Lucie Pokorná
Tell us about yourself:
I studied at the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, UCT Prague – a bachelor’s and a master’s in Water Technology (programme Chemistry and Technology of Environmental Protection). For my doctorate I studied in a double-degree programme at UCT Prague (Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering) and at Ghent University (Department of Biosystems Engineering). I studied under the supervision of Prof. Pavel Jeníček (UCT Prague) and Prof. Eveline Volcke (Ghent University), and I also had a tutor, Assoc. Prof. Jan Bartáček (UCT Prague). I defended my PhD in September 2017. I’m currently on maternity leave, so I’m taking a six-month break, but I still collaborate with the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering. During my studies I worked for several summers in a row as a lab technician at Barvy a laky Hostivař, then as an assistant at a private environmental consulting company, and since defending my PhD I have worked at UCT Prague in the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering. I’m currently the manager of the REPARES project, a Horizon 2020 project on antibiotic-resistant genes and bacteria. I was also in charge of SuPER-W, a European double-degree doctoral project on recovering resources, products and energy from wastewater, which ended this February. Besides managing projects, I also do research itself. In recent years I have been focusing on mathematical modelling, specifically of the microaeration process (a biochemical method for removing hydrogen sulphide from biogas). We were the first to model this process and are now trying to refine the model. And last but not least, I’m in charge of our department’s website. During my studies I received a number of awards: 1st place in the Best Poster category at the Odpadové vody (Wastewater) 2018 conference (award for young scientists under 33), the Martina Roeselová Memorial Grant, 2nd place in the Operational Results category at the Odpadové vody 2016 conference (award for young scientists under 33), the Special Prize of the Czech Chemical Society in the Chemistry category of the Jean-Marie Lehn Prize in Chemistry 2016, the award of the Josef, Marie and Zdeňka Hlávka Foundation, the Dean’s Award of the Faculty of Environmental Technology, UCT Prague, for 1st place in publication activity in 2014, and 1st place at the Student Scientific Conference in the Water Technology II section.
What do you enjoy most about being a scientist?
Besides enjoying discovering the undiscovered, I also like that a scientist’s work isn’t monotonous. One moment you’re reading literature, the next you’re writing papers or project proposals, then working in the lab, then working with students and teaching. You also get to travel. Every day is different, and you never know what your research will reveal, whom you’ll meet and where it will take you.
What do you consider your greatest achievements so far?
I probably consider my greatest achievement so far to be defending my dissertation with two very young children. My second son was born when my dissertation was ready for printing, and I defended it when he was not quite two months old. Looking back, it was a really demanding period, but it also had its advantages – with a baby I had no time to stress about the defence. Of course, I also consider all my awards and placings to be achievements. They drive you forward and give you the feeling that you’ve chosen the right profession and that what you do really makes sense. And last but not least, I consider it a huge achievement that I’m still managing to combine family and research. My husband (who also works at UCT Prague) and I now have three young children, the youngest not even three months old, and some days are extremely demanding. But thanks to our family, my husband, the possibility of working from home and a part-time contract, it all works out. I consider that not only a huge achievement but, above all, something I’m truly grateful for.
Why did you choose research over industry?
When I was thinking in my final year about what to do next, I liked the idea of continuing in the lab. I was also attracted by the chance to go abroad. During my master’s I spent half a year at a university in Milan on Erasmus, and it was a priceless experience. Yes, very tough in many ways – to this day I don’t understand how I managed four courses in Italian, which I had been studying for less than three months at the time. But it was also one of my best experiences, culturally and socially. A PhD offered me both: work in research and the chance to travel and broaden my horizons again. That worked out even better than I’d hoped – not only thanks to the double degree and the year I spent in Belgium, but also thanks to an eight-month internship in Tampa, Florida, at the University of South Florida.
What would you say to those considering a PhD at UCT Prague?
To think carefully about whether it’s exactly what they want to do. Because no matter how much I enjoyed it and how much I was able to travel, meet new people and learn, the whole PhD is demanding. You have to sacrifice a lot of time to it, and if you apply, for example, just because you don’t feel like working yet, it will show and you’ll probably give up after a while. But if you’re determined, all I can say is: persevere. During the first year there will probably come a moment when you doubt it all, when scientific enthusiasm collides with reality – but that moment will pass, and with a bit of luck what remains is scientific enthusiasm full of research and exploration in the lab, the chance to travel and do internships, networking at Czech and international conferences, or getting involved in an interesting project… And in my opinion, all of that is worth it.