Department of Theory of Elementary Particles

Does it make sense to publish a printed journal that deals with the promotion of physics? With this controversial question, the director of the Institute of Physics, Michael Prouza, opened a discussion on the future of the popularization of physics. The debate took place on Monday, October 24, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Československý časopis pro fyziku journal in a crowded hall of the SOLID21 building, and was followed by expert lectures on the history of physics and its popularization.

Today the Honorary Medals have been handed over by the president of the Czech Academy of Sciences Eva Zažímalová. The recipients were 11 researchers honoured for their long-lasting contribution to science by the Czech Academy of Sciences. The laureates included two researchers from the Institute of Physics, prof. Jiří Chýla, CSc. and prof. RNDr. Ivan Pelant, DrSc.

Less than 5% of the Universe is made of normal, visible matter; the rest is dark energy (68%) and dark matter (27%).  No wonder then that understanding the bigger fraction of matter is a fundamental goal of astrophysics and cosmology. Federico Urban from FZU got an EEA and Norway grant to foster international collaboration on several aspects of dark matter.

Václav Vrba, our classmate, friend and colleague passed away after a long illness on Tuesday, December 29. His life’s pilgrimage crossed ours in a number of places and for years in our working as well as personal lives and it is difficult for us to accept that it no longer will be so.

A total of seven Lumina Quaeruntur premiums for researchers of younger and middle generation have been awarded by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic within a programme to support prospective scientists. One of the recognized researchers is Ippocratis Saltas from Centre for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics of the Institute of Physics. The annual ceremony at which laureates are handed over prizes by Eva Zažímalová, the president of the Academy of Sciences, was postponed due to epidemiological measures.