Are you studying a natural science or medical degree? We have prepared a special open day for you, offering interesting topics for your bachelor or master thesis and topics for PhD studies. Scientists from IPHYS will present them to you in the morning session (hybrid form – at present and online) and you will have the opportunity to take a look directly into their laboratories in the afternoon. More information
The Martina Roeselová Memorial Grant is designed for graduate students and early career scientists in the natural sciences who are trying to combine competitive scientific activity with quality early childhood care. The IOCB Tech Foundation will support 10 young scientists with an annual scholarship of CZK 150,000. Kateryna Semenovykh from the Institute of Physiology of the CAS received the scholarship for the year 2023 at a ceremony on Friday 16 December 2022. Congratulations!
On Monday, 12 December, the pre-Christmas seminar "The Scientific Footprint of the Work of Four Personalities of the Institute of Physiology of the CAS" was dedicated to Jaroslava Folbergrová, Helena Illnerová, Zdeněk Drahota and Pavel Mareš. The evening was a tribute to these four personalities whose lives are inseparably connected with Institute of Physiology. We congratulate them once again on their significant life anniversaries.
from the left: Z. Drahota, H. Illnerová, J. Folbergrová, P. Mareš
The Institute of Physiology of the CAS, v.v.i. (hereinafter referred to as IPHYS) was ranked among the top-ranked research organizations in the bibliometric evaluation of publications for the period 2016-2020 in the M17+ system. In particular, the high number of high quality publications in the first quartile of journals (Q1) according to the article influence score (AIS) parameter with a corresponding author from IPHYS (55%) was positively evaluated by the relevant Basic Medicine Expert Panel. As stated in the Panel report, information on the corresponding author is essential to determine the leader of the collaborating teams, who is the originator of the project and who manages the whole project. The excellent results of this evaluation thus confirm the important position of IPHYS in the field of biomedical research in the Czech Republic and the important role of IPHYS scientists in characterizing the complex mechanisms of origin and potential therapies for a number of major diseases of civilization.
Starting this year, research in this area will be strengthened by the participation of most IPHYS research teams in one of two strategic projects supported by the European Union through Next Generation EU EXCELES, the National Institute for Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease Research (CarDia) and the National Institute for Neurological Research (NINR). IPHYS's partnership in these two projects will allow to deepen collaboration between basic and clinical research and improve the quality of biomedical research across the Czech Republic.
On Wednesday, 16 November 2022, Veronika Palůchová received the Josef Hlávka Prize in Lužany Castle. This prestigious award is intended for the best students or graduates of Prague universities, Brno technology and young scientists of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The Josef Hlávka Prize is presented annually at his castle in Lužany near Přeštice, on the eve of the national holiday of 17 November, in honour of the memory of the famous Czech architect, builder and patron.
Veronika Palůchová (second from the right)
At the final conference of the Open Science project on 24 November 2022, the winner was Martin Kubeš, a student of the Čáslav Gymnasium, who completed his internship at the Institute of Physiology. Martin Kubeš took 1st place in the Life Sciences category with his presentation entitled "Cations - key elements for the life of eukaryotic cells". He completed his internship in the Laboratory of Membrane Transport under the supervision of Olga Zimmermanná. Congratulations to Martin!
Vojtěch Vyklický succeeded in the grant competition announced by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA CR) with his project "Conformational dynamics of NMDA receptors: from structure to function and pharmacology". The GA CR will fund 10 new EXPRO projects and 23 JUNIOR STAR projects from next year. Both prestigious competitions aim to promote scientific excellence through superior conditions - EXPRO is for experienced scientists who have a breakthrough idea, while JUNIOR STAR will allow outstanding early career scientists to pursue their own research topics. The five-year projects will receive a total of almost one billion crowns. The EXPRO and JUNIOR STAR competitions always support only the best projects that have been endorsed by international evaluation panels. Their researchers have better support conditions during the five-year solution period.
