RNDr. Jan Šafanda, CSc.

J. Šafanda graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University where he received the degree of RNDr. in 1982. In 1985 he received the CSc. degree from the Institute of Geophysics where he has been working since 1977. At present he is the head of the department of geothermics, the Chairman of the National Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and a member of the Science Advisory Group of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme and of an evaluation panel of the European Research Council.

From 1988 to 1989 he was granted the research fellowship by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at TU Claustal. He spent several months at Universität Karlsruhe in Germany and at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. In 2007 he was granted the research fellowship by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation again, this time he stayed at Universität Karlsruhe. Since 1997 he has been cooperating with the University of Evora, Portugal, on the geothermal and climate research. Since 2003 he has been cooperating with Geological Survey of Slovenia on the air-ground temperature coupling and with Polish Geological Institute on the last ice age signature in the subsurface temperatures. From 2003 to 2007 he participated in geothermal research of the impact structure Chicxulub in Mexico within the ICDP programme.

He is the author or co-author of more than 100 scientific papers. In 2004 he received the UNESCO Award for Earth Sciences. His principal directions of current research include basic heat flow studies in terms of crustal and lithospheric structure, geothermal modelling and heat flow mapping, thermal history of sedimentary basins, dynamics of the Earth`s crust, thermal properties of rocks, inversion of borehole temperature data in ground surface temperature history, recent climate change and global warming, geothermal energy. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Geodynamics.