Keynote Speakers

JUDr. Václav Kobera is a Czech public official specializing in space policy, and international cooperation in the space sector. He has served in senior positions within the Czech government since the mid‑2000s and became Director of the Department for Intelligent Transport Systems, Space Activities, Research, Development and Innovation at the Czech Ministry of Transport in 2011. He currently serves as director of the Space Agency of the Czech Republic at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

He is well known for representing the Czech Republic in European space institutions. He has served as Head of the Czech Delegation to the European Space Agency (ESA), chaired ESA’s Programme Board on Satellite Navigation, and since 2021 has been Chairman of the Administrative Board of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), whose headquarters are located in Prague

His work focuses on the development of the Czech space industry, academia and national space policy.

Dr. Maria Martisikova is a Group Leader at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany. She studied Physics in Bratislava, Slovakia, and earned her Ph.D. in Particle Physics from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Since 2006, her research has focused on medical physics, with an emphasis on advancing the safety, precision, and efficiency of ion beam radiotherapy. Her work has led to the development of several innovative imaging techniques, taking advantage of high-energy physics technologies for single-particle tracking in ion beam radiotherapy. Her current research centers on the application of pixelated semiconductor detectors for ion-based imaging and treatment verification.