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As a newly graduated computer scientist, he had a thriving software company in Prague. However, his desire to perfect his karate took him all the way to Japan. What was initially meant to be a short trip turned into a ten-year stay. Not only did he earn a sixth-degree black belt, but also a PhD in molecular biotechnology – and found a wife. The interview with Tomáš Pluskal from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS was published in the Academy's quarterly, A / Magazine.

Frustrated magnets, metallic materials suitable for treating fractures, corruption in public administration, the history of bark beetle infestations, and climate law. This is just a small sample of the fields that talented young researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences are focusing on. On 13 June 2024, twenty researchers received the Otto Wichterle Award. Established in 2002, the award comes with a stipend of 330,000 CZK spread over three years. To date, there have been 520 laureates.

Bones, ceramic shards, and jewelry give archaeologists clues about ancient history. In contrast, fragments of centuries-old textiles long seemed worthless, yet they too offer unique testimonies, as shown by the fabrics found in graves at Prague Castle. These allowed researchers to figure out what Charles IV and his wives wore and whether St Ludmila could already have had attire made of Chinese silk. You can read the story, published in Czech in A / Magazine, below.

The coins had been buried for roughly 900 years until a woman stumbled upon them while walking across a plowed field. Initially stored in a ceramic vessel, the coins were found scattered both on and below the surface. Experts consider this medieval hoard of denarii from Kutná Hora one of the largest finds of the past decade. Archaeologists and historians will now examine the coins in detail before presenting the treasure to the public.

The Czech Republic is the second country after Poland to establish Dioscuri Centers of Scientific Excellence, initiated by the Max Planck Society. Two will be based at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, established by spin caloritronics expert Helena Reichlová and nano-optics specialist Barbora Špačková. The third center will be hosted by Masaryk University in Brno, led by developmental biologist Peter Fabian. The opening ceremony of the Dioscuri Centers took place on 17 May 2024 at the CAS headquarters, attended by leading representatives of the Max Planck Society, the CAS, and the German and Czech Ministries of Education.

World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20 – the birthday of Anton Janša, one of the founders of modern beekeeping. The purpose of this day is to highlight the importance of pollinators for our planet. Bees have long been recognized as one of the most beneficial insects. What is their role in agricultural landscapes and how do insecticides endanger them? The original article was published in A / Magazine, the quarterly of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Cosmic rays from outer space constantly bombard Planet Earth. It is likely that the highest-energy cosmic ray particles penetrate our atmosphere much deeper than previously thought, and thus may also be significantly heavier. These new insights stem from a groundbreaking method that generalizes the approach to predicting models of cosmic particle collisions and the Earth’s atmosphere. The creator of this method is astroparticle physicist Jakub Vícha from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who studies ultra-high energy particles arriving from outer space using data from currently the world’s largest experiment – the Pierre Auger Observatory. The study detailing the method is published in Physical Review D.

According to the newest UniSAFE data, two out of three individuals have at one point encountered gender-based violence (GBV) in academia. Nonetheless, it remains an issue that is neglected in research institutions and universities. That is why the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) has contributed to the development of training that increases awareness about GBV – and thus helps institutions prevent it. As Michaela Svatošová explains, the training can be freely used not only by CAS institutes.

Jokingly dubbed “the expert on greasy dishes” by her relatives, Veronika Brychová finds herself peering into the culinary habits of ancient peoples through shards of prehistoric pottery, using fat residues to uncover what our ancestors cooked – and when. In the evenings, she swaps out particle accelerators for LEGO and fairy tales – or the church organ. The interview (below) with the young scientist from the Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS was featured in the quarterly A / Magazine of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

It’s been 165 years since the first edition of Darwin’s groundbreaking book On the Origin of Species came out. Despite advancements of the most modern research methods, the fundamental questions remain the same. How do new species emerge? And what is ‘the point’ of biodiversity? Read the feature article in A / Magazine to learn about the projects being worked on by Miloš Macholán from the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the CAS as well as Jaroslav Piálek and Josef Bryja from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the CAS. You will learn that a mouse hybrid zone runs through the Czech Republic, why Ethiopia is an open-air laboratory, and why the evolutionary tree of the Muridae family had to be redrawn.