This international conference took place in Prague on 25-30 July, 2011. Its main goal was to contribute to uncovering possible phenomenological ("quantum thermodynamic") laws governing the behavior of mesoscopic systems and also to provide better understanding and insight into recent problems of the foundations, relying on theoretical and experimental methods of condensed matter physics and quantum optics. Special attention was given to the dynamics of mesoscopic open systems and their relevance to problems of measurement of non-equilibrium quantum systems, thermal and quantum fluctuations, dissipation, noise, physics of quantum information and biological systems, in terms of both theory and experiment. Additional topics included biophysics, gravitation and cosmology. FQMT'11 was a follow-up to two previous conferences held in Prague 2004 and 2008. and Václav Špička.
Vojtěch Lanna, an industrial entrepreneur who was one of the most renowned philanthropists and collectors of art in the late 19th century built two neo-renaissance villas for his family. One was erected in Prague (1868-1872) and serves representative purposes of the Czech Academy of Sciences at present. The other was built in Gmunden, near Lake Traunsee, Upper Austria, between the years 1872 and 1875 and ranked among the most important neorenaissance summer houses in the region. It and was introduced by the Academic bulletin both in a supplement of its regular issue (2014/7-8) and in a special edition last year. In August this year, it hosted a seminar on the theme Was bleibt? Architektur-Philosphie-Wissenschaft. Professor Jan Bažant of the CAS Institute of Philosophy was invited to speak not only about the history of the Lanna family but also about the architecture and beautifully decorated interiors of both villas and their significance for the cultural heritage of both The Czech Republic and Austria. and Marina Hužvárová.
Creating a scientific and educational forum for students, scientists and other professionals to learn about, to share, to contribute to, and to advance the state of knowledge in its field of science is the aim of the Organization for Computational Neuroscience, which staged its annual meeting in Prague in July 18-23, 2015, co-organized by the CAS Institute of Physiology and the Charles University. Keynote speakers at the CNS 2015 Prague: Jack Cowan, Wulfram Gerstner and its president Astrid Prinz gave interviews to the Academic Bulletin, in which they highlighted the both the new findings and main open questions in computational neuroscience. This field combines mathematical analyses and computer simulations with experimental neuroscience to develop a principled understanding of the workings of the nervous systems and apply it in a wide range of technologies. Increasingly studies emphasize the circuitry and network function in the brain. Investigations are focused on the changes of the functional and anatomical features in a healthy brain as compared to dysfunctional brain states; thus, studies of the healthy brain provide insights into brain dysfunction, while observations of dysfunctional brain states give clues to normal brain functioning. This workshop explored computation in both the healthy and dysfunctional brain to uncover what each state might reveal about the other. and Jana Olivová.