The first university-wide podcasts, which humanize the academic and scientific world, have been created by Tomas Bata University in Zlín (TBU). The podcasts offer interviews with prominent scientists or with interesting academics as well as chats with graduates.
TBU is the first higher education institution to have created its own series of podcasts, which allow people, from the comfort of their home, an insight about the world of academics, scientists, graduates, students and “ordinary” employees.
The UTB utebe podcast aims to show the human side of the academic world, which might, at times, seem a little bit mysterious.
“The academic world is still seen by the public as a closed community. With our podcast, we want to prove that this is far from being true. We will enable you to find out more about real people who work at the University, not just about the research topics they focus on. There is a story behind every person, and our podcast can reveal secrets and charms of the academic world to the general public,” says Prof. Vladimír Sedlařík, Rector of the Zlín-based University.
Currently, UTB utebe offers a podcast episode entitled Homo Academicus. For example, an interview with Alice Kutnarová, a psychologist working in the TBU Counselling Centre, about the current pandemic crisis, quarantine, motivation, daily programme, including a guide on how to deal with the unexpected situation and survive it while maintaining your mental health. Other podcasts offer interviews, for example with Roman Čermák, Dean of the Faculty of Technology, who addresses the current global issue of plastics, and shares his own experience of the life as a scientist, musician, father and science communicator.
Other guests include Zuzana Tučková, Dean of the Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management based in Uherské Hradiště, and Jitka Alexová, a manager working in the Zlín-based UPPER Creative Industries Centre, who is also featured in the podcast.
“We were pleasantly surprised to see the popularity and interest shown in our podcasts. We have more than 1,300 visits to the site. Therefore, we are preparing more topics. Preparing a topic for a podcast makes sense and, above all, brings us joy,” adds Ondřej Fabián, Director of the Library.