We are proud to announce that the project Biogas for Sustainable Renewable Energy and Green Youth Entrepreneurship (BLESGY), implemented by the School of Business UCT Prague, has received the prestigious Energy Globe certificate.

The project, which focuses on promoting sustainable biogas production and fostering green entrepreneurship among young people, impressed the jury with its innovative approach and exceptional results. After submitting a detailed project documentation, including its objectives, outcomes, and accompanying experimental videos, a Norwegian delegate visited the project site in Kapyanga, Zambia. The project met all the requirements and received this prestigious recognition.

A key pillar of BLESGY is its unique business model, which connects the supply chains of six essential commodities. This approach promotes the creation of employment and business opportunities in both urban and rural areas, particularly by involving low-income communities. These groups can participate as suppliers of raw materials, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or consumers. Additionally, the project synergistically links sectors such as pig farming, biogas production, animal feed manufacturing, and solid organic fertilizers.

BLESGY places a strong emphasis on engaging youth in the development of the local entrepreneurial environment. Young people are seen as a key driver of transformation, with their support being crucial to achieving equitable economic growth, shared prosperity, and poverty reduction. Biogas not only serves as a source of clean off-grid energy for rural areas but also provides a foundation for producing organic fertilizers. This process offers young people valuable experience and opens new job and business opportunities.

The technical oversight of the project was led by Dr. Patrick Kapila, while the business model was overseen by Associate Professor Lenka Švecová, Ph.D.

This prestigious award affirms the high level and impact of the BLESGY project, marking a significant step toward a sustainable future and supporting young generations.

On Monday November 18th our university welcomed students of international study program ATHENS. The Faculty of Environmental Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering regularly offer courses Environmental Technology and Digital Signal and Image Processing with Applications .

• More information on ATHENS project at UCT Prague

On Saturday, November 9th 2024, The 1st International Doctoral Conference on Advances in Chemistry took place at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) under the patronship of vice-rector Michaela Rumlová and PhD support Mili Losmanová. The conference for PhD candidates in chemistry was organised by their fellow PhD candidates, namely Sára Hermochová, Eva Pospíšilová and Jan Vališ from the Department of Analytical Chemistry, FCE, UCT Prague, and welcomed over 40 participants from different universities across the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine.

Best presentations in each section was awarded with a price:

• Organic Chemistry: Killiann Heinz (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague)
• Biochemistry: Ondřej Morávek (University of Pardubice)
• Environmental Chemistry: Jan Čundrle (J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem)
• Analytical, Physical and Computational Chemistry: Jorge Servert Lerdo de Tejada (University of Manchester)
• Chemical Engineering and Technology: Dániel Gardenö (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague)

The conference was supported by UCT Prague, ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation and Zentiva.

The 20th International Conference on Polysaccharides and Glycoscience will take place from 13 to 15 November 2024 under the auspices of the Czech Chemical Society and in cooperation with the Department of Carbohydrates and Cereals, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague.

This year's conference will focus on the isolation, structural analysis and biological activities of polysaccharides, as well as their technological production and application. The main information can be found on our website: polysaccharides.csch.cz.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, popularly known as the Nobel Prize for Economics, was awarded in 2024 to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. The first two awardees work at MIT and the third is a professor at the University of Chicago.

The official statement of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences states that the authors have shown that quality societal institutions are important for achieving economic prosperity. Societies with weak institutional background do not achieve economic growth and achieve higher poverty rates. More precisely, the authors work with the concept of inclusive institutions that enable a wider part of the population to participate in the results of economic activities. The institutions can also be characterized by the opposite, which the authors call extractive institutions. The main findings were published in a joint paper in 2001: The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation. Their work became more widely known in the form of a book published in 2012: Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.

Their work falls into the area of ​​examining the factors of long-term economic development, an area in which mainstream economics notoriously fails, and it is worth noting that it has been the target of much criticism, even from mainstream economists. They criticize their methodological approach and often reductive interpretations of complex historical phenomena, which, moreover, in some cases are cherry-picked to „confirm“ the authors' theory. A critique of their work is very well captured in M. Khan's 2012 essay: Governance and Growth: History, Ideology and Methods of Proof.

Vít Pošta

Prague, 17 September 2024 - The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, is sending a gift of one million CZK to those affected by recent floods. UCT Prague’s Academic Senate unanimously approved the proposal from the university’s leadership at its meeting today.

“We sympathize with everyone affected by this natural disaster. The thought of waking up one day, having to evacuate, and possibly losing your home in the end is terrifying. We hope our donation will help some people rebuild,” UCT Prague’s Rector Milan Pospíšil said.

The university’s donation will come from additional activity revenue sources. Over the years, UCT Prague has made various donations, including to people affected by the 2013 floods; the 2021 South Moravian and Louny tornados; the Russo-Ukrainian War (Mykolaiv National University, Ukraine); and most recently, the tragic December 2023 Prague shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Philosophy.

The Ambassador of Pakistan, Ayesha Ali, visited UCT Prague on Friday, 13 September, for an informal discussion with UCT Prague Rector Milan Pospíšil and Faculty of Chemical Technology Dean Petr Zámostný. Eleven researchers and doctoral students as well as 9 Bachelor and Master students from Pakistan are currently studying at UCT Prague.

The ambassador offered UCT Prague extending cooperation with Pakistani universities for both studies and R&D in chemical technology, chemical engineering, food industry support, materials research, water technology, and waste recycling. To start, specific areas of cooperation with specific groups at Pakistani technical universities will be determined, followed by discussing the possibilities of Pakistani student and researcher visits to UCT Prague. Current Czech Republic ambassador in Pakistan, Ladislav Steinhübel (UCT Prague alum) might also assist in bilateral cooperation efforts.

On 4-6 September, 2024, UCT Prague will host 20th international students’ conference Network Young Membrains Meeting 2024. The event is a traditional meet-up of students and all young researchers studying membrane processes.

Students may present their work through an oral lecture or on a poster format and compete for prize money for the best presentation/poster. Participants may look forward to interesting plenary lectures about state-of-the-art, use of artificial intelligence to solve complex industrial problems or how to build a technological start-up company based on their ideas. The conference program also include excursion to Membrane Innovation Centre (MemBrain) and a social event to boost the networking.

