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What motivates you in your scientific work?
I have been doing research since university and interestingly I have not changed the field in which I decided to work. Really, I have been carrying out research in plasma chemistry since 2000 and still I have the passion and strong motivation to pursue my goals in this field. What drives me? The huge technical problems of modern society. These problems, such as healthcare quality, decreasing carbon emissions or the development of sustainable energy sources must be solved and it should be done pretty quickly. I am strongly motivated, as my feeling is that my research is linked, at least partially, with the solution to these problems. The journey towards a solution is far from its end, but I am sure that my outcomes and my achievements will be another brick in the wall.
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What do you see research in your field leading to in the future?
As I already mentioned, I have never changed my field and the reason is that I know that my work is very diverse, since plasma processing has many applications, from photovoltaics to wound healing. My current topic is at the frontiers of materials science and life science and it concerns physics, chemistry and biology. I am sure that future emerging technologies require work at the boundary, because if you stay just within one focused area of work, you cannot arrive at a breakthrough solution. For example, one of the most demanding research areas, cancer treatment, is progressing but not as quickly as we would wish. From my point of view the reason is related to the complexity of a solution that will require brainstorming by physicians, biologists, chemists and material scientists. I know that my work can contribute to this topic, as plasma technologies is a unique technique activating that surface and enabling immobilisation of bio-molecules and drugs on any kind of surfaces. By applying plasma techniques to biodegradable materials a novel drug carrier can be synthesized. Therefore, the major goal of my work is the development of low cost, selective and effective cancer treatments. Indeed, material scientists cannot pursue that goal alone and we need to cooperate with many researchers from different fields, and this is not easy.
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Don't the results speak for themselves? Is it necessary to present science?
Of course. The same results can be presented so differently that in one case the audience will admire you and in another case show their contempt. Fortunately for me I have seen hundreds of both excellent and terrible presentations and I know where to draw inspiration from. For me a presentation is a movie, like a song, like a story. It must be truthful, eye- and ear-catching, and dynamic. I consider the presentation as a sort of art; you should be well prepared to give a good presentation. Indeed, a good presentation leads to good outcomes: new contacts, collaborations, gains in your h-index. I can hardly imagine that after a boring presentation the scientist would receive the same outcome. The most difficult part of presenting is to adapt your slides to a certain audience. Are they experts in your field or do they have no idea about your methods? Of course the latter case is the most difficult one, but this is exactly where you may get valuable contacts so as to progress, to diversify.
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What has experience abroad brought you? Do you think that in today's world international cooperation is absolutely essential?
Indeed. I am a very lucky person, as I have worked in many different countries: Russia, South Korea, Luxembourg, Belgium and now here in Czech Republic. I know what the Korean style of work is, the so called seven-eleven (meaning 7AM-11PM). This is a very exhausting approach, but we were able to solve technical problems within 1-2 months, while in Europe all that research would require 1-2 years. However, in EU there more passion in research, deeper analysis, fundamental work; while in Asia, everything is applied research. I am able to mix both styles: deeper analysis if I have time and Korean style at the deadline. Finally, I think that we must cooperate with researchers abroad as much as possible. New ideas, new methods and new views: these are what every good scientist should look for.