Research/art/teacher profile of a person
Name and surname:
doc. Mgr. Peter Vďačný, PhD.
Document type:
Research/art/teacher profile of a person
The name of the university:
Comenius University Bratislava
The seat of the university:
Šafárikovo námestie 6, 818 06 Bratislava

I. - Basic information

I.1 - Surname
Vďačný
I.2 - Name
Peter
I.3 - Degrees
doc. Mgr., PhD.
I.4 - Year of birth
1983
I.5 - Name of the workplace
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava
I.6 - Address of the workplace
Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava
I.7 - Position
professor
I.8 - E-mail address
peter.vdacny@uniba.sk
I.9 - Hyperlink to the entry of a person in the Register of university staff
https://www.portalvs.sk/regzam/detail/5724
I.10 - Name of the study field in which a person works at the university
Biology
I.11 - ORCID iD
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4877-0234

II. - Higher education and further qualification growth

II.1 - First degree of higher education
II.a - Name of the university or institution
Comenius University Bratislava
II.b - Year
2004
II.c - Study field and programme
Biology, Zoology
II.2 - Second degree of higher education
II.a - Name of the university or institution
Comenius University Bratislava
II.b - Year
2006
II.c - Study field and programme
Biology, Zoology
II.3 - Third degree of higher education
II.a - Name of the university or institution
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg
II.b - Year
2011
II.c - Study field and programme
Zoology
II.4 - Associate professor
II.a - Name of the university or institution
Comenius University Bratislava
II.b - Year
2015
II.c - Study field and programme
Zoology
II.5 - Professor
II.6 - Doctor of Science (DrSc.)

III. - Current and previous employment

III.a - Occupation-position III.b - Institution III.c - Duration
assistant professor Comenius University Bratislava 2010 - 2015
associate professor Comenius University Bratislava 2015 - 2025
Professor Comenius University Bratislava 2025 - recent

IV. - Development of pedagogical, professional, language, digital and other skills

V. - Overview of activities within the teaching career at the university

V.1 - Overview of the profile courses taught in the current academic year according to study programmes
V.1.a - Name of the profile course V.1.b - Study programme V.1.c - Degree V.1.d - Field of study
Protistology Systematic biology I. Biology
Evolutionary biology (1) Biology, Systematic biology, Medical Biology I. Biology
Challenges of current biology Biology I. Biology
Phylogeny of animals Zoology II. Biology
V.2 - Overview of the responsibility for the delivery, development and quality assurance of the study programme or its part at the university in the current academic year
V.2.a - Name of the study programme V.2.b - Degree V.2.c - Field of study
Systematic biology I. Biology
Zoology II. Biology
V.3 - Overview of the responsibility for the development and quality of the field of habilitation procedure and inaugural procedure in the current academic year
V.3.a - Name of the field of habilitation procedure and inaugural procedure V.3.b - Study field to which it is assigned
Biology Biology
V.4 - Overview of supervised final theses
V.4.1 - Number of currently supervised theses
V.4.a - Bachelor's (first degree)
2
V.4.b - Diploma (second degree)
1
V.4.c - Dissertation (third degree)
1
V.4.2 - Number of defended theses
V.5 - Overview of other courses taught in the current academic year according to study programmes
V.5.a - Name of the course V.5.b - Study programme V.5.c - Degree V.5.d - Field of study
Bachelor Thesis from Zoology 1 and 2 Systematic biology I. Biology
Evolutionary biology for teachers Teacher Training for Biology in Combination I. Teacher Training and Education Science
Phylogenetics - theory and praxis of phylogenetic systematics Systematic biology I. Biology
Species theory Systematic biology I. Biology
Protistology Systematic biology I. Biology
Challenges of current biology Biology I. Biology
Diploma thesis 1, 2, 3, 4 Zoology II. Biology
Phylogeny of animals Zoology II. Biology
Zoological nomenclature Zoology II. Biology
Dissertation thesis 1-8 Zoology III. Biology
Evolutionary morphology and systematics of animals Zoology III. Biology

VI. - Overview of the research/artistic/other outputs

VI.1 - Overview of the research/artistic/other outputs and the corresponding citations
VI.1.1 - Number of the research/artistic/other outputs
VI.1.a - Overall
185
VI.1.b - Over the last six years
45
VI.1.2 - Number of the research/artistic/other outputs registered in the Web of Science or Scopus databases
VI.1.a - Overall
116
VI.1.b - Over the last six years
40
VI.1.3 - Number of citations corresponding to the research/artistic/other outputs
VI.1.a - Overall
2328
VI.1.b - Over the last six years
1369
VI.1.4 - Number of citations registered in the Web of Science or Scopus databases
VI.1.a - Overall
2043
VI.1.b - Over the last six years
1220
VI.1.5 - Number of invited lectures at the international, national level
VI.1.a - Overall
4
VI.1.b - Over the last six years
2
VI.2 - The most significant research/artistic/other outputs
1

Vďačný P., Foissner W. (2012) Monograph of the dileptids (Protista, Ciliophora, Rhynchostomatia). Denisia 31: 1–529.