Lucie Bačáková was awarded the prestigious Academic Prize - Praemium Academiae 2022. The purpose of the Academic Prize, as a strictly selective instrument of financial and moral support for scientific excellence in the Czech Academy of Sciences, is to support outstanding scientists who are conducting research at the top international level and to create conditions for them to better develop their potential for the benefit of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Czech science as a whole. Congratulations to doc. Bačáková and her team!
Seven scientists from the Institute of Physiology CAS, including the director of the Institute, dr. Kopecký, participated in the 2nd Bilateral meeting with the Nencki Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw on 10-12 October 2022. The staff of the Institute of Physiology presented the results of their research, especially in the field of metabolism and neurosciences. The aim of the conference was to mutually present selected scientific topics addressed at the individual institutes, whether they were topics addressed within the framework of ongoing joint grants or possibilities of future cooperation, including services (e.g. metabolomic analyses).
above, from the left: Jerzy Duszyński, Agnieszka Dobrzyń, Jan Kopecký; lecture of Tomáš Čajka
bottom photo on the right: Adam Szewczyk
The meeting of the International Advisory Board of Institute of Physiology of the CAS with the management of the Institute took place on 13 and 14 October 2022. During the meeting, the members of the Board got acquainted with the organizational structure of the Institute, scientific and pedagogical activities, as well as the overall budget and the economic model of financing individual laboratories. During the discussions and visits to selected scientific and service departments, the questions of research strategy and further development of the Institute, start-up programme for the establishment of new departments or the possibility of participation in European research projects were raised. The Advisory Board will help further with improving international cooperation and increasing the prestige of the Institute, with evaluation criteria for the quality of individual laboratories and with improving of the leadership of the institute.
from the left: Jan Kopecký, Bryndis Birnir, Adam Szewczyk, Pontus Persson, Marianne Schultzberg, Jiří Paleček
Enrico Patrono won the national round of the international Falling Walls Lab competition in Wroclaw, Poland. The aim of the project is to connect the next generation of scientists and innovators and come up with a breakthrough idea - a scientific project, a business plan or a social initiative that breaks down all walls and barriers. Enrico has advanced to the global final in Berlin, which are regularly held on the day of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, 7 November 2022.
His project is about an innovative trans-disciplinary approach to Neuroscience. "With the collaboration of a physicist from the University of Hamburg, we are implementing a new in-vitro device called Brain-on-a-Chip (BoC), reproducing specific brain areas in a plastic chip. This new tool will allow us to model any potential features of psychopathology and to study in-depth and, on time, the specific neurotransmission. Furthermore, coupling with optogenetics methods, we can tackle the “spatial-temporal resolution” problem in Neuroscience, which is critical in detecting the main brain actors playing in the drama of psychiatric disorders", explains Dr. Patrono.
On Wednesday 14 September 2022, Ing. Michal Pravenec, DrSc. received the Gregor Johann Mendel Honorary Field Medal for Merit in the Biological Sciences. Michal Pravenec investigates which genetic variants cause common diseases such as diabetes. He has gained international recognition especially in the field of genetics of complex traits in animal models. The recognition worldwide is also evident from the list of prestigious foreign grant projects he has received. In 2015, he received the highest award of the Academy of Sciences - the Academic Award. This was tied to a project in which Michal Pravenec and his team investigate how excess salt does or does not cause hypertension. He has also played a key role in the development of unique biological models and analytical approaches to unravel the genetic determinants of multifactorial metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes at the molecular level in animals, and in using these results to understand the pathogenesis of similar traits in humans.
Twenty-five outstanding young scientific talents have received a prestigious award of the Czech Academy of Sciences: Otto Wichterle Prize 2022. The future generation of scientists under the age of 35 received the award from the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences Eva Zažímalová during a ceremony on 20 June 2022. One of the awardees is Dalibor Košek from the Institute of Physiology of the CAS. Dr. Kosek studies DNA transposons, which are mobile genetic elements present in the genome of almost all organisms. Among other things, they are involved in the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Dr. Košek has contributed significantly to the elucidation of a number of questions and is an expert in addressing the molecular mechanisms involved in DNA recombination. He has also described a mobilisation system that may have future applications in genetic medicine.
