Research

You belong among the ten most cited women at FZU. What advice would you give to younger colleagues so that they succeeded in the scientific competition?

Don't give up. Be persistent and patient. Don't get discouraged. If you feel like your kids are holding you back, they'll grow up fast and won't need you. Be happy that you have a profession that fulfils you and someone at home who loves you.

Mgr. Ivana Víšová, Ph.D., a postdoc at the Joint Laboratory of Optics, her research topics included the study of interactions of functional surfaces with biological systems. A holder or a number of awards, she considers a Ph.D. degree, which opens the door to the world of science, a kind of necessary evil.

Ing. Alice Hospodková, Ph.D., head of the Department of Semiconductors and MOVPE Laboratory, is convinced that in physics it is as hard for women as it is for men. The only exception is the time of motherhood.

Basic research in physics often consumes a great deal of energy, but there are visionaries who have been pushing through plans for how to save energy in the largest experiments for years. The chairman of the FZU's International Advisory Board, particle physicist Eckhard Elsen, is one of them. The former research director at CERN is also behind the upgrade plans for the particle accelerator - the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider.

Single molecule circuits, where individual molecules are placed between two nano-electrodes, are ideal systems to create molecular-scale functional materials with the desired electronic properties. The potential implications are significant for nanoelectronics and could also help with climate change through more efficient nanoscale devices.

Karel Závěta was an important figure in condensed matter physics. 67 years ago, on the first of February 1956, he joined the then Institute of Technical Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, today called the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He began his scientific career in the Department of Magnetism led by J. Brož. He became involved in the study of ferrites and continued in this area in cooperation with S. Krupička. The topic of his doctoral thesis was the use of electric conductivity to measure the magnetocaloric effect. For several years he held the post of the Science Secretary of the institute.

Our Universe is expanding faster and faster. What is the force behind it? Is it the fifth fundamental force predicted by some alternative theories of gravity? Scientists have chosen the Sun as their laboratory to find out.