The Geohazards Group is proud to share an exceptional achievement. Dr. Sumit Das has been awarded the prestigious Junior Star Grant from the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR)—the highest competitive recognition for early-career researchers in the country.
In 2025, only 18 researchers nationwide received this distinguished funding. Among them, Dr. Das is the sole awardee from Charles University’s Faculty of Science, and the only researcher funded in the field of geosciences this year. The award provides nearly €1 million over five years (2026–2030), enabling him to develop an independent research group and launch an ambitious research programme at the intersection of geomorphology, natural hazards, carbon cycles, and landscape evolution.
A Project That Redefines How We See Landslides
The funded project,
“Redefining Landslide Dynamics: Landslide-Driven Divide Migration and Carbon Sequestration,”
aims to challenge and expand conventional views on landslides.
Landslides are typically framed as destructive hazards. Dr. Das’s research seeks to broaden this narrative by investigating landslides as fundamental agents of long-term landscape evolution—capable of redistributing sediment on regional scales, reorganizing river basins, and contributing to carbon sequestration in mountainous terrain.
The project focuses on understanding:
- How landslides can drive or accelerate drainage-divide migration
- How climate, lithology, and tectonics shape landslide frequency and magnitude
- How episodic slope failures produce sediment pulses that influence rivers for decades
- To what extent landslide-mobilized organic carbon becomes stored in the landscape
By combining field observations, remote sensing, geomorphic data analysis, and modeling, this work will link short-term hazard processes with long-term Earth surface evolution—an integrated approach positioned to advance multiple research frontiers in geomorphology and beyond.
A Remarkable Early-Career Trajectory
Dr. Das earned his PhD just two years ago, yet his record already reflects exceptional productivity and scientific influence. He has authored 37 peer-reviewed publications, including pioneering studies on sediment transport dynamics in Indian river systems. His work has gained international visibility, placing him in Stanford University’s global Top 2% Scientists list—a rare distinction for a researcher at this career stage.
He joined the Institute of Hydrogeology, Engineering Geology and Applied Geophysics at Charles University as a recipient of a Junior Fund Fellowship, an internal scheme designed to attract promising young researchers and support their first steps toward independence. The Junior Star award not only recognizes his outstanding talent and dedication, but also signals the success of talent-development initiatives at the university.
A Catalyst for Talent, Innovation, and Growth
The GAČR Junior Star programme is designed to empower outstanding early-career researchers to form new teams and open innovative research directions in Czechia. Dr. Das’s success embodies this mission.
Over the next months, he will begin recruiting young researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and students, creating a vibrant and interdisciplinary research group focused on landslides, mountainous processes, and climate-geomorphology interactions.
This investment extends far beyond a single researcher. It contributes to a virtuous cycle of talent development at Charles University:
- Fellowships such as the Junior Fund and programmes like Charleston and PRIMUS enable promising scientists to join the university, adding to the well-established EU-wide MSCA programme.
- These scientists, given resources and freedom, grow into leaders capable of winning prestigious grants.
- Their groups then attract new researchers and students—advancing excellence and expanding research capacity.
Dr. Das’s trajectory is a clear demonstration of how strategic support for human capital strengthens academic ecosystems. A talented scientist is recruited, supported, and empowered—then in turn becomes a catalyst for attracting new talent, training future leaders, and expanding the university’s scientific visibility.
Advancing Geosciences in Czechia and Beyond
This grant marks a milestone not only for Dr. Das, but also for geomorphology and natural hazard research in Czechia. As climate change accelerates landscape instability, understanding how mountains evolve and trap carbon is increasingly relevant—scientifically and societally.
Dr. Das’s research promises to:
- Bring new quantitative tools and field programmes to Czech geosciences
- Strengthen international collaborations in geomorphology and develop ties between engineering geology and geomorphology research communities
- Train a new generation of researchers in advanced Earth-surface science
- Contribute to positioning Charles University as a hub for landscape evolution and natural hazard research in Central Europe
A Well-Deserved Achievement and a Promising Future
Dr. Das’s success reflects scientific excellence, perseverance, and vision. It also demonstrates the value of creating supportive research environments where young scientists can grow into independent leaders.
As his team begins to take shape and this ambitious project unfolds, there is no doubt that the coming years will bring new scientific insights, new collaborations, and new opportunities for students and early-career researchers drawn to these fascinating frontier topics.
We congratulate Dr. Sumit Das on receiving the GAČR Junior Star grant and look forward to celebrating the scientific achievements of his group in the years ahead.
The Geohazards Group 