Department of Biology is one of the oldest theoretical departments at Masaryk University. It was established in 1919. The first chair of the Department Edward Babák is an author of the General Biology teaching concept for all medical faculties. The concept was later developed by Jan Bělehrádek, an author of the very first Czech textbook on General Biology for Medical students.
Currently, the Department provides theoretical and practical education of the Medical Biology of Czech and International students of General Medicine and Dentistry. Specific theoretical courses are also designed for Bachelor study programs. As for the postgraduate training, the Department coordinates International Ph.D. School in Biomedical Sciences. Doctoral candidates are supervised by all Principal investigators of the Department.
Biology Department is an International center of biomedical research. Currently, there are 7 independent Research groups, particularly interested in embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell research, cell signaling, genome instability, and DNA repair, bacterial genetics and genomics, and cancer biology.
Our mission
Multidisciplinary approach
Advances in biomedicine depend on multidisciplinary approaches, in which knowledge and technology from diverse areas of biology and medicine intersect to inspire new ideas and discoveries. Thus, our aim is to create an environment for high-achieving scientists with several diverse groundbreaking research programmes and build up an internationally renowned department.
Cooperation with major institutions
Heading in the Masaryk University campus in Brno-Bohunice, the Department of Biology is ideally situated for interactions with Brno's major hospital Faculty Hospital Bohunice and several internationally recognized groups in the neighbouring National Centre for Biomolecular Research and Department of Functional Genomics and Proteomics of the Faculty of Sciences.
Innovative education programme
Our teaching curriculum is designed to educate and train medical students to become clinicians and researchers who can acquire and assimilate increasing knowledge of human health and disease-related cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics. Our ambition is to develop an innovative and highly dynamic education programme that will be based on the expert knowledge of group leaders and principal scientists of the Department.