Managing and supervisory board

Managing Board is a four-member organ of NFJT which manages all Fund´s activities, creates its strategy, evaluates submitted applications, decides about providing an endowment grant, approves donations from donors of NFJT, decides on changes of Statute of the Fund and performs other activities listed in Foundation Charter NFJT.

First members of the Managing Board were designated by the Founder of NFJT. Future Board members will be elected by current Managing Board members. The term of office of the Managing Board members is for a period of 5 years without any annual change of Managing Board members.

Current members of the Managing Board members are:

Chairman of Managing Board

Prof. RNDr. Viktor Žárský, CSc. (1958, Vsetín) studied phycology at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University (FS CU) in Prague (1982). He started his career at the Institute of Experimental Botany (IEB) of the Czech Academy of Sciences, worked on his dissertation under the supervision of Ing. Jaroslav Tupý, DrSc. and defended Ph.D. in 1990. At the IEB he works as a research scientist, he established and till 2018 lead the Laboratory of Cell Biology. Between 1991 and 1997 he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and at the Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Vienna University. Since 1994 he also works as a teacher and researcher at the Department of Experimental Plant Biology of the FS CU (professorship 2019). He studies molecular processes of plant cell morphogenesis and development; he is author or co-author of more than 130 reports and one textbook.

Member of Managing Board

Mgr. Věra Forejtová (1997, Jihlava, CZ) studied botany at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc and obtained master’s degree in 2021. Since then, she has been working as a graduated technical assistant at the Station of Apple Breeding for Disease Resistance of the Institute of Experimental Botany CAS, v.v.i. in Prague. In her free time she enjoys growing ferns and other houseplants, gardening, walking, geocaching and drawing.

Member of Managing Board

Dr. Franciscus M. (Frank) Maas (1957, Bennekom, NL) studied biology at University of Amsterdam. He obtained his PhD at the University of Groningen in 1987. His research is focussed on the physiology of plants with emphasis on the effects of environmental factors on plant development. He was employed as senior horticultural scientist at Wageningen University and Research Centre from 1987 to 2014. At present he is working part time as senior fruit scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy (NIBO) and as international horticultural consultant for several companies in the fruit industry. He is the author and co-author of more than 30 scientific publications and a member of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences.

Member of Managing Board

Dr. Martin Vágner (1959, Prague, CZ) studied plant physiology at Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Prague (1978-1983). In 1983, he was employed at the Institute of Experimental Botany, Prague, where he defended his Ph.D. (1990). He currently works in the Institute of Experimental Botany (IEB) as a researcher focused predominantly on hormonal regulation of conifer somatic embryogenesis. In IEB, he served as scientific secretary (1998-2006 and 2022-now), deputy director (2001-2003 and 2022-now), chairman of IEB Board (2007-2012) and director (2012-2022). Author or co-author of more than 50 scientific papers.

Supervisory Board is a four-member organ of NFJT which controls management of Fund´s property, use of Fund´s money, compliance of stipulated conditions in a process of granting grants, assesses Annual reports of the Fund and performs other activities listed in Foundation Charter NFJT.

First members of the Supervisory Board were designated by the Founder of NFJT. Future Board members will be elected by current Supervisory Board members. The term of office of the Supervisory Board members is for a period of 4 years without any annual change of Supervisory Board members.

Current members of the Supervisory Board members are:

Chairman of Supervisory Board

Ing. Petr Nový (1968, Praha) studied automation and robotics at Czech University of Agriculture in Prague
where he obtained his Engineer degree in 1992. He works at Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR, v.v.i. (IEB)
since 2009. He was employed as a property and services manager for 3 years there and since 2012 he is
a head of the Technical-Economic Administration of IEB. He enjoys playing computer games.

Vice-Chairman of Supervisory Board

Dr. Jan Martinec (1962, Varnsdorf) studied biochemistry at Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Prague (1981-1986). Since 1989, he was studying for Ph.D. at the Institute of Experimental Botany, Prague (IEB), in 1996 he defended thesis at the same institute. He currently works at IEB as researcher focused on molecular mechanism of plant responses to stresses. Since 2012 until 2022 he served as deputy director, in 2022 he became director of IEB. He is author or co-author of more than 60 scientific papers. He lectures at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem.

Member of Supervisory Board

Andrea Hourová (1978, Slaný) works as a secretary to the director at the Institute of Experimental Botany, at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, in Prague. She also works part time job as a laboratory assistant at the department of the “Laboratory of Hormonal Regulations in Plants“. (Institute of Experimental Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic). In her spare time she loves flower arranging.

Member of Supervisory Board

Mgr. Jan Kolář, Ph.D. (1972, Praha) studied plant biology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. During his studies, he did research for his theses at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IEB) and also spent one year at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. After graduating in 2003, he started research at IEB focused on control of flowering by day length, environmental stresses and other factors. Jan also gradually became involved in science outreach and communication to the public which became his full-time job in 2012. He spent five years in the public relations department of the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. From June 2017, he is a PR specialist at IEB. Besides plants and biology in general, Jan is a big fan of astronomy and history, collects chemical elements and their minerals, and enjoys long walks with his dog.