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 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.
Featured in this issue is the interwiew with Professor Petr Ráb, a member of Academy Council, and of the Steering Committee of the Evaluation of Academic Institutes. Through this evaluation, the Academy Council is provided a full report of the research effectiveness of Academy Institutes. The process of research assessment is supervised by foreign evaluators. and Marina Hužvárová.
This comment was made by Professor Jiří Drahoš a renowned physical chemist, interviewed for a feature article in this issue. The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR) has been observing this year the 20th anniversary of its inception, this one being another in the series. Professor Drahoš has been president of the ASCR since 2009. Since then, Professor Drahoš has been facing the government's decisions to cut the Academy's budget every year. He has worked at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the ASCR since 1977, holding various positions, including research scientist, senior research scientist, Department Head, Deputy Director (1992-1995) and Director (1996-2003). His principal research interest is multiphase chemical reactors. He has published more than 60 original papers in impacted international journals and is a co-inventor of four international and holds 10 Czech patents. According to Science Citation Index and other sources, his scientific papers have been cited more than 700 times. In 1977 he was awarded the Medal of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS). and Marina Hužvárová.
Miroslav Šlouf of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Academy of Sciences of the czech Republic is interviewed concerning his research activities in this issue. More than 25,000 of total joint replacements of big human joints, such as hip, knee, elbow ets., are implanted every year in the Czech Republic. The bearing surface in the joint replacement is usually made of a special polymer - ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). This contribution describes the development of novel UHMWPE types, which should increase the lifetime of artificial joints. Czech scientists of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry collaborate on this unique research and its applications with Czech company Beznoska. and Marina Hužvárová.
Soon after becoming the head of the Academy of Sciences in 2009, Professor Drahoš was faced with questions concerning the very survival of the institution and a crisis in funding caused by a wrong methodology of evaluation. During the past year, the Academy engaged in an evaluation of its 54 institutions. All of this involved a considerable amount of work. The electoral term of Professor Drahoš’s presidency is nearing its completion, so this affords an opportunity for a succinct recapitulation of his achievements. and Marina Hužvárová.
The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has been observing the 20'" anniversary of its inception. This month we feature an interview with Professor Helena Illnerova of the Institute of Physiology of the ASCR, the first woman to be elected of the ASO? president of the ASCR. Professor Illnerova is one of the leading Czech scientists, having begun her work in the 1960s. Her main research interest is the time-keeping program of mammals, including man, and the synchronization of the circadian biological clock with the 24-hour-day and seasons of the year. In 1990, she received a DrSc. degree for a doctoral thesis entitled Regulation of Circadian Rhythms in the Rat Pineal Gland. and Marina Hužvárová.