Our consortium partner, the South Moravian Centre for International Mobility (JCMM), organized the last round of competition for PhD students whose research projects align with GlaCerHub’s thematic priorities. The 2026 cohort included three women and three men. Their proposals were evaluated by a committee of three distinguished senior researchers.

The assessment was based on three key criteria:

1. ‍Applicant Profile – Academic qualifications, professional experience, prior scientific projects, and academic awards.
2. ‍Project Excellence – Motivation, innovative aspects of the proposal, and the appropriateness of the proposed methods and techniques.
3. ‍Research Environment – Quality of supervision, expertise of consultants, and institutional resources and capacities.
   
   

The evaluation was conducted jointly by representatives from FunGlass Trenčín and CEITEC BUT:

• Prof. RNDr. Karel Maca, Dr.
• Assoc. Prof. Jose Joaquin Velazquez Garcia, PhD.
• Ing. Jozef Kraxner, PhD.

Following a rigorous review process, the results were as follows:

1^st place – Mgr. Lucie Žaloudková (CEITEC BUT)
2^nd place – Sachin Pundir (FunGlass Centre)

Both awardees will receive an eight-month part-time contract 0.4 FTE to support their research activities, advance their doctoral studies, and achieve the objectives of their projects.

Just below the award threshold—by a very narrow margin—were:

• Ing. Marek Rotter (CEITEC BUT))
• Mahsa Takht Kyiani (FunGlass Centre)
• ‍Ing. Jan Pišťák (CEITEC BUT).
• Andrea Cibrinová (FunGlass Centre).
  

We extend our sincere appreciation to all participants for their dedication, time, and commitment to the competition, and we wish them continued success in their research and academic careers.