13/1999

Academic bulletin 13/1999

Resume

Kaleidoscope - Photogallery

Library of the ASCR - opening ceremony for the renovated hall

Research and Development Council of the Government of the Czech Republic

Information from the 125^th and 126^th sessions of the Czech Government's Research and Development Council

News from the Academic Council

The 37^th and the 38^th sessions of the Academic Council of the ASCR took place on November 16^th and 30^th, 1999.

Portraits from the Archives
Miroslav Boháček
Observing the 100^th Anniversary of His Birth

Professor Miroslav Boháček was a professor of the Roman law at the universities in Prague and in Bratislava, and a confirmed member of the Commission of Manuscripts Inventory and Studies of the Central Archive of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

Roman law was his main scientific interest and very early he became distinguished through his publications on the subject. Besides that he soon started to work on the comparison of the Roman law and the law of the new Czechoslovak state.

Miroslav Boháček was also known for his great knowledge of historical documents and investigative search for medieval sources of relevant information. He focused his later studies on the history of the canon law and on the reception of the classical Roman law in the Middle Ages.

Science - Research - Society

Opening Ceremony for the Library of the ASCR

After one year of extensive renovation, the hall of the Library of the ASCR, situated on the Boulevard Národní in Prague, was reopened on December 1^st, 1999. The Academy of Sciences was motivated to bring about this renaissance by a desire to serve the academic and non-academic public in an inviting environment with its extensive book collection and state-of-the-art technologies, including banks of computers with access to Internet catalogues.

The decision to use the hall as the reading-room of the ASCR library enabled the rehabilitation of its historically valuable interior and retrieved the concealed architectural symmetry of the whole buildIng. The author of the reconstruction project is architect Petr Bouřil from the studio AB&M Architects Ltd.

The process of reconstruction started by using the original purified components. Only few replicas that were modeled on old photographs replaced the originals when necessary. Architect Bouřil incorporated a present-day motif by using contemporary style furniture and a multi-floor system for the bookshelves.

The reconstruction of the hall of the 3^rd most extensive special library in the Czech Republic cost over 47 million Czech crowns.

ESF - European Science Foundation

European Science Foundation is an association of national organizations promoting scientific research. ESF was founded in 1974, and therefore this year it celebrates the 25^th year of its foundation. Currently, ESF counts 65 members (scientific institutions, academies, grant agencies etc.) from 22 countries. ESF states it is a non-governmental organization, even though its members are mostly dependent on the state financial resources. It cooperates closely with the European Union in the field of interests related to science. The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Grant Agency of the Czech Republic became the members of ESF in January 1999.

ESF supports scientific activities at a high quality level and tries to raise a number of important co-operative projects involving scientists and experts from more than one country and having special demands for expensive equipment, which a particular science institution could not otherwise afford. Thus obtained results should bring completely new ideas for further research. ESF together with its member organizations are constantly elaborating the strategy of the science policy in Europe.

"Tracking" the Algae - the Visit in Třeboň

The area of landscape surrounding the famous southern Bohemia town Třeboň represents an ideal environment for the research of algae and other moss plants. It is obviously the best location for the institutes focused on such research - the Division of Autotrophic Microorganisms of the Institute of Microbiology and the Department of Plant Ecology of the Institute of Botany.

Rapid Development in the Field of Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

The Nuclear Physics Institute of the ASCR started producing radiopharmaceuticals for PET.

Introducing the Institutes

Publishing House Academia

Academia was founded on January 1^st, 1953, as the Publishing House of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. On January 1^st, 1966, it was renamed to its current name. For decades Academia has succeeded in popularizing worldwide scientific achievements, and mainly Czech science, to which it has been closely connected, and for this feature has been appreciated by the academic community as well as by the readers. After 1989, Academia had to change its profile and publishing policy (reflecting the process of restructuring of the ASCR) to be able to survive in the difficult circumstances of the new economic conditions as well as to conform to the traditional demands of the ASCR for publications of high quality.

Christmas Collection of the Publishing House Academia

Awards

Václav Vítek was honored the Ernst Mach Award
Alfred Bader Award
Hlávka Awards

Events

EMBO Annual Conference

The annual Conference of the European Molecular Biology Organization was held in Prague on October 16th - 18th, 1999, hosted by the Institute of Molecular Genetics.

Doctor Lída Osecká Died

Assistant Professor Lída Osecká, Director of the Institute of Psychology of the ASCR and notable personality of the contemporary Czech psychology, died unexpectedly on October 18^th, 1999. She was 54 years old.Doctor Osecká was a member of many scientific societies and editorial boards in the Czech Republic and abroad. She lectured at the Philosophical Faculty of the Masaryk University in Brno. Students respected her as a teacher who tried to instill in them exactness in formulating ideas, bright reflections in solving problems and sense of responsibility in doing research.

Astronomical Festival 1999

This year, the event of Astronomical Festival took place in the pleasant atmosphere of the Observatory and Planetarium in Brno on September 2nd - 5th, 1999. Its goal was clear - reflection and evaluation of the most important astronomical discoveries of the ending Millennium, followed by their rewarding.

News - Announcements

Zero Time Point - Science for the Third Millennium

The President of the ASCR Professor Rudolf Zahradník, Vice-President of the ASCR Assistant Professor Helena Illnerová, doctor Petr Koťátko from the Philosophical Institute and Assistant Professor Ivo Hlobil from the Institute of the History of Art answered the question: What is the situation in your science domain at the end of the Millennium and what is your opinion about its today's impact on mankind?