Brain Awareness Week is a series of global events held in many parts of the world to increase public awareness of the brain. Every March BAW brings together the efforts of universities, hospitals, patient groups, government associations worldwide in a week-long commemoration of the brain. Founded and coordinated by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, BAW is observing its fifteenth anniversary campaign in 2010. More than 1,000 students heard lectures by top Czech scientists as part of the annual Brain Awareness Week that took place in the administration building of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 15-21 March 2010. and Gabriela Adámková.
This issue includes an interview with Dr. Radomír Pánek, head of Tokamak Department of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the ASCR. Dr. Pánek's team observed the distinctive H-mode operation for the first time (on November 29, 2012) since the Tokamak was reinstalled in the IPP in 2008. The H-mode (high confinement mode) refers to a sudden improvement of plasma confinement in the magnetic field of tokamaks (by about a factor of two) which is foreseen as the standard mode of operation for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The H-mode pedestal forms near the plasma transport barrier, located behind the improved plasma confinement. Greater insight into the physics of this narrow plasma region is required to enhance control of the power flux, plasma heating and the Edge Localized Mode (ELM) instabilities in fusion reactors. and Luděk Svoboda.
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.
The ASCR and the U.S. Embassy, Prague, co-sponsored a public lectures in Prague featuring Dr. James Rice, an American space expert. Dr. Rice discussed the unexpected discoveries on Mars thanks to the robotic vehicles Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. Mars: The Next Step follows the popular program 'To Space with a Little Mole,' which came to the Czech Republic in 2011. Astronaut Andrew Feustel took the well-known mole cartoon character, Krtek, on a journey into space in the Endeavour space shuttle. Space exploration is a very popular subject in the Czech Republic and Dr. Rice shared his knowledge to inspire a future generations of Czech scientists. A press conference September 17, 2013 at the ASCR headquarters included Dr. Rice, U.S. Ambassador Norman L. Eisen and D. Jan Šafanda. Vice-President of the ASCR. "Through this event," Dr. Šafanda told the press, "the ASCR attempted to show the public that space research, involving a number of academic institutes and is costly, brings bounteous returns to society - both through expanding our knowledge of the solar system and also a number of practical applications and technological innovations." and Pavel Suchan.
The Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the ASCR hosted the COST Action ES 1005 TOSCA Science meeting September 30 to October 4, 2013. TOSCA is a multidisciplinary European network of scientists from nearly 20 countries that work to provide a better understanding of the role of the Sun in climate change. This action aims at assessing the various contributions of solar variability to the Earth's climate by bringing together solar physicists, space scientists, atmospheric scientists, climate modellers, paleoclimatologists, and more. TOSCA was inaugurated in June 2011 and will last for four years. As for other COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) actions, the main role of TOSCA is to foster interactions between different communities. (TOSCA stands for "Towards a more complete assessment of the impact of solar variability on the Earth's climate".) and Jan Laštovička a Petra Koucká Knížová.