Success Stories
I am still surprised how similar principles govern science and business, says Jan Zukal, the new Director of SCI MUNI’s Department of Botany and Zoology
He combines two key areas – science and management. As a renowned expert in bat ecology, he has spent decades researching their hibernation, flight activity and relationship to pathogens. He has also gained valuable management experience in both academia and the commercial sphere.
doc. Mgr. Jan Zukal, Dr., MBA
Department head
Department of Botany and Zoology
Jan Zukal graduated in Systematic Biology and Ecology at Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science, where he habilitated in 2016 and now lectures on animal behaviour. He has been employed at the Czech Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Institute of Vertebrate Biology since 1991, where he undertakes research on bats, concentrating on their flight activity, hibernation and bat-associated pathogens.
Photo: Jana Platichová
You are now Director of SCI MUNI’s Department of Botany and Zoology. How do you feel about this department, after having studied there and taught there externally for such a long time?
I can look at SCI MUNI’s Department of Botany and Zoology from two directions. First, as a graduate at my alma mater, and then as a scientist. I have been personally associated with the department since the beginning of my studies, so I have a very strong personal relationship with it and many memories. From a scientist's point of view, it is a cutting-edge department that deals with taxonomy, evolution and ecological aspects of zoology and botany. I think it is an excellent department. It has developed since my student days into a modern research institution, part of a new and innovative Masaryk University. The department carries out cutting-edge science, including both basic research and applied outputs, and excellent students are receiving great training for professional practice.
What are your plans to raise the level of the Department and what specific steps are you considering for implementing your plans?
I don’t think it is necessary to make any major changes. However, it could be useful to have an ‘outsider’ look at the situation at the department from a different perspective as this could indicate directions in which strategic changes could be made. I have set myself several objectives, and I would like to highlight three major ones here. The first is the development of young scientists. We should emphasise their individual professional growth and career development. We currently have a strong generation of scientists over 50, but we see a generation gap in the age group between 30 and 50. This gap has arisen because of the transformations and changes that have taken place in academia over past decades, with many people going into business or moving abroad. However, a new generation is now taking shape and should take responsibility for the further development and operation of the department. For this process, it is important that the development of young researchers focuses not only on scientific performance but also on communication, knowledge transfer and management skills.
Projects and grants are important for the department. How have you outlined possibilities for development in this area in your concept of the department's future?
This is the second point where I consider as important to support scientific activities and to do this, I will create a new position, that of Project Manager for the Department of Botany and Zoology. Research at the department is so diversified that there is a need for someone to act as a liaison between researchers, administrators, management, other units in the Department and the Faculty Dean's Office. The position will focus on communication and coordination, and great emphasis will be placed on selecting a suitable candidate who possesses scientific, organisational, methodological and administrative skills. At the same time, however, the Project Manager will not be a substitute for the Faculty's own Project Department, but rather a partner to it.
What do you want to improve in the department’s educational activities?
My goal is to create an all-English degree programme in evolutionary biology which would attract students from abroad. The programme could be provided under the department's own capacity or in collaboration with other institutions, such as the Academy of Sciences. Such a programme would not only enhance the prestige of the department but also open opportunities for international students, at all levels of study, to participate in the department's research activities.
You already have experience in managing a scientific institution at the CAS Institute of Vertebrate Biology, where you acted as Director from 2019 to 2024. What specific attributes would you say are key to your approach in managing a scientific institution?
In general, I consider open communication and mutual respect to be key, but this applies to any organisation. In science, it's probably the ability to link basic research with application and education. At the CAS, I had the opportunity to focus not only on my own research direction but also on supporting young scientists and students. This is an aspect that I have always considered very important as the development of future professionals is essential for the sustainability and growth of any scientific institution. The combination of scientific activity and education has allowed me to stay in touch with the new generation of scientists and educators, and it also provides a solid foundation for my future work in academic leadership and the development of scientific institutions.
What specific steps do you see as key to motivating and attracting talented students?
Since the beginning of my career, I have had a strong interest in working with students; I find it extremely rewarding. Keeping up to date in the field is essential for an educator as young people can easily spot any gaps in knowledge, and this should motivate us to continually improve. Another crucial aspect is developing the ability to communicate scientific results in a clear manner, which I practice with my students. It is essential that they acquire the skill of presenting their research results in a way that can be understood by the public or by experts in other fields. In addition, I emphasise critical and self-critical thinking; it is essential to constantly question whether our results really correspond to reality and to be open to reanalysing and questioning even the most "established" results. It is extremely important for so called “green biology” to attract not only talented students but, above all, motivated students, preferably those already in secondary school.
