Professor Pavel Zemanek and his colleagues at the Institute of Scientific Instruments (1St) of the ASCR built a laser that moves tiny spheres of polystyrene floating in water While in science fiction programs such as "Star Trek," tractor beams are used to move massive objects, the unique research published in Nature Photonics (2013, 7, 123-127) is limited to moving microscopic particles. Changing the way the light is polarized changes the direction the spheres move. The ISI scientists also found that at certain sizes, the spheres arrange themselves into neat rows as they move, bound by the light itself. The practical applications could be diverse. The tractor beam is very selective in the properties of the particles it acts upon, so one could pick up specific particles in a mixture. For example, this laser could be used to separate white blood cells. and Luděk Svoboda.
The Academy Assembly, the highest body of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic responsible for the foremost priority decisions related to the ASCR, held its XLI Meeting in the Municipal House in Vinohrady December 13. 2012. By a secret ballot. Professor Jill Drahoa was reelected by the Academy Assembly as the new candidate for the presidency of ASCR for the period 2013-2017. The president of Czech Republic will ratify this election and the nominee will be inducted as the new head of Academy at the XLII Meeting of Academy Assembly on March 19. 2013. and Luděk Svoboda.
Učená společnost ČR letos oslavuje dvacetileté výročí svého založení (1994). Její dvoudenní zasedání ve dnech 19. a 20. května 2014 v pražském Karolinu a v hlavní budově Akademie věd na Národní třídě připomnělo i 230. výročí vzniku Královské české společnosti nauk (1784-1952). První den veřejné části jednání tradičně patřil vyhlášení a předání medailí, cen a čestných uznání Učené společnosti. Za přínos celosvětové vědě předal rektor Univerzity Karlovy prof. Tomáš Zima Zlatou pamětní medaili UK prof. Jánu Vilčekovi. Význačný slovenský mikrobiolog, který v roce 1964 emigroval do Spojených států amerických a dlouhodobě působí na Newyorské univerzitě, se pro vědeckou dráhu inspiroval stáží v Mikrobiologickém ústavu někdejší ČSAV. Medaile Učené společnosti za zásluhy o rozvoj vědy převzali historik prof. Robert Kvaček a imunolog prof. Jan Svoboda. and Marina Hužvárová, Luděk Svoboda.
The Academy Assembly, the Academy of Science’s highest body responsible for the most important decisions related to the ASCR, held its XL meeting April 19, 2012. Among invited guests were Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor; Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic; Alena Gajdůšková, First Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic; Václav Pačes, President of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic; Rudolf Zahradník, ASCR Honorary President; Helena Illnerová, ASCR former President and others. This meeting’s main agenda item was discussion of the research methodology evaluation, which has been criticized by the ASCR since its inception. According to the Jiří Drahoš, the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the alleged misconceptions of the prevailing methodology were highlighted in the final report of the project International Audit of Research and Development in the Czech Republic, compiled and published by a consortium of renowned foreign institutions. Another item of the meeting was a brief presentation of the Strategy for the Development of the ASCR 2014–2020, in which Professor Drahoš introduced key visions and medium-term developmental goals of the ASCR, the Czech Republic’s leading non-university public research institution.