04/2001

Academic bulletin 04/2001

The last day at the Academy - the former president of the ASCR Rudolf Zahradník bid his "farewell".

Research and Development Council of the Government of the Czech Republic

Report from the 144^th and 145^th sessions of the Czech Government's Research and Development Council

News from the Academic Council - the 56^th Session

Portraits from the Archives

František Lexa - 125^th Anniversary of His Birth

Professor František Lexa, the renowed as founder of Czech Egyptology, was born in Pardubice. He was very gifted student with interests in many different fields of science. After beginning of his university studies, he devoted his attention to mathematics and physics; later he was keen on philosophy and psychology. His dissertation on the psychology of the various alphabets he determinedly focused his erudition on hieroglyphics and the history of ancient Egypt. He also helped to found the Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology in Cairo. It is quite a paradox that František Lexa visited his beloved country of Nile only twice.

Science - Research - Society

Czech Mirror of the Internet Page Web of Science Starting in the Czech Republic

Web of Science is the result of the project Journal Citation Reports on the Web, which is a product of the Institute for Scientific Information. The Web of Science provides Web access to the ISI citation databases - multidisciplinary, high quality research information from the world's leading professional science, social science, and arts and humanities journals. Unlike other databases, the ISI citation databases offer access to the articles' cited references, including footnotes from authors' bibliographies. The cited items, including articles, government reports, patents or original creative work, provide researchers with navigational options making their searches more productive. It enables researchers to conduct fast studies of the impact and influence of nearly 7,000 international science research journals.

Introducing the Projects - the Key Field 21: Biodiversity and the Function of the Ecological Systems

The project Key Field 21 is one of the projects that was solved in the Institute of Botany of the ASCR in 2000 as a part of the Program of Development of the Key Fields of Science. Some of the research results were published in the books Vegetation Survey of the Czech Republic and Map of Potential Natural Vegetation of the Czech Republic.

European Week of Brain

During the week of March 12^th - 16^th, the European Dana Alliance for the Brain and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives in USA co-ordinated meetings of neuroscience experts from around the world. Their goal was to inform the public about the newest explorations and trends in the research of neuroscience. The Institute of Experimental Medicine of the ASCR and Czech Society of Neuroscience organised workshops and related events. The Department of Public Relations of the ASCR organised a press conference and a three-day "marathon" of panel discussions.

Colloquium on the Problem of Moravian Identity

The workshop Czech or Moravian? - On the Development of National Conscience in Moravia was held in Brno on February 28, 2001. The meeting of experts from Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slovakia was organised by the Historical Institute of the ASCR and Historical Institute of the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University.

Papua-New Guinea - Known and Unknown Country

An interview with young Czech scientist, an expert on the herbivore insect, takes the reader to the tropical woods of Papua-New Guinea. Assistant Professor Vojtěch Novotný works at the Institute of Entomology of the ASCR in České Budějovice and lectures at the Biology Faculty of South Bohemian University but most of his active life as scientist he has spent doing research in Papua-New Guinea. His colourful description of conditions in this tropical country might inspire and spur a young student aspiring to be scientist.

Scientific Societies

Czech Chemical Society

The Czech Chemical Society was founded in 1886. It is an organisation devoted to chemistry and related research fields, which supports the scientific and pedagogical activities of its members oriented on developing chemistry. The Czech Chemical Society publishes a journal for the Association of Czech Chemical Societies, Chemické listy, the only impact magazine for professionals in chemistry. CCS has 2,500 members.

Events

Report on the Assembly of the Council of European Meteorological Society

The session of the relatively newly established (in 1999) organisation, the European Meteorological Society, was held March 16 - 17, 2001 in Prague.

International Workshop Integrated Analysis of Risks in Forest Ecosystems Affected by the Bark Beetle

The Institute of the Ecology of the Landscape of the ASCR organised the meeting of participants of the international project INCO - COPERNICUS Integrated Analysis of Risks in Forest Ecosystems Affected by the Bark Beetle.

Cultural Anthropology and Sociobiology

A traditional cycle of lectures for journalists, titled Cultural Anthropology and Sociobiology, on actual topics in science was organised by the Council for Popularising Science (concluded with its final press conference) on February 28, 2001.

News - Announcements

Chronicle

Presentation of new books by Zdena Bratršovská and František Hrdlička published by the publishing house Academia

European Week of the Brain - a series of panel discussions at the Academy

Opening ceremony of the exhibition of works of Milan Blšťák the World as Macro

Topical Supplement

Behold! the Rose is Flowering - Apical Meristem

An interview with Jan Krekule, Professor of plant physiology on Charles University and a researcher working at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the ASCR, discovers the secret of the process of flowering.