ZOOLOGICAL DAYS Brno 2025
Dear Colleagues,
the traditional Zoological Days conference – this year marking its 54th edition – has successfully concluded in Brno, and we would like to share a few post-conference highlights. Under the auspices of the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prof. Eva Zažímalová, the 2025 conference was co-organized by the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the CAS, the Department of Botany and Zoology at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, and the Czech Zoological Society.
A total of 507 participants registered this year, including 233 students. With this attendance, the conference nearly matched the record of the 2018 Prague meeting and continues to be the largest gathering of Czech and Slovak zoologists. We take pride in the continued participation of returning attendees.
Scientifically, the conference commenced with the presentation of the Awards for Contributions to Vertebrate Biology, first introduced by IVB CAS at the Zoological Days in Olomouc in 2020. The Jan Zima Award for outstanding contributions by a junior researcher was awarded to Antonín Macháč for his research on global biodiversity patterns, which he presented during the evening plenary lecture. The Jiří Gaisler Award for a senior researcher was given to Radka Reifová for her contributions to avian evolutionary ecology. Radka Reifová also delivered the opening plenary lecture on the biology of the passerine germline chromosome. The program included a total of 146 talks across 24 sessions and 155 posters.
The traditional student competition—sponsored by Živa and Vesmír magazines for the South Moravian Region, and the companies iBiotech and Megabooks—featured 55 talks and 77 posters. Prizes for the best entomology talk and poster were again awarded with the support of the Czech Entomological Society, and the Czech Society for Ornithology presented prizes for the best bird-themed talk and poster. Student presentations were evaluated by a panel of over 158 reviewers, with the following results:
Talks
- Vaněk O.: New? Overlooked? It’s here! A contribution (not only) to the distribution of the spider Cortestina thaleri
- Horáčková A., Černý R.: Bichirs, sturgeons and paddlefishes as living fossils illuminating the origin of the vertebrate head
- Pliska D., Sychra J., Bojková J., Janáč M.: Fish predation as a key factor shaping zooplankton communities in newly created ponds
Poster
- Simonová J., Kadlecová B., Simon-Pražák J., Dronská V., Peyerl K., Juřičková L.: How do snails fly? An experimental look at snail ectozoochory using racing pigeons
- Foltýnová K., Frýzová I., Smolinský R.: The school garden as an educational environment for vertebrate zoology
- Mikunda A., Ožana S., Pyszko P., Prieložná V., Plášek V.: Unknown islands of biodiversity: overlooked urban greenery as an unexpected habitat for many rare and for the Czech Republic new arthropod species
Czech Entomological Society Awards
• Best talk: Žalmanová A., Straka J., Eliška V., Mikát M., Benda D.: Lasioglossum marginatum: a bee with a unique form of social behaviour
• Best poster: Ohainková V., Drgová M., Hořínková P., Pyszko P., Plášek V., Drozd P.: Invertebrate biodiversity in bryophyte habitats: epigeic vs. epiphytic bryophytes
Czech Society for Ornithology (“Golden Blackcap”)
• Best talk: Helebrant V., Veselý P., Fišer O., Fuchs R.: Assessing the danger posed by European owls to their potential prey: does predator diet composition or body size matter more?
• Best poster: Polonyiová A., Stehlík P., Zhang Y., Kverková K., Němec P.: Neuron counts in avian spinal cords
Congratulations to all award winners, and our thanks to all presenters whose contributions undoubtedly enhanced the scientific quality of the conference. Abstract books (including from previous years) are available at https://www.ivb.cz/vyzkum/zoologicke-dny/.
A pre-conference workshop at IVB CAS, titled “Building a Transparent Scientific Career: Open Science for Early-Career Researchers” was intended primarily for students. It was to be led by Tereza Šímová, Policy Officer for Marie Curie Alumni and founder of the initiative Stop Predatory Practices. Unfortunately, the workshop had to be cancelled due to health reasons. However, registered participants were still able to join an evening tour of Brno Zoo. During the conference itself, a children’s corner was available on-site to support work-life balance.
The low registration fee, along with the high scientific and social standards of the conference, was made possible thanks to the support of numerous sponsors and partners. The 2025 edition in Brno received extensive backing from these supporters::
- BioTech
- Megabooks
- Arcus engineering
- Trigon plus
- Elisabeth Pharmacon
- GeneProof
- BAT-MAN
- LaboServ
- SEQme
- Meopta
- Živa
- Vesmír
- Pivovar Moravia
- South Moravia – Tourist Board
- Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University
- Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, CAS
- Czech Entomological Society
- Czech Society for Ornithology
- Czech Zoological Society
Our sincere thanks to all supporters.
We would also like to express our great thanks to all students and colleagues for their willingness to help with organisation of the conference, with contributions by Alena Fornůsková, Soňa Hroudová, Veronika Horsáková, and Eva Líznarová. During the event, invaluable help was provided by: V. Bitušíková, J. Buchtová, R. Coufal, A. Devánová, D. Dusík, I. Holásková, K. Horák, V. Chalupová, J. Chmelová, V. Klobušická, O. Knápek, L. Kubáčková, V. Mikešová, S. Němejc, B. Pavlíčková, D. Pliska, R. Sedláčková, E. Skříšovská, K. Snitková, K. Svobodová, N. Šeneklová, M. Švejnoha, O. Vytiska, M. Zavřel, D. Zelenka. Thank you all – this would not have been possible without you!
We look forward to meeting again at Zoological Days 2026 in České Budějovice.
On behalf of this year’s organisers,
Josef Bryja a Michal Horsák