditions in laboratories. However, we have the biggest gap in the search for and support of talent," Dr Majková said in her speech.
Andrea Nozdrovická, Zuzana Vitková
Notable Slovak scientists gathered to attend the 19th annual Slovak Scientist of the Year award for 2015. The evaluation committee recognized the achievements of excellent scientists in five categories; Dr Ján Tkáč, head of the Glycobiotechology Department of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) Institute of Chemistry, won the main award of Slovak Scientist of the Year 2015. The event was organized by the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, the SAS and the Association of Slovak Scientific and Technological Societies under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska.
Prof. Peter Plavčan, the Slovak Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport, assured the attendees at the ceremony, held in the Hall of Mirrors of the Primateʼs Palace in Bratislava, that he would strive to improve the status of scientists in society as well as their working conditions.
Scientist of the Year 2015, Ján Tkáč, received the award for the use of nanotechnology in the construction of various devices for applications in the field of glyconomics and diagnostics of a variety of diseases, including prostate cancer. A team led by Ján Tkáč is examining the "sweet cover" on the surface of the cell that communicates with other cells, as well as bacteria and viruses. In this way, they are able to detect many diseases at an early stage. Apart from prostate cancer, the scientists are working on the detection of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis. They have also started dealing with leukemia.
"I highly appreciate receiving this award which is of great importance for me from the professional point of view and, at the same time, it is, for me and my team, a commitment to continue with our work," Ján Tkáč said after receiving the award. In his speech of thanks he praised especially his young and talented team.
The President of the SAS, Prof. Pavol Šajgalík, was also happy about the award going to an excellent scientist who is the only Slovak to date to have received a prestigious ERC grant. "It is a great honour for us in the SAS, although the result wasnʼt a big surprise for me because Dr Tkáč is a unique scientist and personality too. The ERC project is associated with a *particular person, not an institution, so he could go wherever he wished and would be very welcome anywhere in the world. However, he has decided to carry out the project in Slovakia and I am very glad about that," Prof. Šajgalík said. He also appreciated the significance of the event, which attracts publicity that is extremely important for supporting and financing it.
Slovak Female Scientist for 2015 is Dr Monika Rychtáriková of the Department of Building Construction at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, receiving the award for her work in the field of acoustics, especially for the hands-on application of knowledge about building and spatial acoustics, above all in the area of virtual acoustics and for research in the acoustic orientation of blind people in interiors.
In the category of Personality of the Year in EU Programmes, the expert jury recognized the achievements of Prof. Tibor Hianik of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of the Comenius University in Bratislava.
Daniel Šlosár of the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnology at the Technical University in Košice (TUK) received the Personality of the Year in Technology award for the development of a portable electric generator, the Chargebrella, which is able to create electricity to charge various mobile devices in places where no electrical energy source exists.
In the Young Science Personality category, the award went to Dr Tomáš Pleceník of the Department of Experimental Physics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of the Comenius University in Bratislava. The jury recognized especially his excellent research, scientific and publishing activities in the physics of solid substances connected to the use of nanotechnology in sensorics, biomaterials and superconductors.
The expert jury under Dr Eva Majková, the SAS Vice-Chairperson for Research, selected from among 48 nominees - scientists engaged in the area of natural and technological sciences who are active in Slovakia. It took into account their scientific achievements during the preceding two to three years in an international context. "In comparison with the past we have better infrastructure and improving conditions in laboratories. However, we have the biggest gap in the search for and support of talent," Dr Majková said in her speech.
Andrea Nozdrovická, Zuzana Vitková