This year we commemorate the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia to expand Christianity. On this occasion various projects have been prepared including two international conferences organized in spring 2013. The second symposium, The Cyril and Methodius mission and Europe — 1150 Years since the arrival of the Thessaloniki brothers in Great Moravia, was held at the Velehrad on June 13-17, 2013. and František Čajka a Martina Chromá.
The Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation. On the occasion of this anniversary on March 28, 2012, the Union at Karolinum, the seat of the Charles University, a festive ceremony, attended by outstanding personalities headed by the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus. The Union was founded in 1862 as the Association for Free Lectures in Mathematics and Physics. From the beginning, its goal was the improvement of the teaching physics and mathematics at schools on all levels and of all types and further, to support and promote the development of those sciences. As a consequence of patriotic efforts, the Association was enlarged in 1869 into the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists. In the early 1950s, the Union had to transfer its property to the newly established Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAV) and it became a learned society affiliated with CSAV. The mathematical part of its library became the basis of the library of the Mathematical Institute of CSAV, and is located there at present. Today, the Union has about 2,800 members. The Union itself, or in collaboration with universities and research institutes, organizes national as well as international conferences, symposia, seminars, and Summer or Winter schools. The Union follows the teaching of mathematics and physics in schools and proposes improvements. It encourages talented students and participates in the organization of the Mathematical and Physical Olympiad and other student competitions. Czech Post has issued a stamp commemorating the 150"i Anniversary of the Foundation of the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists. and Martina Bečvárová.
The Velvet Revolution was a non-violent uprising in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the Communist government. On November 17, 1989, police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. Among the protesters were many young employees of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Based on the November events, civil forums were created at worksplaces. In consequences of the political evolvement, some of the compromised directors from institutes left their positions and during the following six months all directors had to be evaluated. Scientific committies began to form. On November 6, 1989, the entire presidium of ČSAV resigned and December 12, the Chamber of elected representatives of ČSAV was established. This organ became a carrier of fundamental changes, for example the first Czech science foundation was set up and proposals for evaluation of the institutes formed. The new organization structures of Academy were created. and Antonín Kostlán.
The UN General Assembly has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils to raise awareness of the vital importance of soil, which is essential not only for food security and for cultivating plants for feed, fibre, fuel and medicinal products, but also for maintaining biodiversity as it hosts countless organisms. It plays a key role in storing and filtering water, in carbon and other nutrients cycling and performs other irreplaceable ecosystem functions. The Institute of Soil Biology of the CAS Biology Centre carries out biological research into many of those functions of soil in both natural and human–affected environments, including studies of the soil microstructure, soil organism communities and their dynamics and interactions and so on. Researchers at the Institute of Soil Biology focus, among other things, on the contribution of soil fungi to nitrous oxide emissions and on the production of methane. The latter is a potent greenhouse gas and a substantial part of atmospheric methane is produced by anaerobic microorganisms called Archaea found in the soil and in animal digestive tracts, while soil is also a significant methane sink. Research is also being concentrated on the characterization and risk assessment of antibiotic resistance-reservoirs in soil, which is connected with the massive use of antibiotics in the past five decades. Scientists examine ways of preventing the antibiotic resistance spreading in the environment through food chains as well as and on the role played by the soil microflora in those processes, as Doctor Dana Elhottová explains in the corresponding article. and Jana Olivová.