All students, postdocs and young researchers interested in membranes and membrane processes are invited. Let’s meet up, inspire, and get inspired!

Abstract submission deadline: 17 June, 2024

• More information including registration instructions

At the end of May, UCT Prague’s Rector Milan Pospíšil hosted a reception for representatives from NUS, the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding (Mykolaiv, Ukraine). NUS is a UCT Prague partner university for the DETECT! grant funded by the European Union. In Spring 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NUS received financial assistance followed by humanitarian aid from UCT Prague in cooperation with ADRA International.

The recent meeting cantered around mutual cooperation. After the Ukrainian partners expressed gratitude for financial and moral support, possibilities for continued cooperation in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country were discussed. Pospíšil proposed areas for future collaboration including materials, the environment, and energy conservation.

The meeting also included a report from NUS about DETECT! grant progress and results. While in Prague, the guests, including two students, took part in the DETECT! partners’ meeting as well as a hands-on workshop on Creative Digital Fabrication and Automation, a weekly event which takes place on the UCT Prague Jankovcova Street premises, in cooperation with the Maker Institute.

UCT Prague successful in the prestigeous MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship call

Two new holders of the prestigious EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) will join UCT Prague. These grants enable talented postdocs to implement their own excellent research project and boost their career development.

Dr. Emilia Jakubowska from Poznań University of Medical Sciences received an exceptional 100% evaluation score for her project "Advanced manufacturing of drug substances by co-processing with excipients through heteronucleation in a milifluidic device (ManCoProc)". Supervised by prof. František Štěpánek, the fellowship will be implemented at the Department of Chemical Engineering during 19 months, incl. 3 months of "non-academic placement" at Zentiva.

Dr. Yirong Zhao succeeded with her two-year project "Developing high-energy tellurium/selenium redox-amphoteric conversion cathode chemistry for aqueous aluminum batteries (TSRA)". After completing her current postdoc at the Technische Universität Dresden, she will join the group of prof. Zdeněk Sofer at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry.

Another 14 projects achieved sufficient evaluation score to obtain synergic funding from the OP JAK programme, for which the Project Center is preparing a joint application (joint project Chemfells VII). In total, 16 of the 25 submitted proposals are thus eligible for funding from one of the available sources, same as in the 2022 call.

UCT Prague thus confirmed the success of previous years and once again ranked among the most successful Czech institutions. Out of the total number of 8039 submitted projects, 1249 will be funded, 12 of them to the Czech Republic institutions. Currently, 5 MSCA PF projects are implemented at UCT Prague (incl. 2 from a specific call for Ukrainian researchers) and 11 MSCA PF projects financed by OP JAK (Chemfells V and VI projects).

• Results MSCA PF 2023:

IUPAC Global Women's Breakfast was held at UCT Prague. The meeting in the "Uhelna" conference room was opened by the organisers Prof. Jan Merna and doc. Jitka Čejková.

Presentations

Anna Mittnerová spoke about "Gender Balance in Working Relations and Research at UCT Prague", Alena Tříšková presented the Gender Equality Plan (GEP) and Tereza Picková presented the Mentoring Programme. 

Organisations supporting women in science were presented by Dušan Brinzanik (Martina Roeselová Memorial Fellowship) and Petr Štěpánek (L'Oréal-UNESCO Programme for Women in Science).

Short speeches were given by successful women from UCT Prague - Suada Djukaj, Lenka McGachy, Eva Muchová, Gabriela Ruphuy-Chan and Jarmila Zbytovské. The invitation accepted also Prof. Kateřina Demnerová from Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology

Free discussion between the participants and the organisers followed.

The event was conluded with the Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication, Prof. Pavel Matějka.

The event was organised under the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast (#GWB2024) initiative.

President of the Republic Petr Pavel appointed Professor Milan Pospíšil as Rector of the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague on 11 December 2023 at Prague Castle.

Professor Milan Pospíšil will lead the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) from 1 January for the next four years (2024-2027). He will succeed Professor Pavel Matějka as Rector of the university based on the results of the October election by the Academic Senate.

“In the coming years, I will prioritize attracting quality students, both Czech and those from abroad. We must offer attractive study programs that reflect current European and global trends. Priority number two is to strengthen UCT Prague’s position as a leading educational and research institution with internationally competitive basic and applied research and high-quality collaborations with the commercial sector. That’s why we need to make systemic and organizational changes soon while concurrently diversifying budget funding sources,” said Milan Pospíšil.

Prof. Ing. Milan Pospíšil, CSc. (born 1963 in Klatovy) is married and has two adult daughters. He studied Chemical and Energy Processing of Fuels at UCT Prague, where he received his MSc degree in 1985, becoming Associate Professor in this area (2002) and being appointed Professor in 2016.

He has spent his entire professional career at UCT Prague. Since 1987, he has taught and conducted research at the Department of Petroleum Technology and Alternative Fuels. In the past, he was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Technology (2002-2007), Vice-Rector for Research and Development (2008-2011), and Vice-Rector for Strategies and Development (since 2012).

He gained experience in higher education management as Vice-Chair (2015-2017) and Chair (since 2018) of the Council of Higher Education of the Czech Republic. Furthermore, he was the main expert guarantor for the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport’s IPN KREDO grant on higher education management strategy (2012-2015). He was a member of the expert team for the same Ministry’s that prepared the Czech Education Strategy 2030+ and the Higher Education Strategy 2021+. He is a member of the Government Council for the Sustainable Development of the Czech Republic (since 2019).

In his professional activities, he focuses on practical applied research in the areas of hydrocarbon analysis, the impact of combustion on the environment, progressive fuel production technologies, and the creation of a national strategy for the use of renewable energy sources in the transportation sector.

He is the author/co-author of 44 peer-reviewed journal publications according to the Web of Science (WOS) database (WOS h-index 15).

The Study in Prague consortium held on Tuesday December 5 the official ceremony of awarding Miroslav Vlček Extraordinary Scholarships for Contribution to the Internationalization of Prague public universities and higher education in the Czech Republic.