What role does collaboration with alumni who have chosen to teach biology in secondary schools play in the development of the department's educational activities?
We have the advantage at the Department of Botany and Zoology of having a study programme for future teachers heading to secondary schools, and they are often able to recognise young people who have a genuine interest in scientific work and biology. They know that it is important that their students are not just motivated by the academic aspect of their course but that they also understand the real value of scientific work, which is often demanding, challenging and often financially unrewarding. It is difficult to develop a scientific career without a deep passion for the field. That is why we encourage intensive interaction with teachers who are themselves employed at secondary schools and can thus bring in new talent.
In what ways do you think that your many years of managerial experience, both in the scientific and commercial spheres, will benefit the department?
During my career, I have held various managerial positions, and this has allowed me to learn many valuable competencies, one of which is the attitude of not taking things too personally. This means looking at problems pragmatically and focusing on solving them effectively, regardless of personal connotations, whether positive or negative.
Organisations, whether academic or commercial, have their pros and cons. Being able to apply experience from one environment to another can be a key advantage. It is the new, unencumbered perspective that is important and brings about change, even if it is only slight. Many times, it is enough to modify an existing strategy instead of implementing major changes. A typical example is the long debate about whether a hospital should be run by doctors or managers. A good manager can create a team that effectively manages a hospital, even if he is not a doctor him/herself. This shows the importance of combining different perspectives and skills in management.
What does it mean for the department, to educate a future scientist?
Recently, there has been talk of an excess of ‘inbreeding’, i.e. close interconnection and maintenance of positions in individual departments. On the one hand, I agree with this, but on the other, not at all. Particularly in the ecological sciences, methodological training is very important; for example, young researchers must learn how to handle live animals. If you then teach a student a method, dedicate three to five years to him or her, they master the method and their work produces results you can rely on, it can be hard to lose such a colleague. Field research methods are not always easily applied to other groups of animals; it's not the same as working in a laboratory. This does not mean that a student should not gain experience in the world, on the contrary, I encourage them as much as possible to go on internships, long or short, but after all, the narrow specialisation that contemporary science leads us to is also determined by methodological specialisation.
I think that keeping excellent students, in whom we have invested a lot of time and money, is important for us. That's how I see it. I have moved between different places and gained new knowledge, practices and approaches, but I still consider Brno my home base.
Tell us how your interest in biology developed? What interests did you have in your childhood?
I realised that I had a strong interest in nature when I was very young, even though neither my parents nor grandparents had similar interests. I have always been fascinated by how animals live in nature and wondering why they behave the way they do. I have carried this interest in animals and their behaviour through to the present day.
Josef Vágner's books on Africa had a big influence on me when I was young; not only were they full of beautiful photographs of exotic animals or places but they also showed how to work with animals in the wild. Then I was lucky enough to have a biology teacher at secondary school who directed me to an interview for the ecological biology program at what is now SCI MUNI. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the zoology department, which had some truly inspiring professors. This was a major step towards my present work with wild animals.
What did you think you were going to do when you grew up?
In the beginning, it was more like ideals, like I would be a forester, or I would like to work in a zoo. It was childish enthusiasm, but it gradually led to a clear decision. For example, I imagined studying dolphins in the ocean or giraffes, elephants and lions in Africa. In the end, my career developed slightly differently, but it still led to interesting challenges, in part thanks to Professor Gaisler, who was one of the founders of modern Czech zoology. He led our study group, and I not only learned from him but also started to participate in his scientific activities.
How did you become interested in bats, one of the main topics of research at the Institute of Vertebrate Biology?
My initial focus was on small ground-living mammals, but I gradually switched to bat research, and this became my main specialisation in the 1990s. Professor Gaisler convinced me that bats are fascinating animals, despite their life strategy (they fly and are active at night) making research highly challenging. In addition, I was very lucky in that, when I returned after finishing my degree and my military service, Associate Professor Zdeněk Řehák, who unfortunately died a year ago, started his PhD studies at the same time. We helped each other and collaborated in our research on bats in the Moravian Karst and elsewhere in Europe.
What is the main focus of your bat research?
Right now, we have a multidisciplinary team, and we are studying several different topics related to bats, including reproduction, pathogens and flight activity. Ever since I began this work, I have had a strong connection with the caves of the Moravian Karst, so it was logical that I chose the topic of bat hibernation. The Moravian Karst, which is close to Brno, is the ideal place for this type of research. Owing to a dramatic decline in bat numbers across Europe, however, strict conservation rules were put in place preventing handling of bats at hibernation sites in the early 1990s. Consequently, we could enter the caves, and we could count the bats, but we couldn't do anything more with them. Suddenly, our research was limited, and we had to invent new approaches, new methodological procedures. So, we started using infrared light barrier, contactless thermometers, infrared cameras and various forms of marking and other technologies, which still allowed us to obtain unique and interesting results.
