Crystals are as a construction set. They are made up from tiny building blocks which often are molecules. Lukáš Palatinus is able to determine what molecules look like and how they are put together in a crystal. He can thus create new models of crystal structures. An imperfect crystal, which is characterised by errors and inaccuracies in the cube structure, is another scientific challenge for Lukáš Palatinus.
A work published Science in March 2020 shows that the development of crystallographic calculations also plays an important role in top physical research.
Authors extended the application of the method further to the fields where the knowledge of the so-called absolute configuration of molecules is indispensable, such as pharmaceutical research or molecular biology. The new method will be used in laboratories and the development of drugs will become faster, simpler and more effective.
A medal received a Slovak experimental scientist in the field of elementary particles, doc Brunckov. The second medal went to the department of physical chemistry at Munich University. Other honoured fields were the geophysics, philosophy or literature science.
Among other successes, he developed a program Superflip, which has been widely adopted by the crystallographic community and is one of the most commonly used programs in the field today.
Václav Petříček has been awarded for his contribution to the practical application of the theory of aperiodic structures in his computing system JANA. The Max Perutz Prize is one of two highest appreciation in the field of crystallography. Currently, almost every modulated structure is solved with JANA, and the program gets about 300 citations per year.
Václav Petříček has received the Charles Barrett Award for development of the theory of incommensurately modulated and composite structures, for utilizing this theory in the computing system Jana2006 and for development of an archiving system of aperiodic structures in the database Powder Diffraction FileTM.
Academy Council took up proposals of Academy prizes and honorary medals on its 30th meeting on June 7, 2011. besides Czech representatives, the Council recommended awarding Professor Dieter Vollhardt from the University of Augsburg for his merits in physical sciences.
