We feature an interview with Pavel Kindlmann, professor of ecology at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, who performs research on various aspects of biodiversity as head of the Biodiversity Research Centre in Šumava National Park in the Bohemian Forest. Bark beetles, which have become a heated issue with a political dimension, are the focus of his study. On one side, some experts demand that natural processes be allowed to take their course, even if that menas the bark beetle would destroy most of that forest. On the other side, experts are insisting on intervention. Anti-intervention forces are supporting the Biodiversity Research Centre. and Luděk Svoboda.
We feature and interview with Professor Curt Rice, who is an American-born Norwegian linguist and the rector of Oslo and Akershus College. He is the first rector of his institution who was not elected; he began his rectorship on August 1, 2015. Professor Rice promotes gender equality, open access and other issues related to leadership in higher education. He will be the key speaker at the 4th national conference on gender and science, which is to take place on June 22, 2016. The conference is organized by the Centre for Gender and Science of the Isntitute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. and Naďa Straková.
Miroslav Šlouf of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Academy of Sciences of the czech Republic is interviewed concerning his research activities in this issue. More than 25,000 of total joint replacements of big human joints, such as hip, knee, elbow ets., are implanted every year in the Czech Republic. The bearing surface in the joint replacement is usually made of a special polymer - ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). This contribution describes the development of novel UHMWPE types, which should increase the lifetime of artificial joints. Czech scientists of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry collaborate on this unique research and its applications with Czech company Beznoska. and Marina Hužvárová.