11/2000

Academic bulletin 11/2000

Research and Development Council of the Government of the Czech Republic
Report from the 138^th session of the Czech Government's Research and Development Council.

Portraits from the Archives
Zdeněk Kalista: the 100^th Anniversary of His Birth
Zdeněk Kalista, a native of Benátky nad Jizerou, is without doubt one of the most interesting persons in the Czech historiography of the 20th century. As a young intellectual, he was attracted and became devoted to literature. Later he became involved in the left oriented avant-garde art movement and then the atheistic organisation Free Thought. Some years later he converted to Catholic spiritualism and became one of its main representatives. Zdeněk Kalista is well known as an excellent author of books about Baroque époque.

Science - Research - Society
Academy of Sciences of the CR and its Constitution - Last Laws
On June 27^th, the Parliament of the Czech Republic voted on three general laws, including specific issues concerning the status of the ASCR.

The Council for Sciences of the ASCR - Statement on the Problem of Grammar Schools with 6 and 8 Year Study Programs
The Council for Sciences of the ASCR expressed its official position on public discussion concerning possible liquidation of this special type of high school for gifted children. This kind of study represents the most developed system in the history of Czech education, has had the best tradition from the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic, and therefore the Council recommended these schools should not be deactivated.

NATO Advanced Research Workshop
On October 2 - 6, the Department of the Foreign Affairs of the ASCR hosted an Advanced Research Workshop on "Collective Surface Diffusion Coefficients under Non-Equilibrium Conditions", sponsored by NATO.

Introducing the Institutes
Institute of Geonics of the ASCR in Ostrava
Geonics, a field of science related to other science disciplines, focuses on the Earth, such as geography and geology. It describes not only natural phenomena, but also the consequences and influence of human activities. Research at the Institute of Geonics is focused on processes happening under the ground as a result of coal mining, construction of tunnels, etc.

Events
Gender Discourse
On October 2, the Institute of Sociology of the ASCR sponsored a wide-ranging workshop on the topic of gender, female rights, the equal status of women in society and related topics. Gender is a concept based on the fact of social differences (in opposition to biological considerations) between sexes that are artificially constructed during maturation. They can differ in each civilisation and even within the same culture and therefore they can be changed with time.

Slovak-Czech Conference on Analytic Philosophy
The Institute of Philosophy of the ASCR and the Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences co-sponsored a meeting of philosophers devoted to analytical philosophy and logic. The fourth year of this traditional event was held at Chateau Třešť on September 14 - 16.

Word about History - Slovak Historians in Prague
The Institute of History and the Institute for Contemporary History of the ASCR in co-operation with Slovak Institute in Prague presented research and publishing activities of the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Solid State Chemistry 2000
The conference "Solid State Chemistry 2000 (SSC 2000)" was held in Hotel Krystal in Prague on September 4 - 8. The event was sponsored by the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the ASCR in Řež and University of Pardubice.

Forest Ecosystems under the Conditions of Global Climate Changes
Forests as a main part of continental ecosystems play a central role in the global cycle of carbon in nature. This conference of experts sought to describe in detail the importance of this influence.

International Conference on Ethnology in Brno

Czech-German Historical Workshop for Students
The Institute of History in co-operation with the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University presented a workshop for students and professors from Eberhard-Karls-Universität, Tübingen.

Presentation of the Publishing House Linde Praha
An exhibition of publications published by Linde Praha opened in the Hall of the Library of the ASCR on October 3. The production of this publishing house is mainly focused on law, economic and marketing literature, dictionaries, encyclopaedias and textbooks.

Silicium Bohemica
The ninth international trade fair of glass, bijou, lamps, ceramics, handicraft and gifts was held in the Palace of Industry in Prague on October 3 - 5.

Unique Retrospective Exhibition of Modern Art
The exhibition "Zdenek Rykr 1900 - 1940 Elegy of Avant-Garde" was newly opened in the Stone Bell House Gallery in Prague. Its author is Doctor Vojtěch Lahoda, the director of the Institute of Art History of the ASCR.

News - Announcements

Topical Supplement
Speaking of Memory…Now Print!
Academic Bulletin interviews Doctor Jan Bureš, founder of the Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Memory, a part of the Institute of Physiology of the ASCR.