The Miroslav Vlček Extraordinary Scholarship is a form of honouring the memory of professor Miroslav Vlček – the spiritual father of the idea and the coordinator of the Study in Prague consortium (2015–2019), which brought together seven Prague public universities and attracted hundreds of foreign students to study in Prague.

Each university awarded the scholarship to one carefully selected student. At the University of Chemistry and Technology, we have unanimously chosen Megan McComb.

Megan is a student in the first year of master’s studies at the School of Business of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague.
Since the beginning of her bachelor studies at the School of Business in 2021, Megan has actively taken part in international events, which promote UCT Prague such as International Open Days, Counselor Tours organized by the Study in Prague consortium, or study fairs at international schools in Prague.
Since 2022, Megan has been working as an intern at the School of Business International Office as an Admission Representative. Within this position, in addition to supporting applicants during the entire admission process, she works directly with student agencies and high schools in different parts of the world, offers study consultancy for prospective students, and assists in organizing the School of Business admission events in North, Central, and South America.
Currently, Megan is actively involved in establishing the international branch of the Business Club, a student organization at the School of Business with the aim of building a strong community to support international students while helping them develop themselves professionally and personally.

We are very proud that Megan is a student at our university and we very much appreciate her involvement and dedication.

Thank you and congratulations!

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of an intensive educational program for a group of 10 university students from NIMS University Jaipur. This unique program, which lasted from September 25 to November 18, combined theoretical instruction in chemistry with practical experience acquired during a two-week period.

Advanced Educational Program for Students from NIMS University Jaipur

The program offered by UCT Prague was carefully designed to provide students with a comprehensive overview of various aspects of chemistry, from theory to practical application. The course was divided into several segments, ensuring that students gained a deep understanding of the subject and practical skills.

Block Teaching: The program began with two weeks of block teaching, covering approximately 10 courses in half-day sessions. Topics included raw material sources for the chemical industry, chemical technologies, process design, technical catalysis, and chemical product safety. Typical Laboratory Tasks: Students participated in laboratory tasks, divided into five groups and rotating through 1-2 day tasks. Safety training was provided collectively and then specifically for individual tasks. Project: Students worked on projects in groups of three, involving laboratory measurements, evaluation, protocol, and a joint presentation.

Practical Training at ORLEN Unipetrol: Intensive Experience in the Petrochemical Industry

The final part of the program was conducted in collaboration with ORLEN Unipetrol in Litvínov, where students completed a two-week internship in a petrochemical operation. This practical module gave students the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge gained at UCT Prague in a real industrial environment.

The ORLEN Unipetrol internship program included:

Initial training, first aid, fire safety training Familiarization with multiskilling and a training unit Operator training simulator for DCPD Work with distillation columns and a training laboratory Tours of the operation

This diverse and intensive program allowed students from NIMS University Jaipur to not only expand their academic horizons but also gain valuable practical experience, which will be key to their future careers in the field of chemistry.

This educational project is an example of successful international cooperation in education, strengthening the relationship between UCT Prague and NIMS University Jaipur. We expect similar initiatives to continue developing and strengthening scientific and academic cooperation between the Czech Republic and India."

The Global Student Satisfaction Awards organised by Studyportals recognize and celebrate outstanding universities based on student reviews and feedback. We empower students to review their schools so that other students worldwide can make informed decisions and will find it easier to discover the international degree that fits them best.

Throughout the last years, organizers have managed to crowdsource around 195,000 student reviews. These were collected with the help of their partners, such as:

• ESN (Erasmus Student Network)
• ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management)
• EDUopinions

To prevent false reviews and fraudulent behaviour, they use validation systems (e.g. manual checks, email checks, contacting the reviewer). Studyportals also verifies the reviews collected by universities.

There are eight criteria used for reviewing each university. UCT Prague have succeeded in the category Student-teacher interaction: Students had to rate their teachers and how open and engaged they were in terms of communication, feedback, and support, both during and after classes.

UCT Prague has been chosen as the best in this category in EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).

• More about Global Student Satisfaction Awards 2023

On Monday November 20th our university welcomed students of international study programme ATHENS. This programme offers study at fourteen major European technical universities also to our students.

The Faculty of Environmental Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering regularly offer courses Environmental Technology and Digital Signal and Image Processing with Applications. 

• More information about ATHENS at UCT Prague

The 19^th International Conference on Polysaccharides and Glycoscience (ICPG) will be held at Novotného Lávka 5, Prague, 8^th–10^th November 2023. The conference is running under the auspice of the Czech Chemical Society and in cooperation with the Department of Carbohydrates and Cereals, UCT Prague.

This 19th conference continues the long tradition of ICPG conferences and will focus on the structural characterization of polysaccharides and their biological activities, technological production, and applications as materials, nanoparticles, and 3D printing. The conference scope will also cover the chemistry of carbohydrates and glycans.

• More information on conference website.

Prague, Czechia, [6.11.2023] – The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague), in a resplendent display of international collaboration and educational excellence, hosted the esteemed Kyutech Autumn School from October 21 to 27, 2023. This event marked a significant milestone in the ongoing partnership between VŠCHT and the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan.

Under the expert guidance of Professor Josef Krýsa from the Institute of Inorganic Technology and in coordination with UCT Prague's Department of International Relations, the autumn school provided an immersive learning experience for Japanese students. This year's event symbolized a triumphant return following a four-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, reflecting a renewed commitment to global educational exchange.

The autumn school, a continuation of the successful sessions held in 2018 and 2019, witnessed participation from 14 esteemed students from Kyutech. They were accompanied by distinguished Professors Teruhisa Ohno and Mitsuru Kitamura. The curriculum was meticulously designed to encompass Theoretical and Environmental Aspects of Chemical Technologies. UCT Prague's faculty, including Professor Josef Krýsa, Associate Professor Martin Paidar, Ing. Michal Baudys, and Ing. Šárka Paušová, played a pivotal role in delivering this comprehensive educational experience.

A highlight of the program was an innovative Workshop where both Czech and Japanese educators and students had the opportunity to present and discuss their cutting-edge research topics. This academic exchange culminated in an informal gathering at the café Carbon, fostering a sense of community and shared learning.

