Pavel Banáš will keep running CATRIN

Pavel Banáš remains the Director of CATRIN. He has been entrusted with the management of the university institute until the end of 2024 by the Rector of UP Martin Procházka based on the selection procedure in which the current director won.

“It will be my privilege to continue to manage and develop the CATRIN Institute of Palacký University in Olomouc. In the past year and a half we have managed to build a completely new part of our University and already in such a short time we have recorded a number of extraordinary achievements. Apart from the significant scientific achievements, which undoubtedly include, for example, the first ever first-authored article in the prestigious journal Science at our University, it is worth mentioning the high grant success rate, including a 20% success rate in Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe calls, including the prestigious ERC and EIC projects. None of this would have been possible without the dedicated and professional work of CATRIN staff,” said Banáš.

“In addition to the completion of the settlement process related to the usage of the UP buildings and assets by CATRIN employees, we will face challenges related to the completion of large OP R&D projects and the expected increase in energy prices next year. CATRIN is already heading towards becoming one of the most important research institutions in the Czech Republic and Europe and it will be my priority to maintain this trend in the coming period,” he added.

Pavel Banáš’s first term of office ended at the end of June. The Rector of UP has therefore announced a selection procedure. Two candidates took part in the selection interview in mid-June. The majority of the committee (9 out of 13) have suggested Associate Professor Banáš for the post of CATRIN´s Director, either as the only candidate (7 out of 13) or the first one (2 out of 13).