Martin Kundrát

Education:
2013 – Docent / Associate Professor in Zoology – Palacký University in Olomouc
2005 – Ph.D. in Zoology – Chalrles University in Prague
2001 – Rerum Naturalium Doctoris in Zoology – Charles University in Prague
1992 – Mgr. in Biology-Chemistry – P. J. Šafárik University in Košice

Postdoctoral Research Training:
2007-2008 – Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
2006-2007 – McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2005-2006 – Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Languages:
Slovak (native), English, Russian, Czech

Former Professional Affiliations:
2015-2016 – Associate Professor Department of Ecology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
2010-2015 – Researcher in Evolutionary Organismal Biology and Responsible for Archosaur Evo-Devo Research Program Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
2008-2010 – Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Paleobiology Earth Science Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Banská Bystrica
2003-2005 – Researcher in Evolutionary Morphology Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2003-2004 – Assitant in Human Histology and Embryology Institute of Histolohy and Embryology, 1. Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
1997-1998 – Head of Paleontological Research Station Slovak National Museum, Bratislava
1996-1997 – Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Gemer-Malohont Museum, Rimavská Sobota
1992-1996 – Researcher in Zoology Department of Anthropology and Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik, Košice

 Projects (30):
2017 – Non-destructive high-resolution imaging of in ovo fossilized tissues of dinosaur embryos
Project ID: 2017A1714
Position: Principal Investigator
Funding Source: Spring-8, Japan

2017 – Evolution of flightlessness and gigantism in the island birds: model of the subrecent ornithofauna of New Zealand and Madagascar
Project ID: 1/0853/17
Position: Principal Investigator
Funding Source: VEGA, Slovakia

2016 – The evolution of flightless gigantic birds: quantitative reconstruction of 3D growth modules of moa (New Zealand) and the elephant bird (Madagascar) based on correlations with their closest recent relatives, tinamous and kiwis
Project ID: 32694
Position: Principal Investigator
Funding Source: Synchrotron Spring-8, Japan

2016 – Evolutionary origin and innovations of skeleton-dental characters in Archosauria
Project ID: 20155058
Position: Principal Investigator
Funding Source: Elettra Synchrotron, Italy

2015 – Quantitative analysis of bone microstructure in bird-like dinosaurs and early birds: implications to thermoregulation and paleogenomics
Project ID: 20150130
Position: Principal Investigator
Funding Source: Paul Scherrer Institut, Swiss Light Source, Switzerland

2015 – Exploring unique aspects of Australian Dinosaurs: (a) post-cranial structure of Leaellynasaura amicagraphica, and (b) locomotion of Triassic dinosauromorphs
Project ID: M8910
Position: Co-Investigator
Funding Source: The Australian Synchrotron, Australia

2011-13 – The skeletal microstructure of oldest birds: ontogeny and novel diagnosis of basal avian phenotypes
Project ID: EC-849, EC-943
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: Sep 1, 2011 – Dec 31, 2013
Funding Source: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France

2010-11 – Microstructural design of embryonic teeth in dinosaurs
Project ID: EC4-689
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: Aug 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2011
Funding Source: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France

2009 – 10. Anniversary Conference of the Czech, Polish and Slovak Paleontologists
Position: Author of the project
Duration: Sep 1, 2009 – Feb 28, 2010
Funding Source: Visegrad Fund, Slovak Republic

2009 – Correlation of neurocranial morphology and postcranial parameters to assess upon specific locomotory adaptations in birds
Project ID: DE-TAF-5552
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: April 20 – May 8, 2009
Funding Source: Synthesys Program, The European Union-funded Integrated Infastructure Initiative Granting Agency

2008 – Permian-Triassic evolution of the local climate over the Central Pangaea based on bone microstructure of continental tetrapods
Project ID: FR-TAF-5138
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: November 1 – December 12, 2008
Funding Source: Synthesys Program, The European Union-funded Integrated Infastructure Initiative Granting Agency

2008 – Exploration of the Jurassic Vertebrate Fauna in the Xianjing Province of China: Sino-American Junggar Basin Expedition
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: August 1, 2008 – December 31, 2009
Funding Source: The Paleontological Society Sepkoski International Research Program, USA

2007 – Evolutionary trends in the abbreviation of the tail skeleton in non-avian and avian theropods
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: November 1, 2007 – December 31, 2008
Funding Source: Scholarship Committee, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA

