Graduate Profiles

Mgr. Radka Rubilina, Ph.D.

"Because I have studied two colleges at the same time, it's still a mystery to me that I have come to the last year of my Master's degree. Russian Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy offered me a profound insight into Russian culture, while IMS enabled me to settle events into a wider context. In my opinion, this was a unique combination, and to this day it allows me to perceive events at a distance and on a wider, international scale. "

Radka Rubilina (Bzonková) defended her doctorate at the German University in Konstanz. She deals with Russian culture, translates Russian poems and prose into Czech, publishes books on the literature of Stalin's labor camps (Jen jeden osud, 2009; Osm hlav šílenství, 2015) [in Czech, tran. One Fate, Eight Heads of Insanity] and publishes her own work (Laciná romantika, 2017)[in Czech, tran. Cheap Romance]. She deals with the socio-political situation of the countries of the post-Soviet bloc and profiled as a human rights expert. Radka Rubilina worked as the Head of Eastern European Democratization Programmes in the nonprofit organization People in Need (2007-2011), was editor of the RussiaDnes.cz and Iliteratura.cz web portal (2006-2010) and led the Human Rights / Rule of Law on her mission in OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in Armenia as a seconded worker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (2013-2017). She has been an evaluator of development and democratization programmes for a number of international organizations for ten years and is currently focusing on the latest trends in the evaluation of human rights projects. She is a member of the Czech Evaluation Society.

PhDr. Tomáš Jelínek, Ph.D

"I´m very fond of studying at IMS, especially in an inspiring academic environment with lecturers who have supported us not only in our professional growth but also in creating our value orientation."

Tomáš Jelínek has been Director of the Czech-German Fund of the Future since 2005. Between 1999 and 2000, he participated in negotiations on compensation for victims of slave labor and was responsible for its implementation in the Czech Republic within the CNFB. Tomáš Jelínek is a substitute member of the board of the German Federal Foundation EVZ, works in the international advisory board of the Topographie des Terrors Foundation in Berlin, and is also a co-founder of the public service company Živá paměť (Living Memory). In his scientific work, he focuses on the history of compensation for the victims of Nazism.

Mgr. Jana Fašinová

"At the Department of German and Austrian Studies, I began to study IMS at a time when the word "deportation" was still used instead of "expulsion." I am very grateful for meeting with great professors and experts who have opened new perspectives to students in modern history and the whole of Central Europe."

Jana Fasinová is a graduate of German and Austrian studies at IMS FSV UK (2001). After completing her studies, she gained experience in investment banking in Frankfurt am Main for nine years, where she established herself during an exchange period under the EU Socrates programme. After the election to the European Parliament in 2009, she became assistant to MEP Martin Kastler (CSU), who, as chairman of Ackermann Gemeinde, actively worked in the field of Czech-German relations. Since 2012, she has been employed as a financial advisor in the political faction of the European People's Party in the European Parliament.

Mgr. Pavel Gruber

"I studied at IMS in the first year of its foundation, and at that time IMS was based in three different locations in Prague, and in accordance with the overall atmosphere at that time, IMS was extremely open, formally unbound and above all, inspiring and enriching. I am still benefiting from the many things I have gained at IMS and up to today I really like to remember some of the most exciting professors."

Pavel Gruber studied Russian and East European Studies at the Institute of International Studies at FSV UK and finished his studies in 1998. He completed his first humanitarian mission in 1996 during a conflict in Bosnia with the organization People in Need. After studying for some time in the commercial sector (logistics and media), he returned to humanitarian work in 2006. He served at the Charity of the Czech Republic as Head of the Mission in Indonesia. Thereafter he was responsible for programmes in Southeast Asia and became Head of Humanitarian and Development Cooperation. For four years, he has also served on the board of directors of the FoRS platform for two years as its chairman. Since 2011, he has been leading the Czech branch of Médecins Sans Frontières. During his mission, he worked, among others, in Indonesia, Haiti, Georgia, and Ukraine.

JUDr. PhDr. Petr Mlsna, Ph.D.

"Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences helped me to look at the world in a complex way, so that things, information, and events are not isolated phenomena, but always part of a wider whole. The faculty helped me to think in a critical way, which one often appreciates only with increasing age. "

Petr Mlsna is Deputy Minister of the Interior for the Legislation and Archives Division); in the past, he had various positions in the Government Office (Compliance Division with EU Law, Division of Government Legislation, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of the Government); he also served as Deputy Minister of Education and Youth for Legislation and Strategy and Deputy Minister of Justice for Legislation and International Relations; in 2012-2013 he served as Minister and Chairman of the Legislative Council of the Government; he served as Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of the Government in 2010-2014; Chairman of the Advisory Forum of the Minister of the Interior on the Administrative Code; member of the Department of Defense Department; Chairman of the Scientific Archives Council of the Ministry of the Interior; Member of the Board of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem; holder of the Leopold Heyrovsky Medal awarded by the Faculty of Arts of the Czech Republic as a monograph of the International Treaty in Czech Law; author of more than 100 articles, articles and studies in the field of constitutional, international, European and administrative law; since 2004 he has been working at the Department of Constitutional Law and State Economics of the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague; Since 2003 he has been working at the Department of German-Austrian Studies at the Institute of International Studies.

Mgr. Alžběta Göhmann

"IMS is still giving me a lot, but whatever I do professionally, the IMS people are always around me, in the role of colleagues, partners, donors or the supported. And it's usually a pleasure to work with them. Apart from that, I'm delighted to see either from a distance or at close range the interesting careers of the people I studied with."

She graduated in German and Austrian Studies. For nearly a decade, she has worked in the Programme Department of the Via Foundation, where she co-founded and led international projects for promoting the development of civil society, non-profit organizations and their people in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

She is currently working in the International Department of Český Rozhlas (the Czech Radio), which provides continuous communication of the Czech Radio with foreign countries. It addresses both day-to-day broadcasting and long-term projects, meetings, bilateral cooperation and cooperation within the European Broadcasting Union.

Mgr. Blahoslav Hruška

"Nowadays, all sorts of restaurants attract people to homemade cuisine. If IMS is homemade cuisine, it won't be missed in any selection of top restaurants. High-quality ingredients, honest cuisine, and international reach."

Blahoslav Hruška is a graduate of German and Austrian studies. Gradually, he worked at the Prague Radio Broadcasting (Schweizer Radio DRS), the Czech daily newspaper Právo (in Czech meaning both Law or Right), the news server Aktualne.cz and the weekly newspapers Ekonom and Euro. Since March 2015 he has been an editor of the Czech daily newspaper Lidové noviny (The People's Newspaper), where he is in charge of the EU and migration policy.

PhDr. Štěpán Černý

"IMS is, in my view, an ideal qualification for working in an international environment and for the state and the European administration. Here, they teach you to focus on foreign language both in spoken and written form, they support critical and analytical thinking and provide a vast social science foundation which is very unique in the Czech Republic. Straddling between various scientific fields also enables us to see the world in context and not just from the limited perspective of one's own field. I am also grateful for the inspirational and enthusiastic lecturers who are able to attract and involve those who perhaps haven't realized yet that they actually have a passion for the Albanian National Revival. I cannot forget my fellow students and the rich social life that accompanies the graduates throughout their studies and even after them, often also all the way to adulthood."

Štěpán Černý graduated in International Area Studies (2004-2007) and then completed his Master's degree in European Studies in February 2010. Already as a part of his studies, he has been involved in many interesting work projects. For example, he worked as a liaison coordinator for the Czech Presidency of the EU Council in 2009.

Between 2009 and 2011, he worked in the foreign and public editorial office of Český Rozhlas 1 - Radiožurnál (The Czech Radio 1 - Radiožurnál), in the news exchange, where he helped to produce discussion and publicity programmes. From the year 2011 to October 2014 he worked in the European Section of the Senate Chancellery of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. He was in charge of training and supporting the exercise of the powers conferred by the Parliamentary Chambers in the European Agenda on primary EU law, the Constitution of the Czech Republic and the rules of procedure of both chambers.

Since October 2014, he has been working as Head of the European Policy Coordination Unit at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic in the Section for European Affairs. "My people" ensure the rights and obligations arising from the Czech Republic's membership of the EU, both at a national level and towards EU institutions and bodies, within the framework of policies which fall under COREPER I. This department also coordinates the policy of other central administrative authorities towards the EU.

Since 1999 he has been the volunteer at YMCA, the world's oldest organization for young people, and was elected Vice-Chairman of the European Alliance YMCA in 2012.

