SVU a její úloha v době globalizace
Pod tímto názvem byl 1. července 2012 zahájen již 26. kongres československé Společnosti pro vědy a umění, jehož pořádání bylo letos svěřeno Žilinské univerzitě a záštitu mu udělil prezident Slovenska Ivan Gašparovič i jeho český kolega Václav Klaus. Na zahajovacím ceremoniálu vystoupili mimo prezidenta Společnosti pro vědy a umění Karla Rašky představitelé Žilinské univerzity – prorektor pro zahraniční vztahy a styk s veřejností Petr Fabian, děkanka Fakulty humanitních věd Vlasta Cabanová, starosta Žiliny Igor Chroma, v zastoupení předsedy SAV Ján Morovič z Katolíckej univerzity v Ružomberku. K nutnosti postavit se na obranu vzdělanosti pohovořil předseda Akademie věd ČR Jiří Drahoš. Setkání se zúčastnil také rektor Karlovy univerzity Václav Hampl a dále pak zástupci ministerstev zahraničí a školství obou zemí.
V odpoledním plenárním bloku SVU and its Role in the Era of Globalisation and Transatlantic Collaboration pozval Karel Raška k řečnickému pultu sedm osobností. Hned v úvodním vystoupení zdůraznil emeritní profesor Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci, letošní nositel Ceny Františka Palackého a bývalý senátor PČR Josef Jařab, že se politikové snaží ovládnout oblast vzdělávání a je nezbytné se bránit – studenti nejsou pouhými klienty a vzdělávání není předmětem pouhého byznysu.
Světové kongresy SVU se konají jednou za dva roky a z pochopitelných důvodů byly až do 90. let minulého století mimo tehdejší Československo. Poprvé v Česku se kongres SVU konal v letech 1992 a 1994 v Praze, poté v roce 1996 v Brně, o dva roky později poprvé na Slovensku v Bratislavě (1998). Výroční 20. kongres v roce 2000 byl sice uspořádán ve Washingtonu, avšak následovala Plzeň (2002), Olomouc (2004), České Budějovice (2006), Ružomberok (2008) a Tábor (2010).
V pořadí 10. kongres, jehož pořadatelství se zhostila Fakulta humanitních věd žilinské univerzity, se nesl v tradičním programovém schématu, při němž probíhají paralelní přednáškové panely: nejhojněji vždy bývá zastoupena medicína a historie, ale pozornosti se těší také např. náboženská studia, amerikanistika, muzikologie, matematika, pedagogická studia atd. Počet řečníků z různých zemí světa včetně Japonska vysoce přesáhl stovku. Přesný přehled přednášejících i jejich abstraktů viz www.svu2000.org.
Společnost pro vědy a umění jak již z názvu patrno klade umění stejnou váhu, tudíž nemohly chybět koncerty osobností hudebního života. Příjemný únik od extrémního vedra zprostředkovala společná plavba na pltích po Váhu s historickým exkurzem po okolních památkách, ať už to byly železniční stavby nebo Starohrad či hrad Strečno. O současném stavu Budatínského hradu pohovořil architekt Melner, který zájemce provedl i po památkách funkcionalistické urbanistické koncepce města Žilina.
News
26 Oct 2012 Statement by the ERC Scientific Council on the Open Letter from 42 Nobel laureates to EU leaders
On 23 October, 42 Nobel laureates and 5 Fields medallists warned against cutting the future EU research budget, in an open letter addressed to EU Heads of State or Government and Presidents of EU institutions. This appeal comes ahead of a special European summit on 22 and 23 November, where leaders will decide the overall EU budget for 2014 till 2020. Researchers from various scientific fields and different parts of Europe immediately responded to the open letter by launching a petition for securing the EU research and innovation budget. The ERC Scientific Council is overwhelmed by the resonance the open letter had in the research community and in the media. The letter was published by over 20 top newspapers across Europe. The online petition has collected over 40,000 signatures in the first day, and the Scientific Council expects that many more researchers will rally to support this call, initiated by the younger generation.
