People/Martin Fikacek/CV
From Taiwan beetles
Martin Fikáček MSc. Ph.D.
Curriculum vitae
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Nationality: Czech ResearcherID: S-6157-2017 ORCID: 0000-0002-2078-6798 Scopus Author ID: 24472534400 |
Online profiles: |
Research Interests
- Biodiversity, evolution and systematics of beetles
- Fossil record and its integration into phylogenetic studies
- Island biogeography and ecology
- Coleoptera (especially aquatic and leaf litter lineages)
- Taxonomy of the hydrophiloid and myxophagan beetles
- Morphology and biology of immature stages of Coleoptera
Education
2006 — MSc. in Zoology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Thesis: Primary chaetotaxy of the head of the hydrophiloid beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea). Supervisor: David Král. Opponent: Petr Švácha.
2010 — Ph.D. in Entomology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Thesis: Taxonomy, phylogeny, and fossil record of selected groups of water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea). Supervisor: Jakub Prokop. Opponents: Michael S. Engel (USA), Michael Balke (Germany).
Current Positions
- Assistant Professor — Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (since 2021)
- Researcher — National Museum in Prague, Department of Entomology (2010–2021; since 2021 on unpaid leave)
- Technical Editor — Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (since 2005, unpaid)
- Associate Editor — European Journal of Entomology (since 2025, unpaid)
Past Professional Experience
- Assistant Professor — Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Zoology (2012–March 2022)
- Adjunct Research Associate — Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA (2010–2016)
- Subject editor for aquatic beetles — ZooKeys (2010–2015)
- Associate Editor — Invertebrate Systematics & Phylogeny (2018–2021)
Languages
- English (fluent)
- Spanish (basic spoken)
- German (passive understanding)
- Czech (native speaker)
Publication Activity
Summary
| Total | Web of Science | |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of publications | 171 | 144 |
| Publications in 2021–2026 | 37 | 37 |
| Number of citations | 1940 | |
| Number of citations w/o auto-citations | 1316 | |
| H-index | 19 |
For the complete bibliography, see List of Publications.
SCI Publications 2021–2026
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First author | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Corresponding author | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Co-author | 12 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Total | 21 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 37 |
Representative Publications (2021–2026)
- F.-S. Hu et al. & Fikáček M. (2025): Ancient divergent evolution of specialized swimming modes in aquatic beetles. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 292(2045): 20243093. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.3093 [corresponding author; IF: 3.5, Q1]
- Kusy D. et al. & Fikáček M. (2025): Phylogenomics resolves the relationships among Hydrophiloidea-Histeroidea families (Coleoptera) and challenges the single colonization of aquatic habitats. Systematic Entomology 50(4): 813-835. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12679 [corresponding author; IF: 4.9, Q1]
- Qvarnström M., Fikáček M. et al. (2021): Exceptionally preserved beetles in a Triassic coprolite of putative dinosauriform origin. Current Biology 31(15): 3374-3381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.015 [corresponding author; IF: 7.5, Q1]
Grants
As Principal Investigator
- 2023–present — NSTC 113-2621-B-110-005-MY3: Cataloguing overlooked diversity of Taiwanese forests: integrative systematics of hyper-diverse leaf litter beetles. National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan.
- 2022–2023 — NSTC 112-2621-B-110-004: Genomic and ecological bases of coexistence in a patchy habitat: Taiwanese endemic wet rock beetles as a model case. National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan.
- 2021–2022 — MOST 110-2621-B-110-001: DNA barcoding and metabarcoding as tools to study Taiwanese leaf litter beetle communities. Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology.
- 2012–2014 — Grant Agency of the Czech Republic: Ancient habitat shifts from water to dry land: phylogeny and biogeography of the Gondwanan Sphaeridiinae.
- 2009–2011 — Grant Agency of the Czech Academy of Sciences: Comparative morphology of fossil hydrophiloid beetles and their significance for the phylogeny reconstruction of the superfamily (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea).
- 2007–2009 — Grant Agency of the Charles University: Phylogeny and biodiversity of the hydrophiloid beetles: fossil versus recent taxa and adult versus larval morphology.
- 2005–2006 — Grant Agency of the Charles University: Evolutionary trends and biosystematics of the Hydrophiloidea (Coleoptera).
As Co-PI
- 2015–2018 — EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant: BIG4: Biosystematics, informatics and genomics of the big 4 insect groups: training tomorrow's researchers and entrepreneurs. [1]
SYNTHESYS Grants
- 2013 — Revision of the New Zealand hydrophilid beetles, Museum of Natural History, London, UK.