Complementing the academic pursuits were a series of cultural and exploratory activities, offering the students a rich taste of Czech culture and history. Visits to the iconic Estates Theatre, exploratory tours of Prague, an excursion to the Bernard brewery, and a trip to the silver museum and cathedral in Kutná Hora enriched the students' experience, blending education with cultural appreciation.

Looking ahead, UCT Prague eagerly anticipates the continuation of this fruitful collaboration, with plans already underway for the fourth iteration of the autumn school in the 2024/2025 academic year, to be hosted by Kyutech in Japan.

About University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague): The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, is a leading institution in the field of chemistry, chemical technology and related disciplines. Renowned for its innovative research and high-quality education, UCT Prague is a beacon of academic excellence, shaping the future of science and technology both nationally and internationally.

Contact:

Department of International Relations of UCT Prague (international@vscht.cz)

Assoc. Prof. Michele Suman, PhD (Food Safety & Authenticity Research Manager, Barilla G. & R.
Fratelli S.p.A., Parma, Italy & Adjunct Professor of AgriFood Authenticity at Catholic University Sacred
Heart–Milan/Piacenza, Italy) and Prof. Dr. Michael Rychlik (Technical University of Munich,
Germany) were named by Visiting Professors in the MSc study programme in “Chemistry and analysis
of food and natural products” for period 2023-2025.

From 10-13 October 2023, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) held—in the word or WFEO President José Manuela Pereiry Vieira— its „engineering Olympics„ at the Prague Congess Centre. The Czech Association of Scientific and Technical Societies (ČSVTS) was the local conference organizer, with its chair also being chair of the convention. Chair of the international and local scientific committee was UCT Prague‘s Prof. RNDr. Pavel Drašar, DSc. The event entitled „Engineering for Life: Breakthrough Technologies and Capacity Development Focused on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)“ was focused on the ways engineers contribute to the SDGs including:

• Good health & well-being (SDG3)
• Quality education (SDG4)
• Gender equality (SDG5)
• Clean water & sanitation (SDG6)
• Affordable & clean energy (SDG7)
• Industry, innovation, & infrastructure (SDG9)
• Sustainable cities & communities (SDG11)
• Climate action (SDG13)

The scientific programme had 12 thematic areas, each with introductory lectures from invited speakers. UCT Prague‘s Prof. Václav Janda and Prof. Jiří Wanner presented in the „Food and water supply“ thematic area.

At the end of the event, WFEO President Vieira and Congress Chair Hanuš from ČSVTS jointly presented the „Prague Declaration of Engineers“ that will be handed over to the UN Secretary General.

More information about WEC is online. Convention speakers each received a limited series medal featuring K. D. Gangloff, inventor of the so-called „Czech Archimedes“ in the 19th century.

The Welcome Office organised the third guided walk for UCT Prague foreign students, researchers and their family memebers on Sunday, October 15 this year. This time we went to Vyšehrad, an important place for a Czech nation with a rich history. In the fortifications we visited the Casemates and the Gorlice Hall with the original statues from the Charles Bridge. We toured the beautiful interior of the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul and went to see the cemetory with the graves of famous poeple. Former UCT graduate Ing. Martin Belohradsky guided the group and told a lot about the history of this significant place and legends associated with it.

The Flatlands beyond Graphene 2023 conference is under way in Prague, Czechia.

Flatlands beyond Graphene has successfully established a platform for scientists to engage into fruitful discussions and exchange the latest discoveries in two-dimensional materials beyond graphene. This includes advances in synthesis, characterization and theoretical modeling, and the applications in electronics, energy storage, catalysis and optoelectronics. It was first held in Bremen, Germany (2013) and then subsequently in Dublin, Ireland (2014), Ramat Gan, Israel (2015), Bled, Slovenia (2016), Lausanne, Switzerland (2017), Leipzig, Germany (2018) , Toulouse, France (2019), Online (2021), Lanzarote, Spain (2022).

• Conference website

Petra Karnetová and Jana Sommerová from UCT Prague brought home the silver trophy at the EURPRIO 2023 conference (Vienna, Austria) in the best communication projects category. The European Association of communication professionals in Higher Education (EUPRIO) has over 700 members from 21 countries. At this year’s conference, hosted by the Vienna University of Technology  (27 to 30 August), several topics were discussed, including the use of AI, science communications and the threat of fake news.

The award-winning “Let’s Engage in Modern Chemistry” project is one of UCT Prague’s most important activities aimed at primary and secondary school children. The project presents and explains modern chemistry is a comprehensible and engaging manner, showcasing new trends, and—most importantly—practical applications without which our everyday lives could function. The presentations in schools not only inspire children to study chemistry, but they show modern chemical disciplines as being relevant, thus emphasizing chemistry’s importance, even to those whose life paths will not lead them to pursue science, technology and math (STEM) careers.

The project was created in 2005 as a reaction to negative media coverage after the Czech floods in 2002. It gradually grew into a compilation of different scenarios presented in schools by trained lecturers working in pairs from UCT Prague. During the 2022/23 academic year, we visited 150 schools with our road show, teaching 1,006 lessons and entertaining more than 20,000 children.

Presentation scenarios represent the range of research activities conducted at UCT Prague and are full of entertaining (but at the same time, educational) experiments. They are prepared by experienced instructors. The first two scenarios, for example, were created by Dr. Petr Holzhauser (head of the Department of Chemical Education and Humanities at UCT Prague and chair of the Czech Chemistry Olympiad committee), and Prof. Petr Slavíček (head of UCT Prague’s Department of Physical Chemistry and recipient of a Czech Neuron prize for young and promising scientists).

Participation in “Let’s Engage in Modern Chemistry” is provided to schools at no charge and is fully funded by UCT Prague together with significant support from commercial sector partners such as Spolchemie and Synthomer. ORLEN Unipetrol is the most important of these partners, having provided funding since the outreach project started.

Read more at: https://www.vscht.cz/hmch-en 

UCT Prague ranks well among Czech universities and 556th overall in the QS World University Rankings

A small ratio of students to an instructor traditionally count most in terms of solid QS World University Rankings. Individual educational support and the involvement of students in research earned UCT Prague 35th place in the world—and first in Czechia—for this criterion in this year’s ranking.