2

Vďačný P., Orsi W., Foissner W. (2010) Molecular and morphological evidence for a sister group relationship of the classes Armophorea and Litostomatea (Ciliophora, Intramacronucleata, Lamellicorticata infraphyl. nov.), with an account on basal haptorid litostomateans. European Journal of Protistology 46: 298–309.

3

Vďačný P., Bourland W.A., Orsi W., Epstein S.S., Foissner W. (2011) Phylogeny and classification of the Litostomatea (Protista, Ciliophora), with emphasis on free-living taxa and the 18S rRNA gene. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59: 510–522. 

4

Edgcomb V., Orsi W., Taylor G.T., Vďačný P., Taylor C., Suarez P., Epstein S.S. (2011) Accessing marine protists from the anoxic Cariaco Basin. ISME Journal 5: 1237–1241.

5

Orsi W., Edgcomb V., Faria J., Foissner W., Fowle W.H., Hohmann T., Suarez P., Taylor C., Taylor G.T., Vďačný P., Epstein S.S. (2012) Class Cariacotrichea, a novel ciliate taxon from the anoxic Cariaco Basin, Venezuela. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 62: 1425–1433.

VI.3 - The most significant research/artistic/other outputs over the last six years
1

Rataj Križanová F., Vďačný P. (2024) A Heterolepidoderma and Halichaetoderma gen. nov. (Gastrotricha: Chaetonotidae) riddle: integrative taxonomy and phylogeny of six new freshwater species from Central Europe. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 200 (2): 283–335.

2

Obert T., Zhang T., Vďačný P. (2023) The search finds an end: the morphologically chimeric hysterocinetids belong to the subclass Hymenostomatia (Ciliophora: Oligohymenophorea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 199 (1): 97–123.

3

Zhang T., Vďačný P. (2022) Multiple independent losses of cell mouth in phylogenetically distant endosymbiotic lineages of oligohymenophorean ciliates: A lesson from Clausilocola. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 166: 107310.

4

Zhang T., Vďačný P. (2026) Morpho‑molecular characterization of Trichodina chlorophora Richards, 1948 (Protista: Ciliophora), a central component in the ‘snail‒ciliate‒zoochlorellae’ hyper‑symbiotic system. Marine Life Science & Technology 8 (2): 371–386.

5

Chitnis M., Kaub L., Vďačný P., Beiers L.M., Sturm S., Coskun Ö.K., Mills D.B., Gomez-Saez G.V., Mengue L., Gottschaldt K.-D., Gilder S.A., Obert T., Rurik I., Sturm E.V., Orsi W.D. (2026) Magnetotaxis in an anaerobic ciliate via tripartite syntrophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 123 (30): e2609513123.

VI.4 - The most significant citations corresponding to the research/artistic/other outputs
1

Dunthorn, M. - Otto, J. - Berger, S.A. - Stamatakis, A. - Mahé, F. - Romac, S. - De Vargas, C. - Audic, S. - Stock, A. - Kauff, F. - Stoeck, T. - Edvardsen, B. - Massana, R. - Not, F. - Simon, N. - Zingone, A. - In: Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2014, s. 993-1009 

2

Gimmler, A. - Stoeck, T. - In: Environmental Microbiology Reports, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2015, s. 679-686 

3

Gao, F. - Warren, A. - Zhang, Q.Q. - Gong, J. - Miao, M. - Sun, P. - Xu, D.P. - Huang, J. - Yi, Z.Z. - Song, W.B. - In: . Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, 2016, Art. No. 24874 

4

Zhang, Q.Q. - Simpson, A.G.B. - Song, W.B. - In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, Vol. 279, No. 1738, 2012, s. 2625-2635

5

Chen, X. - Wang, Y.R. - Sheng, Y.L. - Warren, A. - Gao, S. - In: Molecular Ecology Resources, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2018, s. 700-713 

VI.5 - Participation in conducting (leading) the most important research projects or art projects over the last six years
1

APVV-19-0076 Diversity and evolution of selected groups of protists and animals. Principal investigator.

2

VEGA 1/0013/21 Evolution and diversity of ciliates associated with invertebrates. Principal investigator.

3

APVV-23-0015 Diversity, phylogeny and co-evolution of protists and helminths with their animal hosts. Principal investigator.

4

VEGA 1/0092/25 Micro- and macroevolution of ciliates (Protista, Ciliophora) associated with animals. Principal investigator

VII. - Overview of organizational experience related to higher education and research/artistic/other activities

VII.a - Activity, position VII.b - Name of the institution, board VII.c - Duration
editor-in-chief European Journal of Protistology 2023 - recent
associate editor International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 2019 - recent
section editor European Journal of Taxonomy 2020 - recent
editorial board Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 2015 - recent

VIII. - Overview of international mobilities and visits oriented on education and research/artistic/other activities in the given field of study

VIII.a - Name of the institution VIII.b - Address of the institution VIII.c - Duration (indicate the duration of stay) VIII.d - Mobility scheme, employment contract, other (describe)
Northeastern University 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States January - July 2010 visiting scholar
University of Ulsan 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 44610, Korea June - September 2013 visiting professor

IX. - Other relevant facts

Date of last update
2026-08-10