Jury

Ilona Hromadníková is a leading Czech scientist in the field of prenatal and cardiovascular medicine. As Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Cell Pathology at the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child and the Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, she develops innovative diagnostic approaches that improve maternal and child health.

Awarded the Czech Brains National Award 2022 for Health, she introduced a breakthrough method for predicting serious pregnancy complications already in the first trimester. Her work enables earlier intervention and more personalized care for women and their babies. More recently, she has developed novel tools to identify cardiovascular risk in both mothers and children after complicated pregnancies, helping to prevent disease later in life.

Ilona Hromadníková holds five national patents and is the author of three international PCT patent applications.

Michaela Vojníková leads the Laboratory of Nanomedicine at Mendel University in Brno, where her research focuses on the development of advanced nanoparticles for the effective treatment of serious diseases. She holds a PhD in Nanotechnology from CEITEC, Brno University of Technology. As a Fulbright Research Fellow, she conducted research at the University of California, San Diego. In 2021, Michaela won the Falling Walls Lab Czech Republic, and she was recently featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in the Science & Education category. Her research achievements and efforts have been recognised through several awards, including the Brno PhD Talent, the Rector's Prize at BUT, the CEITEC Director's Award, EU Talent ON, and she has been listed among the Top 20 Inspirational Women by Marianne magazine and among the JCMM 20 Talents in 20 Years. Beyond her research activities, Michaela is an active science communicator who promotes public engagement with science and advocates for open dialogue on the role of women in STEM fields. 

Oldřich Hudeček is a science communicator and science event manager currently working at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, IOCB Prague. He holds a PhD in organic synthesis and supramolecular chemistry and subsequently spent five years working in chemical biology, with a particular focus on RNA research. This experience shapes the way he thinks about science communication: from the perspective of someone who understands both the excitement and the complexity of research firsthand.

For more than five years, he has been involved in communicating natural sciences to a wide range of audiences. A central theme of his work is translating complex scientific ideas into clear and compelling stories without losing the curiosity. He believes that effective science communication starts with genuine enthusiasm, openness and an optimistic approach, and that a good explanation should leave people wanting to know more.

Since early 2026, Oldřich has also been an active member of SciComHub, a Czech community bringing together professionals and enthusiasts working to advance science communication. 

Pavla Hubálková is a science communicator. Originally, she thought she wanted to become a scientist, so she studied clinical biochemistry at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague and completed her PhD in neuroscience at Charles University. During her Fulbright scholarship at Northwestern University in Chicago, however, she discovered that she wanted to work in science communication. She is a freelance science writer, currently contributing primarily to WIRED.CZ. She also cohosts a radio show Žárovky on Czech Radio. She engages in various activities to explain scientific topics to the general public. In 2023, she coauthored the first book in Czech about science communication. To support science communication, she is also active on social media and hosts various workshops for both scientists and the general public. In November 2024, she received the Government Prize from the Research, Development and Innovation Council for her contributions to science communication. 

Veronika Šedajová is a researcher and CTO of Atomiver, a deep-tech spin-out developing nitrogen-doped graphene technology for various applications, the most developed being the energy storage sector. Her research focuses on graphene-based materials for electrochemical energy storage, spanning both fundamental research and applied development. She holds a PhD from Palacký University Olomouc, during which she gained international research experience at Drexel University (USA), working with Prof. Yury Gogotsi on MXenes, as well as at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse and ICN2 in Barcelona. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge under Prof. Dame Clare Grey, focused on advanced characterisation of commercially relevant battery materials. Veronika has authored over 30 scientific publications and received several awards, including the Jean-Marie Lehn Prize for Chemistry (2022) and a place on Forbes' list of Top Women Scientists 2025 in the Czech Republic.