After the QS methodology was expanded this year to evaluate nine different parameters, UCT Prague placed fourth among Czech universities, dropping two places compared to last year. UCT Prague monitors its position in several ranking systems, all of which have different methodologies and resultant rankings. UCT Prague is rather unique in Europe due to its small size and chemistry focus, and this also impacts rankings.

“My comments are similar every year. University rankings are good for holding up a mirror to ourselves, spurring us to think about what others are doing differently and what we could improve. But they have a downside, because trying to improve rankings at all costs can lead to the pursuit of numbers that correspond to a certain ranking methodology at the expense of quality. We Czechs have experience with this because of our research evaluation system. Let’s try to make the right decisions, even if sometimes they can be politically bold and unpleasant for some. I believe that, in the long term, making the right decisions will have a positive impact in terms of rankings as well,” says Pavel Matějka, UCT Prague Rector.

UCT Prague’s international environment, with a high (by Czech standards) percentage of international students, contributed to this year’s good placement. In recent years, UCT Prague has also attracted international researchers, both of which contributed to UCT Prague ranking 201st in the international criterion.

Other Czech universities (16 in total) were also ranked. The largest, Charles University, placed 248th in the world. Masaryk University ranked 400th; and CTU Prague, 454th.

More detailed information about the QS World University Rankings, including methodology, are on the 2024 website.

The Welcome Office organised the second guided tour of the sights of Prague for our foreign students and researchers, which took place on Saturday 20/05/2023.  This time we visited the wonderful premises of the Strahov Monastery in Prague, its gallery, we looked into the ancient libraries and the halls with the exhibition of old collections of curiosities. 

A detailed explanation of the history of the monastery and interesting exhibits was again given by our former UCT graduate Ing. Martin Belohradsky.

The tour of the monastery was attended by 27 of our foreign students and scientists, including the six-year-old daughter of our Indian scientist Dr. Amutha Subramani. Everyone really liked it, as can be seen from the attached photos, and our foreigners expressed their interest in continuing these guided tours of Prague.

Are you interested in more information or do you have any ideas for planning other cultural events? Feel free to write us to welcome@vscht.cz

A research team from the UCT Prague’s Department of Water Technology and Environmental engineering, in cooperation with corporate partners, has developed a new digital tool for automating operational and technological response measures for wastewater treatment plants (WTPs). This tool, Water Scan Toolbox (WST), is a cloud-based application that leverages predictive knowledge about the quantity and quality of incoming wastewater to assess WTP loads.

The tool has three pillars: a predictive model for assessing the quantity and quality of wastewater, a database of event scenarios for various operating conditions with an assumed WTP load, and a decision matrix for selecting operational and technological measures for various events. WST reduces operational risks, especially during periods of torrential rain, and increases the efficiency of water treatment by enabling WTPs to prepare in advance for such events.

WST has been tested on WTPs serving populations with tens to hundreds of thousands, and results from testing show that this tool effectively predicts WTP loads and recommends appropriate measures for reducing operational risks. The tool works particularly well for WTPs serving 10,000 inhabitants or more, where the monitoring of selected process variables and their use in centrally-controlled automation is economically advantageous.

Water Scan Toolbox, developed with partners from CTU in Prague, Prague Waterworks and Sewerage (Pražské vodovody a kanalizace, a.s. [PVK]), and VDT Technology, represents a step forward in the operation and management of wastewater treatment plants. By providing predictive information on the quantity and quality of incoming wastewater, the tool enables WTP operators to make informed decisions and to take preventive measures to reduce operational risks. Use of this tool by wastewater treatment plant operators should improve both efficiency and environmental outcomes while reducing costs.

Water Scan Toolbox is now available for wastewater treatment plant operators and managers worldwide. For more information, visit the project website

MarbleMat, a spin-off of UCT Prague (details) led by founder Ondřej Rychecký, has been selected to the group of successful start-ups in the EIT Food Accelerator Network 2023, in the Food as Medicine category.

The technology underpinning MarbleMat’s commercial activity consists in the encapsulation of liquid oil droplets (“oil marbles”) for use in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Over 400 startups have gone through a rigorous and comprehensive review process to assess their innovative potential, commercial viability and positive impact on our food system. "We are extremely grateful not only to the startups for trusting us with their application, but also for the tremendous effort from our EIT FAN community, 100+ evaluators, corporate partners and hubs, who have supported the selection process. At EIT Food, diversity, including gender diversity, and inclusion are considered key to the success of food systems innovation. With this in mind, I’m delighted to share that 30% of the EIT FAN programme applications came from female founders. It’s great to see this percentage increasing each year.” said Marie Russier, Programme Manager of the EIT FAN.

UCT Prague was awarded two grants in an ad hoc Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions call dedicated to Ukrainian doctoral and postdoctoral researchers displaced by war. Anna Heleveria, doctoral candidate from Kharkiv National University, and Anastasiia Hubina, postdoctoral researcher from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, started implementation of their two-year fellowships on 1 March 2023.  

Doctoral project of Anna Heleveria entitled „To link or to make? N-Heterocycles in two dimensions” is implemented under the supervision of Dr. Petr Kovaříček at the Department of Organic Chemistry. Dr. Anastasiia Hubina focuses on “Development of Anion-Exchange Membranes for Hydrogen Producing”, prof. Karel Bouzek of the Department of Inorganic Technology being her mentor in cooperation with prof. Jan Merna of the Department of Polymers.

The objective of MSCA4Ukraine is to enable doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to continue their research work at the institutions in the host countries, maintain their connections to R&I communities in Ukraine as well as their reintegration in Ukraine if conditions for safe return are met.

A total of 25 million EUR were allocated to MSCA4Ukraine from Horizon Europe, the EU framework programme for research and development. Following its launch in late September 2022, the call raised high interest, with over 400 applications from 28 countries submitted within six weeks by the first cut-off date. Most of the applications came from the institutions from Germany, followed by the Czech Republic. 124 of the submitted applications were selected for funding, using up the total call allocation, therefore no other rounds of the call were open. The Czech Republic institutions obtained a total of 17 grants (all but one postdoctoral).

More information: https://sareurope.eu/msca4ukraine/

UCT Prague is strengthening its collaboration with the Taiwanese university.

