Scientist Manuele from the Czech University of Life Sciences: Favorite food? Trdlik
He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a scientist. You followed your dream. He studied in Italy, Spain and France. And now he found himself at the Czech University of Agriculture in Prague. With a backpack, a dog Tundra and an Italian friend, Marta Gaia Sperandii, who is also a scientist. They met at the University of Rome, where they were both doing their PhDs in the same lab.
“We’ve been together for six years and we’re happy. We are partners,” smiles Manuele on the terrace of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, where we are having an interview.
Scientists experienced the most challenging moments during covid. “We were suddenly left without each other for eight months! I was stuck in France, Marta was in Italy,” recalls Manuele, admitting that the life of a scientist is often very demanding. “We bonded because we share the same passion for what we do. We hope that one day we will be able to settle down somewhere together. In the same place,” he emphasized.
Sixteen student robots from Prague, eight from central Bohemia. Who will win the basket?
He and Marta applied for the same grant calls and succeeded. “We were really excited when we learned that both our projects were successful and we will be able to be together for another two years, Manuel. He considers the fact that both of them received a grant in the same country – the Czech Republic – extremely fortunate. “It often happens that scientific couples are separated. Everyone in a different country,” he noted.
Although the couple works in the same country, they are not at the same university. Marta works at the Masaryk University in Brno, where her project deals with the analysis of vegetation changes in non-forested European habitats in recent decades and the effectiveness of protected areas in protecting these habitats.
Back to Prague
Manuele is in the metropolis for the second time. He first spent four months here during his doctoral studies at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. “It was a super fruitful collaboration. And besides, I found good friends in the metropolis.” After his doctorate, he headed to Rennes. In France, during a two-year postdoctoral study, he researched which plants originating from Europe invaded the Crozet Archipelago, which is halfway between South Africa and Antarctica. To get to Prague a second time, he spent the entire summer of 2021 writing the project.
Manuele and Marta enjoy life in Prague. The biggest part of Manuel’s grass day at the university, not far from there, the couple also has a rented apartment. He prefers to spend his free time walking in the center of the metropolis. “I love architecture, Prague is amazing. However, it is also rightly the heart of Europe,” smiles Marta, adding that she also likes the weather here.
The train from the Watched Trains is on display at the main station
But Manuele shakes her head. As for the weather, I say I’m suffering a bit. “I like the heat, so from that point of view it was nice in Valencia, for example.” But what they agree on without hesitation is the food. “The most popular? “Trdlík,” replies Manuele. We conduct the entire interview in English, and ‘trdlik’ is such a cute corruption of the trdelnik, which they have in the Old Town Square.
They found a hobby in beer. And red wine is said to be great in Prague. “There’s less alcohol there than in our Italian ones, that’s great,” laughs Marta.