Power and Responsibility | Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics

Power and Responsibility: Relationships Between Staff and Students

Our department aims to be a place where every student is treated fairly and can learn and work without pressure. Staff who teach, grade, supervise, or advise students hold real power over their studies and careers. That power comes with a responsibility not to use it for personal benefit.

This applies to professors, lecturers, teaching assistants, research supervisors, and anyone else who evaluates students or makes decisions affecting their progress or opportunities.

What is not acceptable

Staff should not ask students for favors or services that fall outside their education or their formal role in the department. Examples include running personal errands, babysitting, house-sitting, or helping with a move; doing unpaid work for a staff member's private projects or business; giving gifts or other personal benefits; and being pressured into work or authorship arrangements that don't reflect the student's actual contribution. Romantic or sexual relationships between staff and students they have authority over are likewise not acceptable.

Romantic relationships and the power imbalance

A staff member and a student they grade, supervise, examine or decide about are not on equal footing: one of them holds the other's grades, funding, references and access to opportunities. A romantic or sexual relationship between them is therefore not acceptable – whether or not it is "mutual", whether or not both want it, and regardless of who took the initiative. The student in that position cannot decide freely: they cannot refuse without worry, nor later say "please stop". Even the invitation itself – to a date, a dinner, "a drink sometime" – uses the power gap and is not acceptable. If a staff member feels attracted to a student, the right step is to withdraw from supervising or evaluating them, not to act on it.

Why this matters

When one person controls another's grades, funding, or references, it is hard for the student to say no, even when a request is framed as optional. A student may agree simply because refusing feels risky. Such arrangements also damage trust among other students, who may reasonably wonder whether opportunities and evaluations are distributed fairly.

This does not affect normal academic collaboration. Students assisting with research or teaching as part of their training or paid employment is a valuable part of university life. The question to ask is simple: does this serve the student's education and the department's work, or does it serve the staff member personally?

If a situation already exists

If a staff member has a personal relationship with a student, whether romantic, family, or financial, that creates a conflict of interest, they must disclose it confidentially to the head of department (prof. Rikard von Unge). Arrangements will then be made so that they no longer evaluate or supervise that student.

Raising concerns

If you feel pressured, or are unsure whether something is appropriate, you can speak confidentially with any of the people below or with the MU ombudsperson. Concerns are taken seriously, and retaliation against anyone who raises one will not be tolerated.

prof. Rikard von Unge, Ph.D. – Head of Department · unge@physics.muni.cz · +420 549 49 2611
Dr. rer. nat. Tereza Jeřábková – Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics · tereza.jerabkova@sci.muni.cz
doc. Mgr. Markéta Munzarová, Dr. rer. nat. – Faculty of Science contact person for sexual harassment · marketa@chemi.muni.cz · 549 49 5987
prof. RNDr. Jaromír Leichmann, Dr. rer. nat. – Faculty of Science contact person for sexual harassment · leichmann@sci.muni.cz · 549 49 5559
Masaryk University Ombudsperson · ochrance@muni.cz · +420 549 495 089 · muni.cz/en/about-us/protection-of-rights (reports can also be made anonymously)

The full university policy is available at muni.cz/en/about-us/protection-of-rights and sci.muni.cz – Ethics at the workplace. Support is also available through the MU Counselling Centre.

Official MU documents

Protection of rights at MU – ombudsperson, MU Directive No. 1/2023, procedure for addressing problematic behaviour
Masaryk University Code of Ethics – especially Art. 3.12–3.14 (conflict of interest, unjustified benefits), 4.3 (no abuse of position) and 4.5 (harassment)
What is sexual harassment? and the contact persons at the faculties
Statement of the MU and Charles University ombudspersons on close relationships in the academic setting

Prof Green Flag vs Prof Red Flag

This text comes with a series of ten short comics and memes. Each shows one typical situation in three panels: the situation → how Prof Red Flag reacts → how Prof Green Flag reacts. The topics: the "totally optional" move, unpaid work for a staff member's company, the author list, asking a student out, raising a concern and retaliation, "but we're both adults", a yes that can't afford to be a no, the conference night, the late-night Instagram message, and the case where the student is the one asking. The posters hang on the department noticeboards; the QR code on each leads to this page.

Prof Green Flag vs Prof Red Flag – the comics

Ten everyday situations from the text above, each as a meme and a three-panel comic: the situation, how Prof Red Flag handles it, and how Prof Green Flag handles it. Feel free to share them, print them (A4/A3 posters are available from the department) or use them in teaching and onboarding.