On 27 February 2022 on the Dejvice Campus, representatives from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) met with leaders from National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT), long been ranked among the leading Asian universities. The meeting resulted in an agreement regarding the organization of a mutual scientific symposium, which should create a foundation for interuniversity scientific cooperation. This will also be supported by a new joint fund. Leaders from both universities also discussed possibilities for mutual student exchanges and student involvement in “problem-based learning”. UCT Prague will also participate in organizing an exhibition of traditional Yingge ceramics, which play an important role in Taiwanese culture and the country’s technological richness.

Within the Czech-UNDP Partnership modality Challenge Fund, University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT Prague) implements together with their local partner Hysper Enterprise project of Biogas production and by-product utilization. The digestate, which is a biogas production by-product, is fertilizer that contains all nutrients and micronutrients necessary for modern farming. The projected use of the digestate will minimize the land degrading Nomadic farming that is being practiced in most rural areas in Zambia.

Read interview with Mr. Patrick Francis Kapila from School of Business at University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague at undp.cz.

UCT Prague has been awarded a prestigeous Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship (financed under Horizon Europe), allowing postdocs to carry out their own project with a focus on research excellence and personal career development. Dr. Tomáš Sedlačík obtained the grant with his project „Development of advanced bioglass-polymer scaffolds for OSTEOCHONdral interface tissue regeneration (OSTEOCHON)”. The two-year fellowship will take place under the supervision of prof. Jan Merna of the Department of Polymers since September 2023.

Three project proposals scored high enough to obtain ERA Postdoctoral Fellowship in the same call. ERA PF are funded from an additional budget allocation dedicated to host institutions in countries with lower participation in the Horizon programme, so called “widening countries”, the Czech Republic being one of them. The successful applicants are Dr. Anton Zverev with „Single-atom decorated 2D catalysts for power-to-X conversion and sustainable future“, Dr. Payal Chauhan with „2D TM-LDH with low dimensions materials as flexible solid state and electrochemical supercapacitors and electrocatalyst“ and Dr. Wenxi Wang with „Interfacial Electrochemistry of Carbon-based Interlayer in Lithium-metal Solid-state Batteries“.

Two MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships awarded in the previous 2021 call are currently implemented at UCT Prague: project „NEW MONO 2D FUN GER“ of Dr. Shuangying Wei since September 2022 and project „2DTMCH2“ of Dr. Levna Chacko since February 2023. Both fellowships are supervised by prof. Zdeněk Sofer at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry.

Proposals having received a positive evaluation, but not scoring high enough to obtain directly the Horizon Europe funding (MSCA PF or ERA PF), may receive funding under the national programme OP JAK (previously under OP VVV). In the framework of so-called „Chemfells“ projects, 18 MSCA PF proposals are currently being implemented at UCT Prague (Chemfells IV and V). Based on the fresh 2022 call results, 10 more proposals for incoming fellowships qualify for OP JAK support (Chemfells VI).

The award, given by the European Commission to scientific and research organizations, recognizes excellence in strategic HR development.

On 4 January 2023, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, received the HR Award following several years of preparation. The European Commission gives the award to R&D organizations for excellence in strategic HR development while, at the same time,  committing them to implement and keep the highest standards in providing employee care and career development services.

Obtaining the HR Award certificate should benefit not only UCT Prague as an R&D organization, but all our employees as well. Our common goal is establishing and sustaining an exemplary academic working environment—transparent, motivating, and fair—enabling all employees to fully develop themselves.

Our commitments stated in the HR Award Action Plan are to be fulfilled during the next four years of implementation. Related activities will take place across the University involving the Rector’s Office, all the faculties, and other university units. The expected benefit of the HR Award is also to open up topics that have been neglected up to now for various reasons, as well as to foster discussions that will hopefully involve employees from all career levels, including both the scientific/academic and administrative/support staff.

Thanks to the ongoing improvement of processes related to human resource policies, UCT Prague will also become an even more attractive employer on an international scale. The award will improve UCT Prague’s reputation as an innovative R&D institution.

• Details, Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) at UCT Prague

On Friday, 25 October 2022, UCT Prague’s Rector, Pavel Matějka, signed a memorandum of cooperation with Prof. Eugeny Trushliakov, Rector of the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

On Friday, 25 October 2022, UCT Prague’s Rector, Pavel Matějka, signed a memorandum of cooperation with Prof. Eugeny Trushliakov, Rector of the Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

On Wednesday, November 30, the consortium Study in Prague hosted the 2nd annual ceremony of the Extraordinary Scholarship prof. Miroslav Vlček for exemplary representation of university studies in the Czech Republic.

The extraordinary scholarship of Professor Miroslav Vlček is a form of honouring the memory of the former Vice-rector for international relations of CTU in Prague. From 2015 to 2019, he was behind the idea and coordinator of the Study in Prague project, which attracted hundreds of foreign students to study in Prague.

Scholarships in the amount of CZK 30,000 are awarded by the Study in Prague consortium, which unites seven Prague universities (AMU, CTU, CZU, UK, UCT, VŠE and VŠUP), to foreign students who represented their schools in an exceptional way and contributed to the positive promotion of studies in foreign language at the mentioned schools and generally to promote studies in Prague and the Czech Republic.

This year, the scholarship by UCT Prague was awarded to a student from the Faculty of Chemical Technology Sergej Mrkobrada. Mr. Mrkobrada's contribution to the internationalization of University of Chemistry and Technology primarily lies in his extraordinary involvement in research already during his master's studies.

Sergej Mrkobrada's research activity focuses on the development of new procedures for the preparation of functionalized compounds by the principles of green chemistry. The primary focus of his scientific interest is the preparation of natural compounds containing substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. In the long term, the observed reactivity will enable the transformation of natural compounds with high chemoselectivity for target-oriented organic synthesis.

The awarding ceremony took place under the auspices of the mayor of the City of Prague and Prague Municipality, with whom Studium v ​​Praha has been cooperating for a long time and which once again provided the wonderful event hall of the Mayor's Residence.

Study in Prague

At UCT Prague

Do you also want to get an internationally recognized degree? The admission procedure for English study programs at UCT Prague is open up to February 28, 2023. Visit our website study.vcht.cz for more information.

