RNDr. Martin Bilej, DrSc.

Vice President and member of the Academy Council Presidium

• Responsible for finance and budget of the CAS and the implementation, including grant administration in the entrusted area.
• Coordination of infrastructure activities of the CAS Centre of Administration and Operations (SSČ).
• Methodological supervision of public administration control system at CAS institutes.

Institute of Microbiology of the CAS

Martin Bilej completed his studies at the Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague in 1985. He wrote his thesis already at the Institute of Microbiology of the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (now the Czech Academy of Sciences - CAS), where he also defended his dissertation in 1991. In 2001, he obtained the scientific degree DrSc. From 2003–2007, he served as the head of the Department of Immunology and Gnotobiology of the Institute of Microbiology and from 2007–2017 he held the position of Director and Chairman of the Board of the Institute. In February 2016, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Economic Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Academy Council Presidium entrusted with the management of economic and financial affairs.

During his scientific career, Martin Bilej has focused on comparative immunology, particularly the immunology of invertebrates. From 1993–1995, he studied the cytolytic activity of coelomic fluid of annelids during his postdoctoral stay at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium. In the following years, he often visited the Laboratory of Cellular Immunology of VUB within joint projects supported by the FWO, BWS, and NATO. His research group succeeded to identify and characterize - on the molecular and functional level - several proteins important for the innate immunity of annelids. He is a member of the Czech Immunological Society (Council member and until 2018 Scientific Secretary) and the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology (Secretary Treasurer from 2009–2012). He also serves as a member of the Expert Advisory Body of the MEYS programmes Eureka and Eurostars.

Martin Bilej is the author or co-author of 72 scientific articles (1000 citations, h-index 19), 115 congress contributions, co-author or co-editor of two books. He was the principal investigator of 12 national research projects and 5 bilateral projects. He lectures pregraduate and postgraduate students at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, where he has supervised seven master students and six doctoral candidates. He is a member of the scientific councils of Charles University in Prague, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, the Faculty of Science of Charles University and the First Medical Faculty of Charles University. In addition, he serves as the chairman of the commission for the defence of dissertations for obtaining the scientific degree DSc. in immunology.