prof. RNDr. Robert Vácha, PhD.

Curriculum Vitae

Person-Related Identification Information

• Born: 29.12.1980 in Jihlava, Czech Republic

Department

• CEITEC and Faculty of Science

Employment - Position

• Group leader and Professor

Education and Academic Qualifications

• 09/05 - 06/09 Ph.D. at Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, Specialization: Simulation of chemical properties of nano- a biostructures; Thesis under supervision of Pavel Jungwirth: Molecular simulations of surfaces of aqueous solutions
• 09/07 - 06/09 International Max Planck Research School for "Dynamical Processes in Atoms, Molecules and Solids" in Dresden, Germany
• 09/99 - 05/05 Ms. at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, Specialization: Physics - Biophysics and Chemical Physics; all exams passed with grade A - graduated with honor Thesis under supervision of Pavel Jungwirth: Molecular simulation of molecular and ion interactions at the air/water interface

Employment

• Since 06/23 Professor at CEITEC and Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
• Since 07/17 Group leader at CEITEC, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
• 10/11 - 06/17 Associate professor/Researcher at CEITEC and Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
• 08/11 - 10/11 Postdoctoral Research Associate in group of Mikael Lund, Department of Chemistry, Lund University (Sweden): Coarse grained models of amyloids, Dynamic Monte Carlo (DMC) technique
• 08/09 - 07/11 Postdoctoral Research Associate in group of Daan Frenkel, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge (UK): Coarse grained modelling of phospholipid membranes and proteins, Molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) techniques
• 02/04 - 09/09 Research assistant in group of Pavel Jungwirth at Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: Hosting institute for my Ph.D. study: Atomistic simulations of molecules and ions at water interfaces
• 05/03 - 12/03 Research assistant in group of Pavel Jungwirth at Institute of Physical Chemistry J. Heyrovský, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic: Molecular dynamics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at air/water interface

Teaching Activities

• Since 2017 Lecturing - Problems and issues of molecular modelling C9926 Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Since 2016 Lecturing - Seminar of molecular modelling F1170 Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• Since 2015 Lecturing - Physics of biopolymers F8510 Masaryk University, Czech Republic
• Since 2013 Lecturing - Interactions of proteins and membranes – introduction to soft matter NBCM147, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
• Since 2012 Lecturing - Introduction to soft matter models of membranes and proteins C9925, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
• 2010 - 2011 Supervisions of Thermodynamics and Kinetics at Churchill College, Cambridge (3 small groups of three 1st year students)
• 2010 - 2011 Mentoring 5 students (2 Ph.D. and 3 MSc.)
• 2009 - 2010 Supervisions of Statistical Mechanics at Chemistry Department, University of Cambridge (small group teaching of three 3rd year students)
• 2007 - 2008 Assisting teacher at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague - Classical molecular dynamics (12 students of 4th year)
• 2006 - 2007 Assisting teacher at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague - Classical and quantum molecular dynamics (10 students of 4th year)

Grants

• 2025 – 2026 European Research Council, Proof of Concept Grant (ERC) – PI, Fighting Resistant Bacteria with Antimicrobial Peptides, 1 year (150 000 EUR)
• 2025 – 2027 Czech Science Foundation grant (GACR) – PI, How lipid asymmetry influences membrane protein function, 3 years (210 000 EUR)
• 2025 – 2025 Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR) – PI, In vivo efficacy of peptides against bacterial infection in mice, 1 year (85 000 EUR)
• 2022 – 2025 National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology (NIVB) – member, 3,5 years (1 600 000 EUR)
• 2022 – 2026 European Research Council, Consolidator Grant (ERC) – PI, Peptide Killers, 5 years (2 300 000 EUR)
• 2020 – 2025 Ministry of Education Youth and Sports o Czech Republic (ERC CZ) – PI, Peptide Killers, 5 years (2 500 000 EUR)
• 2020 – 2022 Czech Science Foundation grant (GACR) – PI, Protein Affinity and Selectivity to Cellular Membranes, 3 years (320 000 EUR)
• 2017 - 2019 Czech Science Foundation grant (GACR) – PI, Amphiphilic Peptides at Phospholipid Membranes, 3 years (180 000 EUR)
• 2017 - 2019 Grant Agency of Masaryk University (GAMU) – co-PI, Computational chemistry for Wnt signaling pathway, 3 years (190 000 EUR)
• 2016 - 2019 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Program Interreg V-A Austria-Czech Republic – co-applicant, Protein Dynamic Center (PDC), 3 years (898 000 EUR)
• 2014 - 2016 Czech Science Foundation grant (GACR) – PI, Self-assembly of patchy spherocylinders, 3 years (160 000 EUR)
• 2008 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) - grant for two-month fellowship at Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Japan. Investigation and application of novel free energy calculations
• 2008 Grant Agency of Charles University GAUK – 1 year grant, Czech Republic Creation on investigation of mixed phospholipid membrane with atomistic resolution by means of computer simulations (4 600 EUR)

