Prague – Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) sent a proposal to the Castle to appoint Pavel Tulej as a member of the government. The TOP 09 nominee is to take up the position of Minister for Science and Research after Helena Langšádlová on Monday. At today’s meeting, Fiala, according to a statement to ČTK, heard Tulej’s arguments in the case of publishing scientific articles and accepted his public apology.
“Mr. Tuleja informed me about the matter. I listened to his arguments and accepted his public apology. I sent Mr. President a proposal for the appointment of Pavel Tuleja,” wrote Fiala.
Tuleja asked the University of Silesia in Opava to remove from his publication list articles that were published in journals included in the list of so-called potentially predatory journals. According to him, the texts come from 2015. In retrospect, he feels that he should have checked the quality of the publishing house where the articles were published more.
Tuleja discussed his priorities with Prime Minister Fiala, stating that they are in agreement
Tuleja discussed his priorities with Fiala today at the Straka Academy. After the meeting, Tuleja told ČTK that they were in agreement with the prime minister. According to him, the priorities include the completion of the Act on Science, Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer or assistance with the completion of the Act on Higher Education in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
“As a candidate for minister, I introduced my priorities to the prime minister, we briefly discussed them together. I have the impression that we are in agreement with these priorities,” said Tuleja.
Among the priorities discussed, according to Tuleja, was the completion of the law on science, research, innovation and knowledge transfer, or interest-free loans for students and budding scientists. Possibilities to support students and budding scientists already exist, but according to Tulej, they are not sufficient.
“Among the other priorities discussed is helping the Ministry of Education to complete and get the law on higher education institutions approved, the transfer issue, and of course we also talked about interest-free loans. I told the Prime Minister how the interest-free loans should work and I think we are in agreement, ” he said.
Tuleja previously described that he would like to open a discussion on the possibility of introducing a public system of loans that would be administered by financial institutions. “These loans would be repaid in a similar way to mortgages, i.e. in the form of fixed installments that graduates would pay for a certain period either at regular intervals or in the form of gradually increasing installments, which would reduce their burden in the first years of their active working life, ” he said.
Among other things, Tuleja said this week that he intends to try to increase the budget for science as a whole, so that the share of these expenses in the gross domestic product increases.
According to him, money for science and research must flow through multiple channels so that it is not dependent on a single source. He talked about it with outgoing minister Helena Langšádlová (TOP 09) and her deputies. Next week, he wants to discuss the possibilities in detail with the vice-chairman of the Council for Research, Development and Innovation, and only then start taking further steps.
President Petr Pavel will appoint Tuleja on Monday, May 6. The spokesman for the president, Vojtěch Šeliga, told ČTK earlier that a meeting with Tuleja before his appointment was not necessary, as they both know each other personally.
Tuleja will withdraw articles from potentially predatory journals from its publications
TOP 09 candidate for Minister of Science Pavel Tuleja asked the University of Silesia to remove from his publication list articles that were published in journals included on Beall’s list of so-called potentially predatory journals. Lyrics come from 2015, https://twitter.com/PavelTuleja/status/1785970348606796275 today on the X network. In retrospect, he feels that he should have checked the quality of the publishing house where the articles were published. Silesian University spokeswoman Gordana Raková confirmed to ČTK that the university has already received Tulej’s application.
“I informed the Prime Minister about the publications in predatory magazines, and at the same time I would like to publicly apologize. I will not comment further at this time,” said Tuleja to ČTK after today’s meeting with Petr Fiala (ODS).
The deputy chairman of TOP 09 Michal Kučera stood up for the candidate. “He explained it sufficiently, he apologized, the articles have been taken down. I think that the matter is old enough and not so important that it does not threaten his ministerial post,” Kučera told reporters in the House of Representatives. According to the head of the parliamentary faction, Josef Cogan, the Coalition Mayors will demand an explanation of the matter from their partners, they do not yet have more detailed information.
The economist and former rector of the University of Silesia, Tuleja, said today that he had written dozens of professional articles during his professional life. “I noticed that information appeared about texts that I co-authored and that were published in journals on Beall’s list. I found that they are from 2015,” he said. In retrospect, he feels that he should have checked the quality of the publishing house more. “I publicly apologize for this mistake. I have already asked the University of Silesia to remove the relevant articles from my publication list,” he added.
The Seznam Zprávy server drew attention to the fact that it is a trio of texts that were published in February 2015, the other text is from January 2013. The co-author was Karin Gajdová, the current ANO representative in Ludgeřovice in the Opava region. “Those things were put together by the doctoral student who published the articles with me. I gave her the background for the articles, the materials,” Tuleja told the server.
Today, Gajdová told ČTK that at that time she was just gaining experience in the academic sphere and that she did not know about the list of predatory journals. “In any case, the main goal of these articles was to present them at international conferences with a subsequent discussion, where it was possible to get feedback and also listen to the critical opinions of experts,” she said.
So-called predatory journals flood the academic environment with irrelevant texts that do not meet the basic requirements of professional texts. Journals do not have to comply with the ethical standards of the scientific environment, published texts do not undergo peer review and do not have to be of sufficient professional quality. Publication in professional journals is an important part of the work of scientists and is a necessary tool for obtaining grants. The methodology for detecting potentially predatory journals was developed by American professor Jeffrey Beall.
President Petr Pavel should appoint Tuleja as a member of the government on Monday, May 6. She will replace Helena Langšádlová (TOP 09) in the coalition cabinet, who is leaving due to dissatisfaction of the parent party with the way she presented the results of her work in public.
CR science government Tuleja