PhDr. Petr Pojman PhD

" For me, studies at IMS study have been an important input into the complex issues of the present. It's worth recognizing and recommending the very good opportunities for studying and doing research abroad. Those who are interested will also get the opportunity to find their "issues" here. The FSV UK as a whole is also a place where I´ve met people who I still maintain friendly and working relationships with. Lately, it has been very pleasant to meet old acquaintances during complicated work in restless Ukraine.”

Petr Pojman is a graduate of International Area Studies and of Russian and East European Studies at the Institute of International Studies, FSV UK. As a part of the Erasmus programme at the University of Kent in the UK, he began to devote himself to criminology. Subsequently, in 2008-2009 he was active in the humanitarian project of the Charity of the Czech Republic Magdalena, which helps victims of trafficking in the Czech Republic. During his Master's degree, he completed internships in St. Petersburg at the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation at the St. Petersburg Law Institute of the Academy of the General Prosecutor's Office and at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University. In the continuing Ph.D. studies in the field of International Area Studies, FSV UK has been engaged in research into organized crime in Russia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. He also conducted several research trips in the European as well as the Asian part of Russia, Belarus, Transnistria, and Ukraine. The research focuses on security issues, the interconnection of organized crime and politics, and human trafficking (forced labor, prostitution, begging) in the EU and the former USSR. In 2012 he became a founding member of the Czech Criminological Society and since 2013 he has also been a member of its Committee. Petr Pojman is also a member of the St. Petersburg Centre for Deviantology and Editorial Board of the Scientific Journal Legal Science and Security Practice of the Jumen Institute for Enhancing the Qualification of the Members of the Russian Ministry of Interior Affairs. He lectures at several domestic and foreign universities and acts as an independent consultant for the private, state and non-governmental sector (Transparency International, Forum 2000, Prague Institute for Security Studies - PSSI). In the area of combating trafficking in human beings and election observations, he cooperates with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Petr Pojman's media appearances are to be found here and here. His international appearances are to be found here and here.

Petr Pojman's website.

Mgr. Luboš Veselý

"To me, IMS is especially great teachers who worked or are working here and who will teach you to  think and write about the history and the present of the countries in our surroundings."

The graduate of Russian and East European Studies at IMS FSV UK. In the last two years of Václav Havel's mandate he worked as a Tertiary Specialist for Central and Eastern Europe in the Office of the President of the Republic, then at the Center for Democracy and Human Rights of the nonprofit organization People in Need. In 2009 he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Czech-Polish Forum. In the years 2010-2014 he was a diplomat of the political section at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kiev. He is also a co-founder of the Association for International Affairs.

Mgr. Martin Palán

"Studium na Fakultě sociálních věd Univerzity Karlovy mi přineslo schopnost se systematicky sebevzdělávat, rozeznávat priority v pracovních úkonech a výrazně mi rozšířilo obzory kulturně, lidsky i akademicky. Zásadním přínosem pak byly zahraniční pobyty a mezinárodní prostředí celého institutu. Z poznatků nabytých studiem jsem čerpal a stále čerpám ve svém profesním i soukromém

"The studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University gave me the ability to educate myself systematically, to recognize priorities in work tasks and to expand my cultural, human and academic horizons. In my professional and private life, I profited and am still profiting from the knowledge I gained throughout my studies."

At the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University, he graduated from the Institute of International Studies in the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes, which he finished at the Department of German and Austrian Studies in 2006 by a state´s exam. During his studies, he worked actively in student organizations and was a member of the Control and Conciliation Commission of the Student Union of Charles University, he regularly presented Majáles (a traditional spring air festival for young people) and other cultural events in Prague and Brno, played at Na Prádle Theater and was a member of the music group “Řekla NE!” ("She said NO!").

Currently, he is an owner and chairman of the board of directors of the film company Bontonfilm. He became the CEO in 2012. Bontonfilm is, amongst others, the exclusive distributor of the  Hollywood major studios 20th Century Fox, Sony and Universal in the field of Home Entertainment and it is a key film company on the Czech and the Slovak market.

Interview with Martin Palan in the journal Sociál.

Talkshow Martin Palán with Tomáš Sedláček, Tomáš Zima and Dominik Kotyza.

