Post by Lucie Ráčková

I just finished my first academic year as a university #teacher — and it reminded me how much I love this aspect of #academia. 🎓 📚 🧠 ✨ This year, I had the opportunity to contribute in a truly #interdisciplinary fashion to three very different, but deeply inspiring courses across multiple departments at Masaryk University: 🛰️ #Applied and #Translational #Neurosciences in #Extreme #Environments and #Spaceflight at Lékařská fakulta Masarykovy univerzity (Faculty of Medicine) I became the guarantor of the whole course, designed its structure, prepared teaching materials, and invited outstanding guest speakers. Huge thank you again to Prof. Mathias Basner (University of Pennsylvania), Zuzanna Paśko (European Space Agency - ESA), and assoc. prof. Raphaëlle Nina Roy (ISAE-SUPAERO) for sharing their expertise with our students. Students concluded the course by finishing exam and developing and essay or project proposal connected to the course. 🌍 #Sociology of #Space at FSS MUNI - Faculty of Social Studies Invited by Dr. Tomas Dosedel, I prepared and delivered two lectures on space #analog #missions and astronaut #demographics — opening interdisciplinary discussions about the human dimension of space exploration. 🌱 #Plants in Space at Přírodovědecká fakulta MU (Faculty of Science) Invited by Prof. M. Barták, I gave a guest lecture focused on plant research and human factors in space analog missions, connecting biological and operational aspects of long-duration spaceflight. I feel incredibly #grateful for these opportunities to help #cultivate #knowledge and #curiosity about #human #spaceflight and #space #exploration within the #Czech academic environment. By connecting the disciplines, developing these courses and facilitating the #knowledge #transfer, we promote building a new #shared #understanding of the advances space exploration provides #humanity, and to #create #opportunities for young scholars. I also deeply appreciate the academic #freedom, #openness, and #interdisciplinary spirit supported by Masaryk University — and especially the curiosity and engagement of students willing to explore emerging and unconventional topics. It still feels surreal that topics which once inspired me as a student are now subjects I can teach, discuss, and help develop with others. I’m grateful to the students, colleagues, and institutions that made this experience possible.