News from FZU

The ‘First Light’ from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in which FZU scientists have been involved from the very beginning, has attracted a lot of interest in the print and online media and has also been given space in television broadcasts. On this page we present a selection of the most interesting media outputs.

The world's leading mineralogist Jakub Plášil has been unravelling complex crystal structures and discovering new minerals for years. At first glance, it might seem that this is a marginal area of science that is not "in vogue" today. Yet Plášil and his colleagues are making discoveries that have broader implications – for example, in understanding how uranium and other metallic elements are distributed in nature. His research has won him an award by the European Mineralogical Union.

An international team led by Jakub Vícha from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has proposed a revolutionary "heavy metal" scenario that may change the view on the composition of the most energetic particles arriving from space. The theory, which the physicist built together with his team based on the analysis of unique data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, will contribute to answering the question of what these particles are made of and where they originate. A crucial role might be played by iron.  Description Illustration of a high-energy cosmic ray shower recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory (using 22 surface detector stations and four fluorescence detector stations).  | photo: Pierre Auger Observatory

Sakura Pascarelli, scientific director at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (EuXFEL), gave in the Dvořák lecture a full and inspiring overview of the facility's cutting-edge science, technological advancements, and its transformative role in global research.

Another session of the popular Radius Centre workshop - Journal Club, where scientists discuss interesting scientific articles.

For the ninth time, we met science enthusiasts from schools and the general public at the Czech Academy of Sciences' Science Fair, the largest popular science event in the Czech Republic. At the FZU exhibition, people could play sunrays in the photovoltaic tent, see the spectrum of visible light with their own eyes, build molecules from Lego, read new physics-themed comics and short stories, and also see a real magnetic sputtering machine, observe the martensitic transformation of alloys under a microscope, and other important physical instruments and phenomena.

Abstract:This lecture will present EuPRAXIA (European Plasma Research Accelerator with eXcellence In Applications), a pioneering concept for a European research infrastructure based on advanced plasma acceleration techniques. EuPRAXIA aims to deliver ultra-compact, cost-effective accelerator facilities serving scientific, medical, and industrial applications. The presentation will explore the project's scientific objectives, technological breakthroughs, facility layout, and the strategic involvement of international — including Czech — stakeholders in its development. It will also discuss EuPRAXIA's role within the broader European research infrastructure ecosystem and its potential synergies with CERN and national research priorities. 

Abstract:The hadron production in the simulation of extensive air showers is a long standing problem and the origin of large uncertainties in the reconstruction of the mass of the high energy primary cosmic rays. Hadronic interaction models re-tuned after early LHC data give more consistent results among each other compared to the first generation of models, but still can't reproduce extended air shower data (EAS) consistently resulting in the so-called "muon puzzle". Using more recent LHC data like in the QGSJET-III model improve further the description of EAS by such a model but is not enough to resolve the discrepancy. On the other hand, the EPOS project is a theoretical global approach aiming at describing data from very fundamental electron-positron interactions to central heavy ions collisions. We will demonstrate that this approach can provide new constraints, changing the correlation between the measured data at mid-rapidity and the predicted particle production at large rapidities, which drive the EAS development. Thus, using the same accelerator data, different predictions are obtained in air shower simulations in much better agreement with the current air shower data (for both the maximum shower development depth Xmax and the energy spectrum of the muons at ground). Using the EPOS LHC-R model, the detailed changes will be addressed and their consequences on EAS observable at various energies. The seminar will be held in the Dvořák hall, FZU, Pod Vodárenskou věží 1, Prague.Location: https://goo.gl/maps/wEf7PsiLimSXMZhE9 

Are you curious about how to engage the public, companies, or the media with your scientific work? Join us for an interactive introductory seminar on science communication.

Dear colleagues,Let us invite you and your children to an afternoon of games and fun, this time with the theme of (super)heroes. The event takes place on the premises of the FZU at Slovanka in all weather conditions. You can look forward to activities for all ages, barbecue, other refreshments, and small gifts.You can book your place here. When booking, please specify the number of people attending the event (adults+children). We are looking forward to everyone!

The poster titled "Anonymization: The Future is Unbiased", presented by the FZU team (led by Markéta Iffland and Lucie Speváková) at the EARMA–INORMS Congress 2025, has been selected by expert committee as the best poster. The event, held from 6 to 8 May 2025 in Madrid, Spain, brought together over 2,000 research management professionals from 67 countries, offering a unique platform for in-person networking and exchange of best practices.

How can the preparation of polymer brushes, the basis of modern biosensors, be made faster and simpler? A team led by Hana Lísalová from the Division of Optics of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences has found a solution: it designed and, using 3D printing, manufactured a microfluidic reactor. The new method of preparing thin polymer films allows for better control of their properties while saving time and chemicals. The research results were published in the prestigious Chemical Engineering Journal.

Dear colleagues,we would like to invite you to the seminar of Division of Elementary Particle Physics of Institute of Physics, presented by Volker Springel.For more info, please see invitation.

Starting Monday, May 5, for four days we could meet almost a hundred international participants of the final meeting of the Advancement and Innovation for Detectors at Accelerators (AIDAinnova) project in the corridors of the Solid 21 building and the old building of the Institute of Physics.

On Friday 16 May, six agreements on scientific cooperation were formally signed at the Prague representation of the Free State of Saxony, between the German Center for Astrophysics and leading Czech scientific institutions. Michael Prouza, the Director of FZU - Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, signed the agreement alongside Professor Günther Hasinger, the designated founding director of the German Center. 

Altermagnets and magnonics have both made the headlines repeatedly last year. Miina Leiviskä, a MSCA COFUND Physics for Future fellowship postdoc at the Institute of Physics of the CAS, blends these topics that have so recently upturned the world of physics. Are they at the core of future computing, or is it not so simple?

Scientists from the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, led by Zdeněk Hubička and Jiří Olejníček, have succeeded in developing an improved method for preparing thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) that respond to vacuum ultraviolet radiation much faster than previously known films produced by other methods. We have previously written about the early benefits of this technology here. The key to the current shift has been the use of a new plasma deposition method based on electron cyclotron wave resonance, which has made it possible to significantly reduce the appearance of specific defects in the material. This led to the detection rate of the optical signal and the photosensitivity itself being increased several times. The results, which were published in the prestigious  Scientific Reportsjournal, were contributed to also by colleagues from Japan, Kuwait and New Zealand.