The theme of this year’s AFO is hope. The area of developing the talent and motivation of scientists whose efforts contribute to finding answers to the global and local challenges of life on Earth is closely related to the theme of hope. In the upcoming events in this section, we want to look for ways and opportunities to think about talent development for (not only young) scientists and how to help people develop their potential, to understand their own (de)motivation and to foster will and resilience. Developing and supporting talent in scientists brings hope to us all.
The area of talent identification and development in budding scientists has not received much attention in the Czech context. The long-term sustainability of motivation and loyalty of (not only young) people is a prerequisite for the success of Czech science and is very closely related to the area of developing the potential of people on their professional path. Understanding the barriers and reasons and finding solutions based on the experience of experts and scientists themselves is considered a building block for the long-term process that will hopefully follow. The area of working with talent and creating opportunities for its development is a starting point for addressing other pressing issues in science today, such as equal opportunities not only in the context of gender, but in the broader framework of promoting diversity in teams.
