The Academy Assembly held its XLII"d Meeting December 13, 2012 in the Municipal House in Vinohrady. It is the supreme self-governing body of the Academy of Sciences responsible for the foremost priority decisions related to the ASCR. By a secret ballot. the Academy Council (executive body of the ASCR) and Council for Sciences (the ASCRS policy body) were elected by the Academy Assembly for the period 2013-2017. and Luděk Svoboda.
The Institute of Plasma Physics of the ASCR has produced a book, Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion for Everybody, which covers the story of the human struggle to achieve controlled thermonuclear fusion on Earth. The book is “reader-friendly” in that special attention has been given to plain vocabulary and rich illustration. The topic is introduced with a detailed chronology of fusion history. The contribution of Oleg Lavrentyev, a pioneer of the Soviet fusion program, is recognized since he is credited as being the first to call attention to fusion in correspondence with his government in 1949 and 1950. These letters aroused the interest of physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov who launched a fusion program that resulted in the creation of Tokamak, a device which uses a magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus (doughnut). and Luděk Svoboda.
This year's Science and Technology Week, organized for the public by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, took place November 1-15 in Prague, Brno, České Budějovice, Olomouc, Ostrava and other places. Science and Technology Week is one of the largest science communication efforts in the Czech Republic, presenting the latest scientific achievements and results of current research to an increasing number of Czech citizens. Scientists from research workplaces of the ASCR presented a cross section of lectures, presentations, panel discussions, seminars, excursions, exhibitions and discussion evenings. This gave attendees insights into their research projects, scientific apparatuses and an outline on the latest trends in the areas of science in the Czech Republic and the world. The festival has a main theme each year. This year theme was the Science Energy. and Luděk Svoboda.