News from FZU

In recent weeks, CERN has delivered two results worth paying attention to. The LHCb experiment discovered a long-sought particle. The BASE experiment, for the first time in history, transported antiprotons outside the laboratory. 

The FZU Photography Competition is back. As every year, we are inviting everyone who wants to capture the world through the lens of science and their own imagination. The competition is open in two categories, and the best photos will be awarded at a ceremony in autumn 2026.

On Czech Wikipedia today, you will find over 133,000 articles about men and only 30,000 about women, a mere 22% of all biographies. The missing aren't only historical figures. Many current female scientists, internationally recognised and published in leading journals, have no entry at all. In March, the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU) joined forces with Wikimedia Czech Republic to do something about it, co-organising an editathon on 24 March focused on women in science. 

ProgramThe workshop is designed to include lectures followed by a hands-on session, during which participants can work on selected examples from the Jana cookbook using their laptops.Here is the program draft. It may be fine-tuned according to the participant's wishes.Day 1, 9:00-12:00, Simple 3d structuresLecture: Introduction to Jana2020 Day 1, 13:00-18:00, Modulated structuresLecture: Modulated structures Day 2, 9:00-12:00, Powder structuresLecture: Powder structures Day 2, 13:00-18:00, Electron density studiesLecture: Electron density studies

ProgramThe workshop is designed to include lectures followed by a hands-on session, during which participants can work on selected examples from the Jana cookbook using their laptops.This workshop focuses on all aspects of indexing, solution, and refinement of powder structures in Jana2020.Online participation is not possible. Topics:Introduction to Jana2020Indexing and solution of powder structures by external programs, their communication with Jana2020Restraints and constraints to control geometryModulated structures from powder dataMultiphasesAutomatic refinement and analysis of many data setsSharpening of electron density maps

What happens when a particle from deep space hits the Earth's atmosphere? And how do scientists actually find out? A group of secondary school students explored these questions after being invited by the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU) and the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering at CTU (FJFI) to a full-day seminar on astroparticle physics.

ProgramThe workshop is designed to include lectures followed by a hands-on session, during which participants can work on selected examples from the Jana cookbook using their laptops.Here is the program draft. It will be fine-tunedThis workshop is focused on the solution and refinement of magnetic structures in Jana2020.Day 1, 9:00-18:00, Simple magnetic structuresDay 2, 9:00-18:00, Advanced magnetic structuresLectures: Introduction to Jana2020; Magnetic structures; Magnetic symmetry; Superspace and magnetic superspace groups; Commensurate structuresLecturers: Václav Petříček, Margarida Henriques, Manuel Perez-Mato, Michal Dušek

Ing. Vladimír Nekvasil, DrSc. belonged to those scientists who feel a responsibility for the environment in which science is made. He devoted his entire life to condensed matter physics and, after 1989, became one of the key figures in building Czech science on new, free foundations. On 20 April, he would have turned 82.

Jakub Bulička from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has taken third place in the best diploma thesis category of the Werner von Siemens Award - one of the most prestigious prizes for student research in the Czech Republic. His thesis was supervised by Libor Juha and defended at the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering at CTU in Prague.

The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a European scientific project of extraordinary scope, aimed at building a next-generation gravitational wave detector capable of detecting minute distortions in spacetime itself with unprecedented sensitivity. Hidden deep underground, the instrument is expected to detect up to a thousand times more cosmic collisions of black holes and neutron stars than today’s observatories and track their evolution throughout the history of the universe. These new observations could help scientists explain the formation of galaxies or shed light on certain aspects of the early universe shortly after the Big Bang. 

How can we better detect invisible fingerprints, even on problematic surfaces? This is precisely the focus of the project “Increasing the Effectiveness of Methods for Visualizing Latent Fingerprints” (EfektOP, VK02010123), which involves the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, and the Forensic Institute of the Czech Police. The project will run from 2026 to 2029, and its goal is to improve the detection of latent dactyloscopic traces, particularly on difficult surfaces, thereby increasing the success rate of forensic investigations. It is supported by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic as part of the OPSEC security research program.

Students involved in the Czech Journey to Space project accepted an invitation to an expert excursion to the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. During the excursion, they learned about current research, technologies, and international projects in which the Institute is involved, and tried their hand at the work of scientists in laboratories. 

How can we create a working environment in which people feel respected, can openly share their experiences, and are not afraid to point out problematic situations? These and many other questions were addressed in a lecture by Kateřina Šámalová, ombudswoman at Charles University, organized by the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University, in cooperation with the Czech Academy of Sciences, has launched the most powerful Czech helium liquefier for scientific purposes, with a capacity of 57 liters of liquid helium per hour, which can liquefy up to 70,000 m3 of gaseous helium per year. Scientists will also use the device to re-liquefy extremely volatile rare gases from laboratories, which they recycle in this way.

In the presence of representatives of the European Commission, the Czech Academy of Sciences, ministries, partner institutions, and industry, the Surface Science Laboratory Station (SSLS) research apparatus was officially inaugurated on February 12 at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The apparatus was moved to Prague from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Karlsruhe. 

What challenges must women overcome if they want to succeed in science while also caring for their families? And is it possible to lead the largest scientific institution in Czechia without compromising one's values? These and other questions were answered by two prominent figures in Czech science – Professors Helena Illnerová and Eva Zažímalová, former presidents of the Czech Academy of Sciences, during the Per aspera – Women's Path through Science gala evening, which took place at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science.