The neo-renaissance historical building of the Academy of Sciences was severely shattered on the morning of April 29, 2013 by a gas explosion, which occurred in the building two blocks from the side section of the Academy. A massive pressure wave smashed window panes and defaced parts of the interior not only the whole length of the building facing the explosion but also broke the glass of the windows toward the courtyard and some towards Narodni trida (National Avenue). The greatest damage occurred in the Library and Head Office of the ASCR. and Marina Hužvárová.
The Academy Assembly, the highest body of the ASCR responsible for the uppermost priority decisions related to the ASCR, held its XXXV Meeting on December 15, 2007. President of ASCR Jiří Drahoš censured the Government Council for Research, Development and Innovation for changes it made in the method of support for science. The Academy expressed objections to the new scheme as unbalanced in its decreased subsidies for the ASCR. Czech president Václav Klaus told the Academic Assembly that state financial support of science must be perceived within the whole economic situation and is obliged to be part of a society-wide discussion. and Marina Hužvárová.
The Academic bulletin and its Editor-in-chief Marina Hužvárová (the Czech EUSJA representative) organized the European Union of Science Journalists' Associations (EUSJA) General Assembly, held in Prague on March 13-17, 2013. On a two-day Study Trip, journalists from 22 European countries visited the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic including its Lysolaje Campus. During the first day they were taken on a tour of the Academy of Sciences Library and heard a lecture on popularization activities in the Centre of Administration and Operations of ASCR. The day ended with an evening concert in the beautiful setting of the Czech Museum of Music. Led by EUSJA President Barbara Drillsma (Great Britain), the journalists were welcomed at the Institute of Geology (IC) by the ASCR PresidentJiří Drahoš, IG director Pavel Bosák, IEB director Martin Vágner and Ivan Kašík on behalf of IPE director. Following that they were given an overview of that institute's work and that of the Laboratory of Optical Fibers of the Institute of Photonics and Electronics. During the afternoon, the group explored the Institute of Experimental Botany (IEB) and the Institute of Chemical Processes Fundamentals (ICPF), where two guidesd tours were arranged. A description of the institute's research activities by the director of ICPF Miroslav Punčochář was followed by a visit to the Institute's laboratories of basic and applied research. and Marina Hužvárová.
We feature an interview with Professor Eva Za2imalova, a member of the Academy Council and the head of the Laboratory of Hormonal Regulation in Plants at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the ASCR. From 2007 to 2012 she was director of this institute. Her research is in the fields of auxin and cytokinins (mode of action of auxin. auxin binding site(s), regulation of levels of auxins and cytokinins in relation to cell division and elongation and themechanism of polar transport of auxin). and Marina Hužvárová.
We feature an interview with Prof. Zdeněk Herman, a renowned Czech chemist. In his research he focuses on the dynamics of chemical reactions or the collisions of ions that he calls "billiards with particles." Professor Herman studied chemistry at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University specializing in physical chemistry and radiochemistry. After completing his studies in 1957, he joined the Institute of Physical Chemistry (now J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR). He was Head of the Department of Chemical Physics, and Deputy Director and Head of the Scientific Council of the Institute. Only after the fall of the communist regime was he allowed to complete his habilitation and become a Professor of Chemistry in 1996 at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague. Since 1989, he has served on many ASCR committees and in the Czech Government. In 2003, he was awarded the Czech Head National Prize. Professor Herman is also a sculptor and painter. For the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the ASCR, he crafted a bronze bust of the Institute's founder, Professor Vladimír Bažant. and Marina Hužvárová.
The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has been observing the 20th anniversary of its origin. This month we feature an interview with the first president of the ASCR. Professor Rudolf Zahradnik, who merited attained international acclaim by restoring the strength and integrity of this scientific institution. Professor Zahradnik also provided the cntical impetus to not only democratize the Czech Academy but to reintegrate it within the global scientific community.
The view on this topic are presented in an interview with Vladimír Nekvasil, who is the president of the Council for Support of ASCR Participation in European Integration of Research and Development. At the Institute of Physics of the ASCR, he was Chairman of the Scientific Council (1994 and 1996), Attestation Commission (1994-1997) and the Commission for the Regress of Grievances. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Academy Assembly. He is also a chairman of the Advocacy Commission of ASCR for the doctoral thesis Doctor of Science (DSc.) in the physics of condensed systems. and Marina Hužvárová.