What do you find so fascinating about bats?
Bats have a large number of specific adaptations that make them a fascinating research model. Regarding with hibernation, it remains a mystery, for example, that while there are more than 1,200 caves in the Moravian Karst, only about forty are large hibernation sites. The big question is why do bats choose these caves and not others? Moreover, they are very loyal to "their" caves. Even when we conducted netting at the entrance of caves that were only a few hundred metres apart, bats did not fly between them, thus demonstrating a strong fidelity to the roosts.
We have also studied several other issues related to this topic. As technology has developed, we have been able to make use of new techniques; for example, my colleague, Associate Professor Tomáš Bartonička, and I have been able to use data loggers which show that bats can move without increasing their body temperature, or that they increase their temperature only slightly during waking up from hibernation to save energy. As such, hibernation remains a major line of my research, not least as this physiological state affects everything else in bats. If they spend half the year hibernating, for example, it will affect their reproductive strategy. It can also affect their relationships to pathogens as hibernating animals have a significantly reduced immune response and yet survive. Hibernation is a fascinating physiological and ecological phenomenon.
Describe your relationship with SCI MUNI, having worked here in the past and now having been made director.
I undertook my PhD at the department at the beginning of my career, though my research activities were mainly carried out at the Institute of Vertebrate Biology CAS. Nevertheless, I always had the desire to lecture at the university, and this was eventually made possible through an offer from Professor Gaisler to take over his lectureship in ethology (animal behaviour). As a student I had already helped him write his ethology scripts.
Actually, this was a detour back to my youth, when, as I said, I was fascinated by animal behaviour. So, having been given the opportunity to lecture on how animals behave and why, I took the chance and never let it go. I'm still very much enjoying it. A little later, Associate Professor Honza and I added a new topic, ‘evolutionary aspects of behaviour’, to the behavioural ecology course. In part thanks to this, I was able to habilitate at SCI MUNI. That doesn't mean that I haven't worked at other universities. I also have experience from the Veterinary University in Brno, where I lectured, and I have students at other universities with which we cooperate, such as Palacký University in Olomouc. However, I still consider Masaryk University and the Department of Botany and Zoology as my alma mater.
In the mid-1990s, you went to work for Orion Pharma, a Finnish company that develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical ingredients. You started as a salesman and gradually worked your way up to Director of the Office of Representative for the Czech and Slovak Republics.
When our daughter was born in 1996, the situation on campus was very uncertain, and it was not at all clear what direction the development of the Academy of Sciences would take nor how the situation at the universities would develop. Financial reasons led me to decide to try a job outside the academy, and I started as a sales representative at Orion Pharma. Gradually, I worked my way up to managerial positions. I was struck by the similarity between principles that govern business and science. In marketing, you're trying to influence customer behaviour by making them buy a specific product. To do this, you use methods similar in many ways to what we do in scientific research, i.e. you gather information, analyse it and apply it. I found that I really enjoyed doing this as it's similar in nature to the scientific process. Having worked both in business and on research projects, I was able to get an insight into different aspects of business. Being part of a smaller team in a Finnish company rather than in a large corporation, I had the opportunity to get involved in the workings of top management and gain experience in areas such as negotiations, acquisition and marketing. After a few years, however, I realised that, although I really enjoyed the pharmaceutical business, I wanted to return to a scientific career, which remained close to my heart. The scientific world allows me to be creative and to work on research that interests me. Although I had the opportunity to stay in business, I ultimately decided to return to research, as it offered me greater freedom to pursue my dreams.
Do you think your managerial duties will reduce the time for science now due to your managerial tasks?
It's often happened in academia that scientists find themselves in managerial roles without being prepared for the position. I have met several directors of academic institutes who were literally overloaded with their managerial responsibilities. They had to learn not only economics but also communication and management skills and everything that goes with it. For me, it was routine because I already had experience both in academia and business, which greatly helped me in that respect. I'm sure that administration will limit my time, but I don't want to leave my research activities completely.
My experience has shown me that if we want young scientists to be prepared for managerial roles, we need to teach them not only scientific skills but also the basics of management and communication. Young people coming into academia should have the opportunity to learn how to manage projects, how to communicate with different teams, how to solve problems and how to take responsibility for their decisions. They need to think about what the future of their research will be, what direction their laboratory should take and how it will be funded. From my own experience, what is really being sought in the scientific world today is the integration of academic and managerial skills.
Thank you for the interview.
Zuzana Jayasundera
Translation: Kevin Frances Roche