public non-university research institution, which comprises a system of scientific institutes. It conducts its activities in accord with Act No. 283/1992 Coll., On the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR), and other legal regulations. Research conducted by the ASCR endeavours to advance knowledge on an international scale while however respecting the current needs of Czech society. The supreme autonomous body of the ASCR is the Academy Assembly. The executive body of the ASCR is the Academy Council with the President of the ASCR at its head. Its permanent advisory body is the Council for Sciences, which deals with the scientific policy of the ASCR. These all-academic bodies are always elected for four-year periods.
The gas explosion on Monday in Prague has severely affected the building of the Academy of Sciences
2 May 2013
The neo-Renaissance historical building of the Academy of Sciences of the CR was severely damaged on the morning of 29 April 2013 in connection with the gas explosion, which occurred in Divadelní Street on the ground floor of the building across from the side section of the Academy. A massive pressure wave shattered the window panes and damaged the interiors of not only the whole length of the building from the side of Divadelní Street but also broke the glass of the windows towards Krocinova Street, towards the courtyard and some towards Národní třída (National Avenue). The explosion inflicted the greatest damage, the amount of which is estimated at CZK 10 million, in the Library and Head Office of the Academy of Sciences.
Cubisti Cubismo
6 Jun 2013
The Director of the Institute of Art History, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prof. Vojtěch Lahoda, was involved in the preparation of the international exhibition Cubisti Cubismo, which is open from 8 March to 23 June 2013 at the Complesso Monumentale del Vittoriano in Rome. The curator, Charlotte N. Eyerman, an art historian from Los Angeles, planned it as a wide-ranging survey of Cubists and Cubism, from Picasso, through Russian artists, to figures from the USA (Max Weber) and Great Britain (Wyndham Lewis). She presented Cubism as a trend that eventually influenced all local schools, and emphasised the spread of Cubism into decorative art, architecture (Czech examples were at least shown in photographs and a model of Chochol’s house in Neklanova Street), and into film.
Art Historian Keith Holz in Prague
4 Jun 2013
Keith Holz, Associate Professor of the Western Illinois University in Macomb, examines in his lecture held on 12 June 2013 at 3.30 p.m. in the Institute of Art History, Husova 4, Prague 1, room 117, newly available letters by and about Oskar Kokoschka from Moscow and Zürich archives. This lecture revises extant interpretations of his art and activities in Czechoslovakia (1934–1938). Kokoschka's public role as an outspoken advocate for human rights, his pursuit of democracy through educational reform (the Volkshochschule movement), and his role as a critic of fascist governments are related to his less understood, but elaborate, network of supporters, friends and family within and beyond the borders of the Republic.
The Academy of Sciences of the CR has joined the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment
3 Jun 2013
At the Annual Meeting of The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in San Francisco on 16 December 2012, a group of editors and publishers of scientific journals elaborated a collection of eighteen recommendations which should increase the quality of research assessment. Inter alia, they point out the fact that the Journal Impact Factor, which serves today as the primary parameter for the comparison of scientific outputs, was originally created as a tool to help librarians identify journals to purchase, not as a measure of the scientific quality of research in an article.
ELI European Project: Construction Begins
28 May 2013
Other important steps necessary for the globally unique multifunction laser centre, ELI Beamlines, to be created in Dolní Břežany near Prague were taken by the Institute of Physics of the ASCR. On Friday, 24 May 2013, the winner of the competition for the contractors of the main phase of the building of the laser centre, the group of Metrostav, VCES and OHL ŽS, was presented at the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the CR in Prague. The new key partner of the project was also announced – the first-class American research centre, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. American specialists in cooperation with Czech colleagues will develop a unique laser system worth CZK 1.1 billion. For more information, see the press release.
L´Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2013
28 May 2013
This year, the stipend program L´Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science, which already for the seventh year supports the work of gifted Czech female scientists, awarded seminal research projects from the areas of medicine and mathematics. Three-quarters of a million korunas were divided by Ing. Lubomíra Balková, Ph.D. (application of combinatorics in cryptology, practical use e.g. in the protection of credit cards), PharmDr. Martina Čečková, Ph.D. (medicinal transporters protecting the foetus from toxic substances) and MUDr. Eva Froňková, Ph.D. (early diagnosis of immunity defects). You can find detailed information in the press release.
An Exotic Conifer Helps Destroy Cancer Cells
3 Jun 2013
A discovery by Czech molecular geneticists
Some scientists compare the search for an effective medicine against cancer, which would besides the successful elimination of cancer cells if possible not have any, or at least minimal, side effects for the organism, to the search for the Holy Grail. Unlike Indiana Jones, who in the film The Last Crusade actually found the Holy Grail, the scientific community had not had such luck as of yet. A distinct shift towards this dreamt-of goal could be the discovery by researchers from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Academy of Sciences of the ASCR, which was published recently in the online version of the international journal Apoptosis (see the abstract).
L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards For Women in Science 2014
26 Apr 2013
Manipulation of nanoscale magnetic films by light
22 Apr 2013
European science journalists in the Czech Academy
21 Mar 2013
Academic bulletin headed by Editor-in-chief Marina Hužvárová (the Czech EUSJA representative) organized the EUSJA General Assembly, which was held in Prague on March 13–17, 2013. A group of journalists from 22 European countries visited the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and also the Lysolaje Campus for two-day Study Trip. During the first day they were shown around the Academy of Sciences Library and were given a lecture of popularization activities in the Centre of Administration and Operations of ASCR. The tour was closed with an evening concert in the beautiful setting of the Czech Museum of Music.
Prof. Jiří Drahoš has been appointed President of the ASCR for another term
14 Feb 2013
Open letter to the Ambassador of the Republic of Italy
26 Oct 2012
Professor Antonín Holý, the discoverer of new antiviral drugs, has died
16 Jul 2012
