Beyond the Horizon and for Mutual Understanding: the 3rd Conference of Doctoral Students of the University of South Bohemia

On 21–22 November 2023, the third annual University-wide conference of PhD students of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice took place. This year, its idea was based on three main pillars:

• The need to boost the social integration of PhD students beyond disciplines and faculties
• Unity of science and mutual respect among scientists of all disciplines as a basis for its successful development
• The need for an interdisciplinary approach to address a number of current society-wide challenges

The aim of the conference was, among other things, to emphasize the values corresponding to these pillars from the very beginning of a scientific career. The conference, which was held in English, was actively attended by 35 PhD students from most faculties, 34 of whom presented their work in the form of a lecture and one through a poster. The conference also included an invited paper by Dr. Jiří Sláma from the USB Rectorate on Open Science and Open Data at USB.

The two-day conference was held in a very pleasant and informal atmosphere. The programme was deliberately not thematically arranged, but rather with the aim of the conference in mind, so that there was a varied mix of presentations by students from different faculties in the different sessions. Thus, the papers ranged from issues related to the decline of the common tit or the common caras, to sustainable management of agricultural production, to various molecular biology topics or an archaeological project in Ghana, to microbial communities in different organisms or the issue of insects as food. The students thus had an extraordinary opportunity to glimpse their thematic diversity and thus learn about the different directions of current science at USB.

The two-day conference concluded with a social evening where, among other things, the four best presentations were announced. These awards were largely decided by the students themselves through their votes. It was then great to see the enthusiasm and respect of the attendees when their award-winning colleagues were announced. This year, the awarded students, who received small gifts and a cash prize, were:

• Sangeeth Sailas Santhosh (Faculty of Science)
• Alžběta Strouhová (Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters)
• Dorsaf Ennaceur (Faculty of Science)
• Yves Theoneste Murindangabo (Faculty of Agriculture and Technology)

I would like to thank all the PhD students for their participation and the positive atmosphere they created with their presence and attitude, and the Science and Research Office of the USB Rectoratebfor their invaluable help in the preparation and implementation of the conference. We are planning another edition of this conference for 2024 and we are already looking forward to the large participation of students and their many beautiful topics.