The Czech BIORAF project employs the techniques of green chemistry for biomass utilization to high added-value products and energy sources. Refining it results in food supplements, fodders and fertilizers, new-generation biofuels and energy from the biomass of microbial, plant or animal origin. Biorefining is a unique approach for a new sustainable substitution of fossil fuels minimizing an adverse effect on the environment while exploiting the whole volume of biomass. and Pavel Topka.
The oldest and largest Czech scientific society in the field of chemistry, the Czech Chemical Society (ČSCH), is a constituent member of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) and has a wide range of activities. The society´s web pages http://www.csch.cz and its journal pages http://chemicke-listy.vscht.cz/ offer more information. and Bohumil Kratochvíl.
The International Year of Chemistry 2011 attracted chemistry women worldwide for a breakfast meeting on January 18, 2011. In addition to networking, the aim was to commemorate the fundamental role Marie Curie attained in chemistry on the 100th anniversary of her being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. The event was held in various centers worldwide including Prague. and Zuzana Sedláková.
We feature an interview in this issue with Professor Josef Michl, acclained chemist, who received his Ph.D. at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1965 but left Czechoslovakia three years later. He became a full professor in 1975 at University of Utah. Professor Michl has held nearly one hundred visiting professorships and named lectureships, delivered hundreds of invited lectures at institutions and conferences, has served on many professional and editorial boards, advisory councils, and committees, and has organized several international meetings. Since 2006, he also has held an appointment at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the ASCR. He is a laureate of Wichterle Award, the Schrödinger and Porter Medals, the J. Heyrovský Gold Medal of the ASCR and Charles University, the Czech government Patria Award for Czech scientists working abroad, and the Marinus Smith Award from the University of Colorado for his work with undergraduates. He is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and is an honorary member of the Czech Learned Society. and Sylva Daníčková.