Jindřich Musil was born on January 19, 1934, in Březina. After graduating from the University of Defense in Brno in 1957, he started to pursue his career in science; first as a researcher at Tesla, then, from 1961, at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences at the Institute of Plasma Physics and the Institute of Physics.
From 1975 to 1978, he was the chief scientist of the Tokamak experiment at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Prague, and then from 1979 to 1983, he was the head of the Department of Applied Plasma Physics (plasma chemistry and thin film preparation). He was a senior researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences from 1983, where he headed the Gas Discharge Department for seven years. At the same time, he became the head of a project on high-power pulsed and continuous iodine lasers for thin film preparation. In 1966, Jindřich Musil obtained his CSc. degree at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, followed by his DrSc. degree in 1979 in the field of physical and mathematical sciences.
In addition to his research work, he was also a teacher, mentor, and above all a role model for many young scientists. At the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, he spent several decades supervising master's and doctoral theses, shaping entire generations of scientists. Under his supervision, more than 50 postgraduate students completed their studies, many of whom went on to become leading experts in their fields. In 1995, he also became a professor of applied physics there. His teaching career at the university was very successful, and many of his students are now leading scientists.
His research interests covered a wide range of areas from electromagnetic fields to plasma physics and thermonuclear fusion. His scientific work included the propagation of electromagnetic waves in various media, radar engineering, millimetre wave interferometry, plasma physics, high-power pulsed gas lasers, plasma chemistry, and the physics of thin films and coatings. At the peak of his career, he focused on plasma deposition processes and the preparation of thin films and coatings with remarkable mechanical and optical properties. Jindřich Musil was a globally respected scientist in the field of PVD and thin film preparation with an excellent international reputation. He worked at several international institutions. He was a visiting professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University in China and SungKyunKwan University in South Korea. He also worked briefly at Kyoto University in Japan.
During his scientific career, he was a member of many professional committees, including the European Joint Committee on Plasma and Ion Surface Engineering. He has also received many prestigious awards, including the "Czechoslovak State Prize for the Development of Plasma Technologies" for the preparation of thin films in Czechoslovakia (1984), the R. F. Bunshah Award for "Key contributions to the development of advanced nanocomposite coatings with increased hardness, oxidation resistance, toughness, and crack resistance," and an award by the American Vacuum Society 2014. In 2022, he received the Plasma Surface Engineering Leading Scientist Award at the PSE 2022 conference in Erfurt. In 2020, Professor Musil was appointed emeritus scientist of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and in 2023 the Academy presented him with the Ernst Mach Honorary Medal for Merit in the Physical Sciences.
His work was published in many renowned scientific journals and received over 11,000 citations. Professor Jindřich Musil was also the co-author of an impressive 42 patents.
He remained active in the world of science until late in life, continuing to participate in international conferences and scientific meetings even in his final years. We remember him as a mentor who seemed strict at first glance, but when it came to work in the laboratory or the latest scientific findings, he always brightened up and took a keen interest in new research developments. He enjoyed participating in discussions, where he himself proposed a variety of interesting solutions.
Jindřich Musil passed away on October 31, 2025, at the age of 92.
Prof. Musil přebírá Medaili Ernesta Macha.
Autor: Foto: Josef Landergott, Divize vnějších vztahů SSČ AV ČR, fotografie jsou uvolněny pod svobodnou licencí Creative Commons BY-SA.