It was a magnificent experience for me. The ceremony conveyed the dignity with which Brno treats its students, which I truly appreciate.

Applying meant submitting a twelve-page project document with a specific structure. Initially, there were about 120 students, and fifty projects, including mine, advanced to the second round. This was followed by a presentation of the project before an expert committee, where the scientific core had to be clearly communicated. Every word and every slide in my presentation had to be carefully considered. The preparation required a lot of time and discussions with colleagues. Often, those discussions sparked new ideas, and I'm very grateful for all those opportunities. Realizing that the effort was worth it and that the scientific community was interested in my topic was a great feeling.

It went by in a flash (laughs). There was a strict time limit during the defense—when the bell rang, I knew there was no chance to say anything more. Fortunately, the presentation was followed by a Q&A session, so I had the chance to elaborate on a few points. I should also mention that everything took place in English, which was a first for me. Honestly—I walked out of the defense feeling I hadn’t let myself down, but I didn’t expect to succeed.

What fascinates me is its omnipresence and significance—not only in engineering but also in places you wouldn't expect at first glance. I like how multidisciplinary this field can be. At our institute, we have very good facilities for tribology, especially from an experimental standpoint.

These liquids are, simply put, salts that are liquid at room temperature. That distinguishes them from, say, table salt, which has a very high melting point. Their unique physical properties stem from their ionic nature, meaning they contain both positively and negatively charged molecules.

These liquids are highly thermally and chemically stable and barely evaporate even in a vacuum, making them suitable for extreme environments, such as space applications. The presence of positively and negatively charged molecules also leads to the formation of ordered structures near electrically charged surfaces, which have different physical properties than the bulk liquid—something that can be leveraged.

There are certainly many more advantages across various technical fields. Ionic liquids are currently seen as more sustainable and sometimes more effective alternatives to some existing materials. They can act as electrolytes for energy storage, solvents, or separation agents. A particularly interesting area currently under investigation is their ability to absorb gases, especially carbon dioxide. Each of these disciplines, including lubricants, demands very specific properties, and in many cases, finding the optimal solution is a lengthy process. What fascinates me is the fact that theoretically, there are far more ionic liquids than have been synthesized so far. That means there’s still a lot to explore and discover.

What’s ahead for you in the next three years of the project?

So far, I’ve spent most of my effort studying the topic—learning what has already been discovered and identifying areas that haven’t yet been explored and would be worth investigating. Now it’s time to move gradually into the lab. I expect to spend most of my time working with a device that simulates lubrication in rolling contacts, which I’ll modify with an electrical circuit and experiment with that setup. Out of the many research directions I could have taken, I chose to study the lubricating properties of liquids with various chemical compositions under electrical voltage. I also plan to go on several international internships during my studies—for example, this year I’ll spend two months at TU Wien, which I’m really looking forward to.

The intense work on the project application gave me a great start to my PhD studies right in the first semester. It helped me define the area I’d like to focus on in my dissertation. I also appreciate the opportunity to regularly meet with other scholarship recipients, not only from my year. I’m generally curious, and this is a great way to learn about fascinating and current scientific challenges firsthand. For example, even before the official awards ceremony, the project organizers prepared an informal and very original gathering for our cohort, which included cooking soup and sushi together. I must say the approach from JCMM is very friendly, and I’m looking forward to more formal and informal meetings like this.

(raš)