- 2008 — Fossil hydrophilids of the Eocene amber from the Paris basin, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
- 2007 — Taxonomy of the Georissidae and selected Sphaeridiinae from the Arabian Peninsula and Oriental Region, Institute des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium.
Teaching
Current (National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, 2021–present)
- Evolutionary Biology
- Biogeography
- Biodiversity: Natural History Collections
- Scientific Writing, Illustration and Graphics for Biological Sciences
- Phylogenetics in R
Past
- 2010–2021 — Main lecturer, Diversity of Insects (MSc. course in English), Department of Zoology, Charles University in Prague
- 2010–2021 — Associated lecturer, Biology of Aquatic Animals, Department of Ecology, Charles University in Prague
- 2012–2019 — Field lab instructor, Biology of the terrestrial ecosystems, Charles University in Prague
- 2015–2016 — Associated lecturer, Advanced Entomology (fossil data in studies of recent insects), Masaryk University, Brno
- 2018 — Course assistant, Beetle Systematics Workshop, Czech University of Life Sciences
- 2014 — Lab instructor, Beetle Systematics Workshop, Czech University of Life Sciences
Supervised Students
| Currently supervised | Finished | |
|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. students | 0 | 4 |
| MSc. students | 0 | 3 |
| Undergraduate students | 1 | 4 |
Supervised Student Grants
- 2025 — NSTC 114-2831-C-110-016-B: Diversity and evolution of Anacaena beetles in Taiwan. PI: Chun-Fang Chang, National Sun Yat-sen University.
- 2021 — MOST: Evolution of the swimming behavior in water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae). PI: Fang-Shuo Hu, National Chung Hsing University.
- 2019 — SYNTHESYS CZ-TAF-2524: Estimation of leaf litter beetle diversity in mountain Taiwan using DNA barcoding. PI: Fang-Shuo Hu.
- 2018–2020 — Grant Agency of Charles University: Jumping beetles as winners in passive dispersal: evolutionary dynamics and biogeography of wingless moss-inhabiting beetles. PI: Albert Damaška.
- 2017–2019 — Grant Agency of Charles University: Stream life on a shaky island: evolutionary history and speciation of New Zealand stream-inhabiting beetles. PI: Vít Sýkora.
- 2018 — Ernst Mayr Travel Grant: Assessment of Indian aquatic Coleoptera in the National Museum, Prague. PI: Sayali Sheth.
- 2016 — SYNTHESYS CZ-TAF-5815: Taxonomic revision of Cetiocyon Hansen, 1990 (Hydrophilidae) of New Guinea. PI: Wojciech Szczepański.
Research Internships
| Year | Institution and activity | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Zoologische Staatssammlung, München, Germany — Michael Balke Lab (molecular taxonomy methods) | 1 month |
| 2009 | University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA — Andrew Short Lab (taxonomic research) | 1 month |
| 2010 | Landcare Research, New Zealand Arthropod Collection — cooperation with R. A. B. Leschen on NZ Hydrophilidae | 1 month |
| 2011 | Institute of Entomology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou — cooperation with F.-L. Jia on Chinese Hydrophilidae | 1 month |
| 2014 | Landcare Research, New Zealand Arthropod Collection — cooperation with R. A. B. Leschen on NZ Hydrophilidae | 1 month |
| 2016 | Landcare Research, New Zealand Arthropod Collection — cooperation with R. A. B. Leschen on NZ Hydrophilidae | 2 months |
| 2017 | Landcare Research, New Zealand Arthropod Collection — cooperation with R. A. B. Leschen on NZ Hydrophilidae | 1 month |
Field Work
| Year | Location | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Ecuador | 5 weeks |
| 2008 | SW India | 5 weeks |
| 2010 | New Zealand | 1 week |
| 2011 | S China | 4 weeks |
| 2012 | E Cuba; New Zealand | 4 weeks; 4 weeks |
| 2013 | SW China; Chile | 2 weeks; 5 weeks |
| 2014 | Dominican Republic | 5 weeks |
| 2015 | Republic of South Africa | 4 weeks |
| 2016 | New Zealand; Puerto Rico | 7 weeks; 2 weeks |
| 2017 | Panama; New Zealand | 3 weeks; 4 weeks |
| 2018 | Taiwan | 5 weeks |
| 2019 | Taiwan; Australia | 3 weeks; 4 weeks |
| 2024 | Japan (Iriomote Is.) | 1 week |