2007 – Evolutionary patterns of the tail abbreviation and its bearing on phenotypic modulation of the pelvic region in terrestrial and volant theropods
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: July 1, 2007 – December 31, 2008
Funding Source: The Jurassic Foundation, USA

2005 – Oral facial development and regeneration
Position: Co-Investigator
Duration: January 1 – December 31, 2005
Funding Source: COST, European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research, European Union

2004 – Developmental programme of the posthyoid cranial paraxial mesoderm: Experimental evaluation of hypothetic segmentation of post-hypophysis/pre-occipital vertebrate neurocranium and NC-cells involvement in condensed braincase structures
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: April 1, 2004 – December 31, 2004
Funding Source: Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology, UK

2003 – Tissue regionalization during early development: Reasons for revaluation of the segmentation theory of vertebrate head region?
Project ID: 122/2003/B BIO/PřF
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2004
Funding Source: Grant Agency of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

2003 – Evolutionary constraints in developmental patterning of the head region in vertebrates
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: October 1, 2003 – March 31, 2004
Funding Source: NATO Science Fellowships Programme, Prague, Czech Republic

2003 – Morphogenetic differences in the post-neurula patterning of the head region in vertebrates and their 3D-digital reconstruction
Project ID: KJB6111301
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2004
Funding Source: Grant Agency of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

2002 – Distribution of avian characters in neurocrania of maniraptoriform theropods
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: September 9 – 27, 2002
Funding Source: Office of Grants and Fellowships, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA

2002 – Reinterpretation of the braincase structure in lambeosaurine hadrosaurs
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: August 2 – September 5, 2002
Funding Source: The Paleontological Society, International Research Program, New Orleans, USA

2002 – Neurocranial ossification patterns in recent crocodilians: Implications to developmental plasticity of archosaur braincase
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: July 22-30, 2002
Funding Source: Scholarship Committee, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA

2002 – Neurocranial development in lambeosaurine hadrosaurs
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: August 2, 2002 – September 5, 2002
Funding Source: The Cooperating Society of Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Canada

2001 – Neurocranial anatomy and reconstruction of the central nervous system in juvenile specimens of hadrosaurid dinosaurs
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: August 1, 2001 – December 31, 2002
Funding Source: The Jurassic Foundation, Drumheller, Canada

2000 – Embryonic development of the skull in some recent and extinct archosaurs (crocodiles, birds and dinosaurs)
Project ID: 136/2000/B BIO/PřF
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: January 1, 2000 – December 31, 2002
Funding Source: Grant Agency of Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

2000 – Embryonic skeletal morphogenesis and braincase anatomy of non-avian dinosaur: Testing the hypothesis of an intermediate dinosaur morphotype position between crocodilian and avian skull patterns
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: January 1, 2000 – June 30, 2002
Funding Source: The Jurassic Foundation, Drumheller, Canada

1999 – Taxonomic affinity of the dinosaur parafamily Faveoloolithidae: CT analysis of a faveoloolithid oospecimen containing embryonic remains
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: July 1, 1999 – September 30, 2000
Funding Source: The Paleontological Society, International Research Program, New Orleans, USA

1998 – Parailurus versus Ailurus: Craniodental comparative analysis and phylogenetic determination of the apomorphy/plesiomorphy polarity of lesser panda basicranial characters
Position: Principal Investigator
Duration: October 26 – December 11, 1998
Funding Source: The Paleontological Society, International Research Program, New Orleans, USA
Funding Source: Office of Grants and Fellowships, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
Funding Source: Office of Grants and Fellowships, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA

Expeditions:
2017/September – Leader – Slovak-Iranian Paleontological Expeditions, Iran
2017/March – Leader – Slovak-Iranian Paleontological Expeditions, Iran
2014 – Leader – Henan Dinosaur Nesting Area Field Work, China
2013 – Leader – Iranian-Swedish Dinosaur Expedition, Iran
2013 – Leader – Siberian Early Tetrapod Expedition, Russia
2012 – Leader – Russian-Swedish Altay Jurassic Expedition, Russia
2011 – Leader – Xixia Dinosaur Egg Field Work, China
2011 – Leader – Siberian Early Tetrapod Expedition, Russia
2010 – Leader – Argentinian-Swedish Dinosaur Expedition, Argentina
2007 – Invited Researcher – Korean-Mongolian International Dinosaur Project, Mongolia
2005 – Invited Researcher – Dinosaur Provincial Park Field Work, Canada
1996 – Leader – Hajnáčka Expedition, Slovakia