On 7 June, Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek awarded the significant projects in health science and research the Award of the Minister of Health for Health Research and Development for 2021. Přemysl Jiruška was one of the five honoured and received the prize for his studies of anatomical and functional changes in the brain after a stroke or epilepsy, which he carried out as part of his scientific work at the Institute of Physiology. The new findings regarding CMS will allow to identify patients who will benefit most from early rehabilitation. In the case of epilepsy, the results will then be used to determine the risk of seizures and to introduce new treatments. Funding for the projects is distributed by the Czech Medical Research Agency (AZV), with more than six billion crowns for the years 2020 to 2026.
Deadline was extended to March 31 to facilitate applications of Ukrainian students. More information
On Tuesday, March 1, Josef Zicha and Jan Kopecký received from the hands of P. Mareš and B. Ošt'ádal the Jan Evangelista Purkyně Honorary Medals for Merit in Biomedical Sciences. This award has been awarded by the Czech Acadeny of Sciences since 1965 in recognition of outstanding results of scientific work in biology, especially in the fields of biomedicine. During the award ceremony, J. Zicha summarized past years of Physiological Research, a bimonthly journal published by the Institute of Physiology in English, which celebrates 70th anniversary this year.
IPHYS enables to try selected psychological tests as part of online Brain Awareness Week 2022, The tests are used to determine memory impairment and spatial orientation disorders connected with Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy or schizophrenia. The tests were developed by scientists from the Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Memory.
On Thursday, 27 January, the Scientific Council of Charles University awarded a commemorative medal to eight prominent personalities whose professional lives are connected with the University. Prof. RNDr. František Vyskočil, DrSc. received a silver commemorative medal for his significant lifetime work in the field of physiology and his long-standing scientific and pedagogical activities at Charles University.
František Vyskočil has been researching neurophysiology and biophysics of cell membranes since his student years. His discoveries have significantly deepened the knowledge of the transmission of nerve impulses and the overall functioning of the nervous system of animals, including the human brain. His first research work, which he undertook as a student at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, on neuromuscular coupling was published in one of the most prestigious scientific journals, Nature. František Vyskočil also gained international attention for his discovery and description of the mechanism of so-called non-quantum excretion of neurotransmitters at mammalian synapses. In total, he is the author of 310 scientific papers. Professor Vyskočil connected his professional life with the Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences and still lectures at the Faculty of Science of the Charles University. He is also a popular teacher and popularizer of science, for which he has received numerous awards.
Are you studying a natural science or medical degree? We have prepared a special open day for you, offering interesting topics for your bachelor or master thesis and topics for PhD studies. Scientists from IPHYS will present them to you in the morning session (hybrid form – at present and online) and you will have the opportunity to take a look directly into their laboratories in the afternoon. We look forward to seeing you:)
The Director of the Institute, MUDr. Jan Kopecký, DrSc. was awarded the Jan Evangelista Purkinje Honorary Field Medal for Merit in Biomedical Sciences. This award has been granted by the Czech Academy of Sciences since 1965 in recognition of outstanding results of scientific work in biology, especially in the fields of biomedical sciences.
Jan Kopecký has contributed to a significant advance in research on the problems of metabolism and obesity on a global level and has thus contributed to the improvement of treatment procedures for patients. He has co-authored more than 188 scientific articles mainly in the field of biochemistry, molecular biology and metabolism. His current research topics include the influence of white adipose tissue metabolism on whole-body lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, ontogenetic development of energy metabolism, and translational research on cachexia and adipose tissue. His work defined the concept of a "healthy adipocyte", i.e. a fat cell with a high capacity for oxidative phosphorylation and the ability to respond flexibly to metabolic changes. Congratulations on the award!
