Faculty Research and Creative Practice

Universities are about much more than teaching and learning. They are places where new ideas are generated, arguments formulated and complex questions debated. In turn, these ideas find their way into creative projects and research, enriching the complete educational experience.

Many teachers and lecturers at PCU are engaged in ongoing research projects, often supported by educational and governmental grants and funds. And of course, our students benefit greatly from being taught by faculty members who have established reputations as writers and researchers.

We are proud to list some of the most recent achievements in research and creative practice by our students and faculty on this page:

Maia Horniak, Programme Leader Creative Media Production

Maia graduated from the worlds most prestigious film and art schools; FAMU in Prague, The Royal Art Academy in Copenhagen, and a Masters in Film Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). She has directed over a dozen award winning short films and documentaries, a one-hour Tele-movie, and several TV commercials, online digital content, and music videos.

Maia’s short films have had international success, screening at over thirty esteemed international film festivals including Sydney, Bermuda, Brooklyn, Palm Springs, Flickerfest, Brussels, Edmonton and her film ‘Loveproof’ was invited to screen at Cannes. In 2006 she won the Outstanding Film Maker Award at HATCHFEST USA after being chosen as one of ten ground breaking young filmmakers from around the world. In 2010 Maia was the winner of the MTV one80 project with the trailer 'The Sellers'. 'The Sellers' was completed as a one-hour TV movie produced by MTV and Goalpost Pictures, it was released on MTV Networks Australia.

Masa Hilcisin, Principal Lecturer Creative Media Production

Masa Hilcisin is a documentary filmmaker, video artist, producer, lecturer and scholar. She has been committed to making films on social issues and different aspects of violation of human rights for over a decade. Her documentary films have been screened at various film festivals around the world including the International Women's Festival in Paris. Masa holds a Ph.D. in Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture from the Masaryk University and is the Czech Ambassador for the of EWA -European Women´s Audovisual Network.

David Vaughan, Lecturer Creative Media Production

David Vaughan is a writer, broadcaster, journalist and lecturer for the Creative Media Production programme at PCU. David has won national and international awards for his work in radio journalism. In 2001 David received the annual Czech radio award, the Prix Bohemia, for his documentary “Tale of Two Villages”. He has also worked for television, as author and co-director of the documentary “The Second Life of Lidice” (Czech Television 2002). David is the author of “Battle for the Airwaves” (2008) on the role of the media in the run-up to WWII, and of the documentary novel 'Slyšte můj hlas' (2014), which won the Czech Book Prize readers’ award in 2015. The English edition, 'Hear My Voice', was published in 2018. For eight years he was editor-in-chief of Radio Prague, the international service of Czech Radio, and previously he was the Prague correspondent of the BBC, travelling widely in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine.