The 700th birth anniversary of King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV has been designated as one of UNESCO´s important world anniversaries for 2016-2017. The Czech Academy of Sciences recreates the period of Charles IV at the exhibiton entitled Seven Towers. Charles IV through the eyes of academics (1316-2016) at the Science and Art Gallery. The visitors have an oppportunity to see the unique gold ducats with a picture of Charles IV. For this first time the most valuable archaeological discoveries of glass goblets are exhibited. Everyday items used by residents of the medieval city are also on display. The exhibition also shows a rare treasure of coins, which was hidden in the Emmaus monastery about 1370, as well as copies of the Constitutive Act of the Charles University, Charles´s Code Maiestas Carolina or late-medieval transcript of Charles´ Golden Bull. Personality of Charles IV is documented by commemorative coins, medals and seals bearing his image. Part of the exhibition is also a faithful copy of the statue of Charles IV from the Old Town Bridge Tower, the last sculptural portrait of the monarch before his death. and Marina Hužvárová.
In this issue, we feature an interview with the president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (AS CR), Prof. Jiří Drahoš. The interview focuses on funding science and research at AS CR and the methodology that has become the universal tool for distributing money to the whole Czech science as a whole. On the basis of this government-conceived tool, the institutional financial grant for the AS CR should be reduced by about 50 percent by 2012. and Marina Hužvárová.
V České republice vzniká první evropská laserová výzkumná infrastruktura určená pro výzkum a aplikační projekty v oblasti interakce světla s hmotou. Očekávají se od ní průlomové objevy v materiálech, nanotechnologiích, lékařství, zobrazování a diagnostice, optice, ale i nové technologie využitelné v průmyslu. Jak je u podobných zařízení běžné, stane se též atraktivním místem pro výchovu doktorandů, vědců a inženýrů. S laserovými centry ELI Beamlines a HiLASE i s rozvojovým potenciálem „vědeckého trojměstí“ na jižním okraji Prahy se 26. února 2015 seznámili ministr financí Andrej Babiš a vládní zmocněnkyně pro udržitelnost výzkumných center MŠMT Eva Kislingerová. and Marina Hužvárová.
Small molecules that regulate the cell division cycle are a joint research project of the CAS Institute of Experimental Botany and Palacký University’s Faculty of Science. An interview with Professor Miroslav Strnad, head of the Laboratory of Growth Regulations, describes the significance of this joint project. The laboratory concentrates its research on small molecules that regulate cell division cycle, proliferation and growth of both plant and animal cells. Cytokinins and cytokinin-derived purine inhibitors of cyclindependent kinases are the most intensively studied compounds. The multidisciplinary research team is composed of experienced plant physiologists, biochemists and organic and analytical chemists. Many students are involved in the research phase during their pre-graduate and postgraduate studies in botany, analytical and organic chemistry, biochemistry or medicinal biology. Several research projects are in progress in collaboration with international partners (University of Berlin; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; University of Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and the Vienna Medical University. and Marina Hužvárová.