CATRIN award for outstanding scientific performance went to Dominik Kusý
Dominik Kusý from the Biodiversity and Molecular Evolution research group has received the Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement at this year’s CATRIN annual conference. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to the former head of CATRIN – CRH, Ivo Frébort, who decided not to run for the leading position anymore and was replaced by Lukáš Spíchal as of April 1.
According to CATRIN Director Pavel Banáš, Dominik Kusý received the award not only for his outstanding scientific results, but also for his undying enthusiasm for scientific work. “Although he is still a Ph.D. student, he has already become an invaluable scientific support in his research group at CATRIN. With a publication record of around 30 publications in prestigious journals, approximately 300 to 400 citations and an h-index of 11, many of his habilitated colleagues would surely be proud. It is all the more extraordinary that Dominik was able to achieve these results at the very beginning of his scientific career,” said Banáš.
The award made the young scientist very happy. “I see it as an award for our entire research group not only my achievement. Thanks to our collaboration, we have been able to publish some very interesting results in prestigious journals,” Kusý said.
For example, Olomouc scientists in collaboration with colleagues from the USA have published a paper providing new insights into the evolution of bioluminescence among snapping beetles. Together with colleagues from Germany and the USA, the student participated in an extensive zoogeographical study published in a prestigious journal Ecography describing the origin of biodiversity in the Indo-Australian-Melanesian region, which has a complex geological history and is one of the most biologically diverse tropical regions in the world. They used local small wingless beetles as a model for this research.
After completing his PhD, the scientist intends to apply for a postdoctoral position at a foreign university. “After that, I would like to return to CATRIN and continue developing our research group,” he added.
At the CATRIN conference in Velké Karlovice, at which representatives of all research groups presented their results and research topics, Director Pavel Banáš thanked Ivo Frébort, founder of the Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research and head of CATRIN-CRH after the establishment of the university institute, for his work and lifelong contribution. Professor Frébort leads the Plant Engineering and Biotechnology research group and continues working on research and solving projects.
