04/2007

Academic bulletin 04/2007

RESUMÉ

František Šmahel and Charles University
On the occasion of signing the contract between ASCR and Charles University in Prague, historian Prof. Fratišek Šmahel, a member of Academy Council of the ASCR, presented Prof. Václav Hampl, rector of Charles University, with a copy of his prestigious book, Charles University in the Middle Ages.

TOPIC OF THE MONTH
Dangerous Competition or Early Betrayed Promise
Earlier this month, the Czech media reported that a highly efficient antiviral drug developed by Czech scientists has been shelved, reportedly for fear it would compete with existing medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical giants. The substance, known as MK-612, was designed at the Academy's Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. Academic Bulletin interviewed Zdeněk Havlas, headmaster of the Institute, about the next stage in the future of this efficient substance MK-612.

TOPIC OF THE MONTH
Mysterious, Complicated and Captivating; Such is the Brain
European Brain Awareness Week, initiated by the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB) organization, has been arranged in the Czech Republic by the Press Department of the ASCR, as it has already for nine years. In March 200, 11 lectures of the best Czech specialists were presented to high-school students and the public.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
Homage was paid to J. A. Comenius at the Leibniz-Sozietät, Berlin
On the occasion of the 350^th anniversary of the publication of the Opera didactica omnia (Amsterdam 1657), a collection of Comenius's educational works, Leibniz-Sozietät, Berlin, held a one-day symposium (Comenius's grandson was one of the builders of the Leibnitz Society). An International Comeniological Conference, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and the Pedagogical Museum J. A. Comenius in Prague, is under preparation.

In Prestigious Companionship
One of the most famous Czech scientists, theoretical astronomer Prof. Jan Palouš, a member of the Academy Council of the ASCR, talks in an interview about his membership in the prestigious correspondence-board of The Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Globalization from the point-of-view of a member of the European Commission
March 1^st was a unique occasion for meeting a Czech member of the European Parliament, Dr. Vladimír Špidla, and listening to his speech and opinions on globalization and related problems. The discussion which followed showed that the most biting problems are politics, culture and socio-economic aspects of globalization.

German Minorities in Rules of Law, 1938–1948 Period
In February 2007, The Institute of the Contemporary History of the ASCR co-organized a seminar which was the finale of a Bohemian-German project which began in 1999. A comparison of European law and rules valid during the post-war period and linked to German minorities was the aim. Law and regulations in Poland, Hungary, France, Denmark, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Italy were also analyzed.