European Research Council (ERC) grants recognize research of the absolute highest quality. In the category of junior grants for researchers who received their PhDs within the last seven years, only one was given this year in the Czech Republic.
It was clinched by the Faculty of Science at Charles University, building on similar success in 2018 when two researchers from the faculty were awarded.
As a result, Botanist Filip Kolář will benefit from five years of financial support to investigate the importance of multiplying genetic information (polyploidization) in plants. The results of his work will help in understanding evolutionary mechanisms in plants and may even be useful in breeding.
You can read all the details about the project here
Filip Kolář, Ph.D. has been studying the evolution of plants for many years. In his work, he combines traditional knowledge of the ecology and biogeography of flora in Europe with new genomic population approaches. Thanks to this, he is able to choose suitable model groups to answer various questions regarding the evolutionary biology of plants (and at the same time remain in the field for at least part of his work). In addition to the results of genome duplication, he is investigating the significance of refuges for the emergence of new species, both edaphic (serpentine) and historical (glacial refuges). He also examines the adaptation of species to the challenges of changing environments in mountainous areas of Europe, Africa and South America. He is a member of several national and international teams, many of which he helped put together. He is intensively devoted to teaching at the CU FS Department of Botany, especially training students in the master’s and doctoral programs. For many years he was also a co-organizer of the competition for high school students in the Biology Olympics.
September, 2019