18 Oct 2012 Science and Research evaluation and financing is discussed at the Embassy of Germany
The president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Jiří Drahoš welcomed the representatives of the Union Académique Internationale on October 7–9, 2012 at Prague villa Lanna. The federation is composed of national and international academies from more than 70 countries working in the field of Humanities and the Social Sciences. Purpose of the federation is to encourage cooperation to advance studies through collaborative research and joint publications in those branches of humanities and social sciences promoted by the Academies and Institutions represented in the UAI which include philology, archeology, history, moral sciences and political sciences. The Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic is represented in UAI by member of the Academy Council Jiří Beneš from the Institute of Philosophy ASCR.
10 Oct 2012 The construction of the Extreme Light Infrastructure launched
The construction of the ELI Beamlines centre with the world´s most efficient laser for seven billion crowns, most of which will be funded by the European Union, started in Dolní Břežany on 9th October 2012. According to Prime Minister Petr Nečas the project represents a very important stimulation for Czech science, also because it will be the biggest and most important scientific installation in the Czech Lands. The center will focus on research into cancer treatment, medical imaging and diagnosing. The laser will also be used in the development and testing of new materials and the handling of radioactive waste. More information you can find on http://www.eli-beams.eu/about/.
The Euroscience Open Forum 2012 took place at the Convention Centre Dublin and it was officially opened by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. More than 500 speakers addressed over 150 science, careers and business to business sessions. The opening ceremony also featured the first keynote address of the conference by Nobel Laureate Jules Hoffmann entitled From Insects to Mammals, reflections on a European journey through basic research on immune defences. Over the four days of the Forum, leading scientists, policy makers, business leaders and the general public from across the world came together to discuss new discoveries and debate the direction that research is taking in the sciences in order to strengthen the links between science and society. The conference covered all of the current major global scientific challenges, including health, food, genetics and climate change.
6 Sep 2012 Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of human ENCODE cells
ENCODE, an international research project led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), has produced and analyzed 1649 data sets designed to annotate functional elements of the entire human genome. Data on transcription starting sites (TSS) contributed by a research team at the RIKEN Omics Science Center provided key anchor points linking the epigenetic status of genes observed at the 5' end directly to their RNA output.
25 Aug 2012 Armstrong's small step a giant leap for humanity
Professor Čestmír Šimáně, Czech nuclear research founder, who focused on experimental nuclear physics, construction and use of accelerators, construction of radiation detectors and nuclear reactors technology, died on July 26, aged 93.
17 Jul 2012 Euroscience Open Forum 2012
The Euroscience Open Forum took place at the Convention Centre Dublin and it was officially opened by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. More than 500 speakers addressed over 150 science, careers and business to business sessions including Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation & Science; Prof. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, Charles F. Bolden Jr., NASA Administrator; and Mary Robinson Former President of Ireland and former UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights. The opening ceremony also featured the first keynote address of the conference by Nobel Laureate Jules Hoffmann entitled From Insects to Mammals, reflections on a European journey through basic research on immune defences. Professor Hoffmann is Research Director of the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), France and winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.
16 Jul 2012 Czech world-renowned chemist Antonín Holý passed away
Professor Antonín Holý from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the ASCR – the Czech researcher of world importance who discovered preparations that help heal millions of patients worldwide – died on July 16, 2012 at age 75. The preparations developed by Antonín Holý are part of the most efficient and also accessible medicines against AIDS, smallpox virus, shingles, eye inflammation and hepatitis B.
The Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU) was founded in Washington, DC in 1958. The main goal of the society was ‘to provide a forum for the free development of Czechoslovak culture in exile and make the world aware of Czech and Slovak cultural traditions, which date back more than a millennium.’ Since the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989, the Society has been instrumental in assisting the fledgling democracies in reestablishing the normal functions of a free society, through material assistance, lectures, seminars, and workshops, and most of all, through the personal expertise and experience of its members.
9 Jul 2012 The Josef Hlávka Prize for 2011
Foundation of Josef, Marie and Zdeňka Hlávka together with the Czech Literary Fund Foundation annually awards the Prize for an original book of the scientific literature published in the Czech Republic. The Prize is awarded in four disciplines (in the field of Social sciences, in the field of Medical sciences, in the field of Mathematics, Physics and Earth Sciences and Milan Sojka Prize).