PhDr. Jan Marian

“Thanks to my studies at IMS FSV UK, I have met a number of great and interesting people among teachers and fellow students. I really appreciated the open atmosphere and the opportunity to discuss with our teachers. Likewise, I appreciated the possibilities of study abroad stays and the space for my own activities.”

The graduate of the East European and Russian Studies of IMS FSV UK has worked in a number of Czech non-governmental organizations and think-tanks (International Affairs Association, Prague Security Studies Institute), since 2008 he has been an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Currently, he works as an expert on Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union.

Jan Marian on the Eastern Partnership.

Mgr.Tereza Mádlová

"What have the studies at IMS brought me? What I appreciate the most and am often aware of are the outlook and a critical attitude. At the same time, thanks to school, I got to the Balkans and to good people!"

Already during my studies at IMS, I have been devoted to children and the nonprofit sector, which has become, in a positive sense, my destiny. I traveled to international workcamps mainly in the Balkans, which is a matter of my heart. I also volunteered intensively in Bohemia - I had given remedial classes to children from socially weak families and foreigners, organized camps and leisure time activities for them. My work path led from work at a bar and the Waldorf Kindergarten to the organization People in Need in Kladno. More about my "mission" in a short article. At present, I work at the Via Foundation as a project manager, where I am very happy about the people I meet. I enjoy watching the world, how colorful it is and how brave people can be. In the Foundation, I focus on issues of development and non-profit education, personal development and social entrepreneurship.

Mgr. Filip Snášel

"I had the opportunity to study in an excellent academic environment, I got a good education and an overview that helped me find a job. When you are out of school (now I have humanities in mind), nobody is really interested in which school you studying at, but rather in how do you think, if you can learn new things quickly and, also, if you manage to analyze and solve problems along the way. IMS helped me even in this matter. In addition, I have gained a wonderful circle of friends from which I can constantly draw inspiration. Studying at IMS and DAS is not just about education, but mainly about people, you get to know during those years. I actually have the feeling I´ve never really left, because I'm always carrying around this social bubble and I'm glad to be able to live in it."

Filip Snášel is a graduate of the Bachelor's degree in International Area Studies of IMS FSV UK and the Master's degree in American Studies of FSV UK. Since the beginning of his studies, he has been dealing with security issues - first by the nuclear forces of Russia and the United States, and then by asymmetric conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He arrived at this change due to his work in the weekly newspaper Tyden and server Tyden.cz, where he worked as an editor and later as a deputy head of the foreign department. Thanks to that, he could visit Afghanistan twice and also other conflict zones.

The global crisis, however, hit the Czech media as well, therefore after five years he decided to change his field and began to dedicate himself to public relations. He has worked in Pilsen Škoda Transportation and since 2013 has been working for the PR agency Pepr Consulting, where he is in charge of clients such as Fujitsu, Eon, or Cyrrus. He focuses on corporate and crisis communication.

Links to the journalist's work of Filip Snášel.

PhDr. Jakub Szántó

"An interdisciplinary mix of international relations, politics, and modern history, as offered by IMS FSV UK, has prepared me very well for the work of a journalist. Understanding the mechanisms of international politics and their historical connections makes it easier for me orientate myself on a daily basis to the at first glance incomprehensible history of the current the Far East and, in a broader perspective, of the whole world. In addition, a number of my former fellow students today have significant positions in government, the non-profit and private sectors, which again makes it easier to access  information, the most valuable commodity in my profession."

Jakub Szántó is a graduate of the Bachelor's degree in International Area Studies at IMS FSV UK and of the Master's degree in West European Studies at FSV UK. Over the past 15 years, he has specialized in the Middle East region. He first worked at TV Nova. Since 2006, he is a reporter of the foreign section of Česká Televize (Czech Television). He also regularly contributes to the Czech weekly magazine Reflex and other periodicals. His news coverage included, for example, the change of the Ukrainian regime in 2004 and 2014, the Georgia-Russia war in 2008, the civil war in Syria and Lebanon, or the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and, above all, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jakub Szántó for Social, student magazine FSV UK.

Jakub Szántó in an interview for Ffakt, the student magazine of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.

Interview for Radiožurnál.

