Are you an independent principal investigator of any nationality, working in any discipline at a research institution in Czechia? Would you like to meet more of your peers, expand your support network, and gain new insights and inspiration in diverse topics related to your job, such as people management, making an impact at your institution, or publication strategies? Then you have come to the right place!
The core activity of the PI Forum are bimonthly informal networking events, which consist of a guest lecture, panel discussion etc. on a topic of broad interest (such as Recruitment, Communication, Publication strategy etc.) and a free networking session. These events are complemented by an online Slack platform to foster interaction and exchange of experience within the PI community also outside the networking events.
Since the kick-off event in February 2023, thanks to ongoing support from the Charles University, as well as new partnerships with Masaryk University, its Faculty of Science and CEITEC MU, we have hosted 18 PI Forum events in Prague and Brno, reaching >100 principal investigators, most of whom regularly come back.
We will be more than happy to welcome you at the upcoming PI Forum events below. If you would like to see the PI Forum events also in other cities, do get in touch with us, we will do our best to make this happen!
In the season 2025/26 you can look forward to the upcoming PI Fora:
Prague:
September 30: PI Forum #14: Open Science and Intellectual Property, in Prague
November 25: PI Forum #15: Services to the Academic Community, in Prague
February 10: PI Forum #16: Mentoring, in Prague
April 28: PI Forum #17: Junior Faculty, in Prague
June 2: PI Forum #18 in Prague
Brno:
November 4: PI Forum Brno #6: Kickstarting tour lab 102
February 3: PI Forum Brno #7: Equal opportunities
April 7: PI Forum Brno #8: Financing your research
June 9: PI Forum Brno #9: Work-life balance
To participate in the PI Forum, please register in advance in the form for each event. Registration will also ensure that you will be the first to receive information about upcoming meetings.
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Scientific excellence does not come out of a vacuum, but is rooted in, is nurtured by, and grows from the institutional culture. In PI Forum #9, we aim to share, analyze, and discuss motivating and effective institutional practices that can help PIs and their teams grow.
Junior Faculty is an informal, cross-disciplinary group that serves as a voice for early-career principal investigators. It identifies shared challenges, surfaces practical concerns from day-to-day research leadership, and brings these issues forward to the leadership of the faculty and the academic senate. In this PI Forum, members of Junior Faculties from different institutions will share their experience with the founding process and first years of operation in an informal discussion.
Financing research is getting harder every year. This PI Forum is not about writing another grant, but about open discussion on how to move in the funding system and survive the grant jungle in 2026. We will also show and discuss real data on changes in Czech funding, success rates, and project costs.
Mentoring is something all PIs do although defining it can prove tricky. Sometimes we end up teaching our junior colleagues completely unintended things or hand down experience we did not even know we possessed. But what makes a good mentor and where does the line go between mentoring and other forms of interaction with team members? We’ll discuss all things mentoring to mark the successful completion of the first year of the Charles University Mentoring Programme, while combining the perspectives of both informal and formal mentors as well as that of a mentoring coordinator.
Why does so much scientific talent disappear along the academic career path – especially among women? This discussion explores the structural and cultural barriers that drive women out of academia and focuses on practical ways institutions and research leaders can better support their retention and progression. The aim is to move beyond awareness and turn shared insight into shared responsibility and concrete action.