Internship

• 11/08 - 12/08 Fellowship in group of Nobuyuki Matubayasi at Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University in Japan: Investigation and application of novel free energy calculations
• 09/07 - 09/07 Short fellowship in group of Max Berkowitz at University of North Carolina, USA: Ions behaviour at water/phospholipid membranes interface
• 07/06 - 08/06 Fellowship in group of Rainer Böckmann at University of Saarland, Germany: Development of new all atom classical and polarizable forcefield for lipids
• 01/02 - 06/02 Student project in JRM Laboratory at Kansas State University, USA: Fragmentation of diatomic molecules following multiple capture of a slow highly charged ion

Institutional responsibilities

• 07/23 – Scientific coordinator of National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology
• 03/23 – Scientific board member of ICS MU
• 06/22 – Coordination board of National Institute of Virology and Bacteriology
• 11/21 – Scientific board member of CEITEC MU
• 04/23 – 03/25 Chair of Czech Science Foundation biophysics panel
• 04/21 – 03/23 Vice-chair of Czech Science Foundation biophysics panel
• 01/21 – Member of User Board of e-INFRA
• 07/20 – Member of Information Technologies Board of the Masaryk University
• 07/19 – Head of CEITEC IT committee

Invited Lectures

• 2024 CECAM Flagship workshop - Physics of mesoscale liquid condensates, Lyiiang, China
• 2024 CECAM workshop - Exploring bio-inspired systems: a synergy between multiscale experimental and computational approaches, Vienna, Austria
• 2024 Biophysics Austria Conference 2024, Salzburg, Austria
• 2024 CECAM Flagship workshop - Peptides in Biology and Materials: Bridging Simulation and Experimental Data, Florence, Italy
• 2022 Invited seminars at Imperial college, UK; International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Poland; Heyrovsky Institute AVCR, Charles University, and University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
• 2021 EJTEMM 2021 – Graz, Austria
• 2018 43rd FEBS Congress Prague, Czech Republic
• 2018 CECAM workshop - Nano-structured soft matter: a synergy of approaches to amphiphilic and block copolymer systems, Lincoln, United Kingdom
• 2018 CECAM workshop - Frontiers in Computational Biophysics, Lugano, Switzerland
• 2017 CECAM workshop - The future of biomembrane simulations: hidden pitfalls and future challenges, Lyon, France
• 2017 Joint Meeting of Czech and German Biophysicists, Hünfeld, Germany
• 2016 Organizing Molecular Matter - A soft matter symposium, Lund, Sweden
• 2015 CEITEC/ICRC Annual Conference, Brno, Czech Republic
• 2013 TAPPO workshop, Levi, Finland
• 2012 CECAM workshop - Design of Self-assembling Materials, Vienna, Austria
• 2012 Telluride Science Research Center - Protein and Peptide Interactions in Cellular Environments, Telluride, CO, USA
• 2011 ACS national meeting, Denver, USA
• 2010 Hofmesiter fest – Conference about Hofmeister series and ion specificity, Prague

Awards Related to Science and Research

• 2024 MUNI Scientist, CEITEC MU Award
• 2024 elected member of Czech Learned Society
• 2022 Award of rector of Masaryk university, Bronze medal of Masaryk University, CEITEC MU award
• 2021 MUNI Scientist
• 2010 - 2013 Junior Research Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge Higly competitive and prestigious research fellowship
• 2010 Bolzano prize in natural sciences - Charles University in Prague The two best Ph.D. thesis in natural sciences at Charles University per years
• 1999 - 2004 Scholarship for 50 best students in year (about 10% of all students)

2025/02/01