New Extinct Taxa Designed:
2017 – the Late Cretaceous dinosaur Corythoraptor jacobsi, Jiangxi, China
2017 – the Early Cretaceous dinosaur Daliansaurus liaoningensis, Liaoning, China
2017 – the Early Cretaceous dinosaur Liaoningvenator curriei, Liaoning, China
2017 – the Late Cretaceous dinosaur Beibeilong sinensis, Henan, China
2016 – the Early Cretaceous dinosaur Savannasaurus elliotorum, Queensland, Australia
2016 – the Late Cretaceous dinosaur Huanansaurus ganzhouensis, Ganzhou, China
2015 – the Late Jurassic pterosaur Orienthognathus chaoyangensis, Liaoning, China
2012 – the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Aerotitan sudamericanus, Patagonia, Argentina
2012 – the Late Cretaceous dinosaur Bonapartenykus ultimus, Patagonia, Argentina

Honors and Awards – Invited Positions:
2016 – Invited Fellow – Institute of Geology, Chinese academy of Geological Sciences Beijing, China
2016-present – Member of the Scientific Board for Postgraduate Studies in Paleontology – Department of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
2015-present – Editorial Board: Historical Biology – An International Journal of Paleobiology; Publisher: Taylor & Francis
2013 – Invited Researcher – European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Paris, France
2012 – Invitation for writing peer-reviewed chapter in presitgious scientific book (see plublication list)
2012 – Invited Researcher – European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Paris, France Versita, co-published with Springer-Verlag
2009 – ESRF Paleo-Initiative Group – European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
2009 – Invited Professor – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
2009 – Invited Fellow – Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
2008 – Invited Professor – Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
2007-2009 – Editor of The Central European Journal of Biology; Publisher: Versita, co-published with Springer-Verlag
2004 – Welcomme Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology Award – California University in San Fracisco, USA
2003-2004 – NATO Science Fellowship Programm Winner – Wesleyan University, Connecticut, USA
1992 – P.J. Šafárik University´s Rector award for outstanding study results, Košice, Slovakia

Selected Invited Lectures (39):
2017 Mar 7 – Plenary Lecture at Symposium of Iranian Paleontological Society, Tabas, Iran
2016 Jul 12 – Jiangxi Professional College of Applied Technology, Guanzhou, China
2015 Mar 24 – Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand
2014 Nov 26 – Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China
2014 Nov 21 – Plenary Lecture at Zoológia 2014 Congress, Prešov, Slovakia
2013 Dec 5 – Korea-Mongolia International Dinosaur Symposium, South Korea
2013 Sep 23 – Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
2012 Nov 22 – Plenary Lectue at Zoológia 2012 Congress, Zvolen Slovakia
2011 May 27 – Abteilung Molekulare Embryologie, Universität Freiburg, Germany
2009 Dec 14 – Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
2009 Oct 13 –European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
2009 Jun 4 – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
2009 May 26 – Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada
2009 Apr 11 – Goseong Dinosaur World Expo 2009 – Goseong International Dinosaur Symposium, South Korea
2008 Sep 24 – Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, AB, Canada
2007 Sep 28 – Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China
2005 Dec 8 – Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
2005 Nov 3 – Department of Biological Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
2005 Sep 2 – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
2005 Jun 13 – Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA
2004 Apr 14 – Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California at San Francisco, USA
2004 Mar 23 – Department of Biological Sciences, Wesleyan University, Middletown, USA
2003 Jul 4 – Laboratory for Evolutionary Morphology, Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN, Kobe, Japan
2001 Sep 21 – Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada

Invited Major International Interviews (24):
2016 – by T. Watson, USA Today
2015 – by M. Balter, Science
2015 – by V. Richter, Cosmos Magazine, Australia
2015 – by E. Spink, The Dominion Post, New Zealand
2016 – by Ch. Yang, Xinhua News Agency of China
2014 – by E. Callaway, Nature
2009 – by D. Chinoy, China Daily
2008 – by J. Matejíčková, Quark, Slovakia
2004 – by E. Pennissi, Science
2004 – by S. Freeman, The Republican, USA