Jessie Hronešová M.A

Jessie Hronešová is a graduate of the Bachelor's degree in International Area Studies at the IMS FSV UK. Although at the beginning of her studies she devoted herself to American politics, she was soon focusing on Eastern Europe and the Balkans, particularly on issues related to nationalism and ethnic conflict. In her Erasmus programme, she spent a year at London University College London and subsequently received an internship at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, where she worked on the preparation of the Radovan Karadžić case. During her studies at the CU Jessie began working at the Department of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences as a researcher within several European Union projects. As a co-editor at the Academy of Sciences, she published a compilation of work by various authors on the topic of European identities after "The Nexus Between Democracy, Collective Identity, and the EU Enlargement." In 2011, she received a Master's degree at St. Anthony's College of Oxford University, where she graduated with a two-year degree in Russian and East European Studies. Her diploma thesis, with the support of the IMS FSV UK, was published in 2012 as a monograph under the title "Post-War Ethnic Identity of Young People in Bosnia" by the publisher Peter Lang. After graduating from Oxford, Jessie worked in the Balkans (Bosnia and Serbia) for more than a year, first as a researcher for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and subsequently as a Project Coordinator on Transitional Justice. Jessie Hronešová is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Oxford at the Department of Political Science.

Interview for Social magazine. Website.

Mgr. Jan Plešinger

"For me was the study of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the IMS the right springboard for an interesting and rich career in international organizations, diplomacy, and work in conflict areas. The historical, political and linguistic background I have acquired at the IMS has been for me to this day, the “font of wisdom” from which I still draw."

Jan Plešinger completed his studies of Russian and East European Studies at the IMS FSV UK with a Master's degree in 2000. He then studied in New York, where he received the International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (The Centre for International Health & Cooperation under auspices of the City University of New York, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and University of Geneva.). At present, he is dedicating himself to long-term postgraduate studies in the field of International Development Studies at the Faculty of Science of the Palacký University in Olomouc.

Jan Plešinger has been Deputy Head of the OSCE mission in Moldova since 2011. The main mandate of the mission is to mediate negotiations between the parties of the Transnistrian conflict and to find a possible solution. In addition, the mission addresses other security issues, including military, political, legal, environmental, media and human right matters. In 2008-2011 Jan Plešinger was Deputy Ambassador in Kosovo at the Czech Embassy in Pristina. In 2006-2008, he worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Moldova. Previously, he was employed in the organization People in Need, where he led, among other things, humanitarian missions in the northern Caucasus (Chechnya and Ingushetia) and Kosovo. In 2002, Jan Plešinger co-founded the NGO Platform of the Czech Forum for Development Cooperation (FoRS); he is the author of its name and logo.

From public appearances:

Interview in Russian on the Moldovan private news station.

Interview on the programme "Before midnight" on CT 24.

PhDr. Jan Havlík M.A.

In addition to the studies themselves, the studies at the IMS have given me, first of all, the opportunity to understand and connect knowledge from different disciplines and also to partly study abroad. The IMS is unique in the fact that  graduates often stick together even after their studies, which is revealed in my work almost every day."

PhDr. Jan Havlík, M.A. is a graduate of European Studies at the IMS FSV UK (2007) and the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris III (2006). Since 2012, he is the Director of the European Affairs and Internal Market Department of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, where he has long been involved in removing barriers to the EU internal market and is engaged in the regulation (or rather deregulation) of some sectors of the Czech economy in connection with the emergence of the so-called sharing economy.

In the past, he was also an Assistant to MEP Zelenika and worked in the CZ PRES Coordinators' team at the Ministry of the Environment. In Norwegian Oslo, he worked as a Project Coordinator of the Bellona Foundation in a geological CO2 storage team.

Mgr. Petr Matolín

"The IMS has brought me a number of extremely interesting, intelligent and capable friends and contacts, and I have had the opportunity to study what I enjoy, gaining practical experience in the given region. I also gained some flexibility and the ability to effectively solve problems; I previously had no idea whatsoever that some of them even existed. Finally, I mustn't forget the hard work, fervor, and enthusiasm of some of the IMS lecturers, which was more than inspirational. "

Petr Matolín is a graduate of the Russian and East European Studies at the IMS FSV UK (2012). After completing his studies, he joined the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic as an International Relations Coordinator. Since March 2014, he has worked as Head of Strategy and Analysis. He succeeded in establishing new international partnerships and in developing international cooperation of the Czech Technology Agency to such an extent that in 2015 the first international projects of applied research and experimental development supported by the Czech Technology Agency of the Czech Republic should be supported.