27 Jun 2012 The first Czech scientist to receive EMBO Gold Medal 2012
European Molecular Biology Laboratory announced Jiří Friml of the Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB and Ghent University, Belgium and Central European Institute of Technology, University Brno, Czech Republic as the winner of the 2012 EMBO Gold Medal. Friml receives the award for defining how the plant hormone auxin functions to regulate plant development. He was also recognized for showing how the auxin-governed molecular processes optimise adaptation of plant development and growth to ever-changing environmental conditions.
On the 1th June 2012, Prof. Jiří Drahoš, president of the ASCR, awarded professor Johann Arnason the Palacký Medal for social sciences by the Czech Academy of Sciences. Prof. Arnason cooperates over a long period with the Czech scientists, especially the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Faculty of Humanities Charles University. Currently he is a visiting professor at the Institute of Philosophy ASCR, where he focuses on the specification of the concept of “multiple modernities”.
19 Jun 2012 Expedition Svalbard 2012 starting on June 24th
The expeditions and field work research on Svalbard take place each summer season approximately from the end of June to the end of September. This year's expedition led by prof. Josef Elster from the Institute of Botany ASCR will be held from 24th June 2012 to 1 September 2012. There will be about 20–24 students in total. Petuniabukta Station is situated in the High Arctic. Petunia bay is located in the central part of Svalbard archipelago, which is more continental and drier than the western part. In the meantime the laboratory and data analysis are carried out in the different research institutions in Czech Republic.
Four laureates of the Nobel Prize from Israel – Ada Yonath (Weizmann Instiute, Rehovot, Nobel Prize 2009), Aaron Ciechaonover (Technion, Nobel Prize 2004), Avram Hershko (Rappaport Institute, Haifa, Nobel Prize 2004) and Dan Schechtman (Technion, Nobel Prize 2011) – visited Prague on the last days of May. They attended the conference Prague Nobel Get-Together at Prague’ National Technical Library (30–31 May), which was jointly arranged by the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the ASCR, The Academy of Sciences of the CR and the Embassy of the State of Israel in the CR.
Remarkable Czech women scientists have received the L’Oréal Award. The ceremonial act took place at the Clam-Gallas Palace in Prague May 17, 2012. The awards were presented to Zuzana Kratinová from Institute of Geophysics of the Academy of Sciences, Natália Martínková from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Academy of Sciences, and Karolína Pecková from the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague.
26 May 2012 Graphene Ten Years Later
The 4th Dvořák Lecture by Professor Allan H. MacDonald, University of Texas at Austin, USA Graphene Ten Years Later will take place on June 6, 2012 at 3:00 pm in the Institute of Physics of the AS CR, v. v. i., Na Slovance 2, CZ-182 21 Praha 8, Czech Republic.
22 May 2012 The S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology celebrates its eightieth
The S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences that was in 1991 named in honour of S.I. Vavilov, the prominent Russian botanist and geneticist and was also engaged in history of science, celebrated eighties anniversary. Recently discovered archive documents established that the Institute was created on February 28, 1932. By this occasion the international assembly took place in Moscow on February 28, 2012 and at the end of the festive meeting the foreign guests and some Russian scholars were awarded a Medal for Contribution to History of Science. One of them was president of ESHS Soňa Štrbáňová from the Institute for Contemporary History ASCR.
21 May 2012 His Majesty King Carl XIV Gustav of Sweden visited the Institute of Botany ASCR
The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences organized a Royal Technology Mission (RTM) to the Czech Republic on May 8–11, 2012. As the patron of the Academy, His Majesty King Carl XIV Gustaf of Sweden is participating in the delegation together with representatives from Swedish business, government authorities and academia. The purpose of the RTM 2012 to the Czech Republic is to gain insights into strategies, initiatives and opportunities in an EU country that has a strong industrial, technological and academic tradition. Of the newer EU countries the Czech Republic is Sweden’s second largest trading partner and about 200 Swedish companies are currently represented in the Czech Republic.
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