The medal, given by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London, honours contributions to developing relations between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
As one of the members of staff responsible for Czech studies at Sheffield, Bermel teaches and researches in the area of Czech language and linguistics, and chairs a community group, the Czech and Slovak Society Sheffield, that organises cultural events in the region. He is also a published translator of four books from Czech and has been a strong promoter of academic ties with the Czech Republic.
Bermel joins Dr Henriette Louwerse (Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau, the Netherlands), and emeritus professor Gerald Newton (Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) in being honoured by the country they have promoted in their teaching, research and outreach.
Bermel said, "One of SLC's hidden strengths is the strong relationship between our less-commonly-taught language programmes and the governments of their home countries. I'm very honoured to have had my work in the field recognised in this way by Ambassador Sečka".