At other universities

If you are also interested in other fields of study at Prague universities, refer to the Study in Prague website directly.

On Tuesday, 6 December 2022, the CzechInno Association announced the winners of the twelfth Visionaries awards. During the gala evening, innovators in the fields of saving natural resources (energy and environmental aspects), the circular economy and innovative waste management were given prizes for their accomplishments.

The title “Visionary 2022” was awarded to six laureates, and the expert jury gave eleven innovations honourable mentions. “Visionaries 2022” with ties to UCT Prague include:

Ing. Milan Petrák, director of UCT Prague’s Technopark Kralupy, for his lifelong contribution in the field of implementing the results of chemical research into industrial practice.

Prof. Martin Fusek, IOCB TECH, s.r.o. Director, for his lifetime contribution in the field of technology transfer support. Professor Fusek regularly lectures to UCT Prague doctoral students on the problematics of technology transfer.

The award ceremony took place in the Žižkov Tower Park Prague conference centre.

The goal of the Visionaries project, already in its twelfth year, is to honour creators of innovative products, devices, procedures, or services developed by entrepreneurs and researchers working within both Czech private companies and research organizations, as well as to recognize outstanding individual endeavours and accomplishments. Its purpose further is to spur the potential for Czech businesses and organizations to be innovative and to help successfully commercialize innovative ideas created recently. In this regard, CzechInno finds it to be especially important that the general public learns about new innovations so that they can be entered into real life to the extent possible.

A complete account of this year laureates and more information can be found on the CzechInno website.

UCT Prague welcomed students of international study programme ATHENS on Monday November 14^th. 

ATHENS or Advanced Technology Higher Education Network, is an international programme started in 1997. Universities participating in this programme organize week-long intensive courses in technological fields. 

The Faculty of Environmental Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering regularly offer courses Environmental Technology and Digital Signal and Image Processing with Applications.

More information about ATHENS programme:

• for international students willing to come to UCT Prague for ATHENS

• for UCT Prague students willing to study in ATHENS programme at partner University

Last month, I visited Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, the European Commission's Joint Research Center, and the third biggest European Commission site. There is a tradition to invite a group of young scientists from the country of the European Union (EU) that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union to visit the JRC Ispra, and I had the honor of being selected as one of ten young scientists currently studying or working in the Czech Republic to participate in this visit. The visit lasted three days, during which we had the opportunity to know the excellent research infrastructures of the JRC and how they are organized in order to support EU policies with scientific evidence. Research on artificial intelligence, population and migration, and detection of nanoplastic pollution are examples of research interest for the EU.

The whole plan of activities during these three was greatly enriching, but for me, the highlight goes to the shadow day in one of the units of our interest according to our research area. Since I am currently interested in research on materials for attenuating the undesired effects associated with electromagnetic pollution, I spent a day in the European Microwave Signature Laboratory (EMSL) shadowing some of the researchers that work there. It was a great opportunity to see how those researchers contribute directly to EU policy-making and for establishing contacts that may be useful in the course of my research at UCT Prague.

Given this experience, the best advice I can give to those who are always in doubt about whether or not it is worth it to apply for these calls is: apply! It is an excellent opportunity to visit top research centres and, most importantly, to know different working methods and researchers with different perspectives of ours, aspects that can make difference in our research.

On Wednesday 26 October 2022 in Brussels, the Newely project received the Best Innovation Award at the Clean Hydrogen JU Awards 2022 ceremony.

UCT Prague’s Department of Inorganic Technology is participating in the H2020 Newely (Next Generation Water Electrolyser) project together with partners from six countries around the world.

This project deals with the development and testing of components for the next generation of Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysers (AEMWE). With the innovations on the membrane, electrodes and stack design, the NEWELY prototype will become the most efficient and cost-competitive AEMWE by 2023. NEWELY will be an important breakthrough that will enable the economic adoption of green hydrogen energy storage solutions in Europe and in the world for turning to more sustainable energy systems. That is also why the project is co-financed with European Union funds.

For more information, you can visit NEWELY’s website,

The Academic Senate of UCT Prague adopted the following resolution at its meeting on Tuesday, October 4, 2022:

The Academic Senate of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague condemns the violent intervention of security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the grounds of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. 

The Academic Senate of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague expresses its solidarity with the academic community of SUT and calls on the management of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague and its faculties to consider offering concrete assistance.

With the support of the MIT-Czech Republic Seed Fund, Professor Karel Friess and his research group from UCT Prague’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering will collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Functional Inorganic and Organic Materials research group on the Clean Energy Applications with Mixed-Matrix Membranes of 2D MOFs project, focused on the development of multifunctional 2D structured MOF (metal-organic frameworks) nanomaterials for applications in energy storage and gas separation.

“As part of the project, we will collaborate on the preparation, modification, and testing of unique 2D-MOF nanomaterials, which will be developed by an international partner, and the work at UCT Prague will focus on the use of the nanomaterials and their testing in composite membrane materials. The properties and capabilities of the prepared membranes will be tested for efficient separation of CO2 from gas mixtures or separation of oxygen from nitrogen or for energy storage in flexible materials. Exchange of students involved from both institutions is also planned. The project was conceived as a first step leading to the establishment of longer-term cooperation between MIT and UCT Prague teams,” says Professor Friess.

The project, with a 23,250 USD budget, will run from May 2022 to January 2024 and is administered by a partner from abroad.

MIT has long been one of the most respected universities in the world. In the QS Ranking 2023, the U.S. institute, where 85 Nobel Prize laureates and other important researchers have studied, MIT was ranked first. Scientific discoveries at MIT include, for example, the first chemical synthesis of penicillin, the development of radar, the discovery of elementary quark particles, and so on.

Professor Friess, from UCT Prague’s Department of Physical Chemistry, VŠCHT Prague, received an Award from the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports in 2020 for extraordinary research results, experimental development, and innovation. In 2021, as one of two successful applicants, he received a bilateral grant from the Czech Science Foundation and the South Korean National Research Foundation agency for a project to develop and test perfluorinated nanomaterials.

The MIT-Czech Republic Seed Fund is a new joint project from MISTI (the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives), the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic’s fund for international exchange with MIT students and researchers, and researchers from Czech universities.

Honorary doctorates and Emil Votoček Medals awarded by UCT Prague’s Rector during the celebration of 70 years of the University’s independence as an institution.

Marking the celebration of the 70th anniversary of UCT Prague’s independence as an institution, the UCT Prague Academic Council met on Friday, 23 September. During a ceremony at Strahov Monastery, UCT Prague’s Rector, Pavel Matějka, presented honorary doctorates to three distinguished researchers: the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CAS), Professor Eva Zažímalová; the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Phase Interfaces, Dr. Peter Seeberger; and the former Director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS, Dr. Zdeněk Hostomský.

During a ceremonial meeting of the Academic Council, Professor Martin Hof and Professor Aleš Procházka also received Emil Votoček Medals from the Rector.

“Celebrations of important anniversaries also provide appropriate occasions for honouring important researchers. With the three Honorary Doctorates and two Emil Votoček Medals, we recognized exceptional Czech and European researchers who have contributed to enhancing UCT Prague’s reputation and with whom we will cooperate in the future. With these awards, we want to encourage their further engagement in the development of the European research area,” said UCT Prague’s Rector, Professor Pavel Matějka.

“I highly value the honorary doctorate from UCT Prague. The University is a leader in its field and has, since its inception, been ‘forging the path’ for new methods, approaches, and fostering fundamental discoveries. And very important is that it is—and always has been—open to cross-institutional and interdisciplinary cooperation,” said Professor Eva Zažímalová.

“Undoubtedly, the chemical fields constitute Czech scientific export goods, and with them, we achieve world-class results in the long term. And without over exaggerating, we can also certainly say that one of the epicentres of Czech chemistry is the Dejvice campus, where UCT Prague and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IOCB) are almost directly adjacent. The two institutions have numerous and close ties. It was a great honour to have led IOCB over the past 10 years and to help foster mutual cooperation, not only in the field of education and research, but also socially within the local academic community. And it is a great honour to receive an honorary UCT Prague doctorate,” said Dr. Zdeněk Hostomský about the award.

UCT Prague is partner in construction of the CHEMRESILIENCE Network in the newly established research centre.

Center for the Transformation of Chemistry (CTC) to become new major research center in the Central German Mining District

Concept initiated by Potsdam's Max Planck Institute wins federal and state competition in Germany for 1.25 billion euros in funding.

The concept for the "Center for the Transformation of Chemistry" (CTC), which will be one of two new large-scale research centers, was selected from nearly 100 ideas in the joint competition "Knowledge Creates Perspectives for the Region!" organized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Free State of Saxony and the State of Saxony-Anhalt. The aim of the CTC is to transform the previously linear chemical industry into a sustainable circular economy. The idea for the CTC was developed and successfully advanced by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter H. Seeberger and Dr. Matthew Plutschack of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.

Transformation of chemistry

The chemical industry is one of the most important industrial sectors in Germany and is fundamental to the value chains of numerous other economic sectors - chemistry is in 97% of all products. The high dependence of chemistry on fossil sources on the one hand as an energy supplier for manufacturing processes and on the other hand as a raw material base for chemical substances and products makes the existing system vulnerable to crises from price increases and uncertainties in the supply chains. "In order to secure the supply and activity of the entire economy in Germany as a business location, it is urgently necessary to rethink feedstocks, processes and products and to establish the hitherto linear chemical industry, which also produces large amounts of carbon dioxide as well as toxic waste and wastewater, as a resilient circular economy in the long term," says Peter H. Seeberger, director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, explaining the goals of the CTC. He adds, "Cost-effective and sustainable production processes mainly from renewable raw materials or recycled materials, while complying with the highest occupational safety and environmental standards and drastically shortened transport routes, must be ensured."

Without such a transformation of the chemical industry, European climate targets cannot be achieved, economic prosperity could not be maintained and future-proof employment opportunities will not be realized. The simultaneous achievement of climate, economic and employment targets and the preservation of a sustainable industrial location cannot be achieved by treating symptoms, but only through a structured, long-term transformation. "There are approaches in industry and science worldwide in this direction, but no comparable research center. The new large-scale research center will be a globally visible beacon of cutting-edge research and a breeding ground for new companies and spin-offs in the Central German mining region," says Peter H. Seeberger.

Establishment at the Delitzsch site in the Central German Chemistry Triangle

The CTC will be established in Delitzsch, about 20 km north of Leipzig, thus continuing the long tradition in the Halle/Merseburg/Bitterfeld chemistry triangle. Over the next few years, the CTC will be established on the site of the former sugar factory as the first research facility to date in the district of North Saxony. The campus with the new building of the large-scale research center, adjacent residential quarters and its own suburban train connection with links to Leipzig and Halle will allow a new district to grow in Delitzsch. Existing jobs will be secured and new ones created by the CTC and other settlements in Delitzsch and the region will follow.

The establishment and development of the CTC is supported by already more than 100 partners from academia, industry and society locally, in the Central German mining region, in Germany and worldwide. In close, interdisciplinary cooperation, the transformation of chemistry in research and industry will be advanced, but also, for example, new study, training and continuing education programs will be developed.

Shaping structural change after the coal phase-out

The CTC is being set up as part of the joint idea competition "Knowledge creates prospects for the region!" organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Free State of Saxony and the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Based on the "Structural Strengthening of Coal Regions Act", one large-scale research center each will be established in the Central German coalfield and in Lusatia in Saxony and will receive institutional funding of up to 170 million euros per year. The aim is to shape the structural change in the regions in a future-oriented way after the coal phase-out and to strengthen Germany as a location for science and innovation.

The Summer School of Medicinal Chemistry “Advances in Drug Discovery”, intended primarily for doctoral and postdoctoral students, is organized by UCT Prague in collaboration with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Following its launch in 2014 and three subsequent successful courses in 2015-2017, the collaboration was expanded, and the fifth annual event was organized in 2018 in cooperation with the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel on a beautiful campus in Rehovot. In 2018, the Summer School was renamed the Prague-Weizmann School on Drug Discovery. The sixth annual event, which took place in Prague in 2019, was a great success. Due to the pandemic situation, the 7th Summer School, to have been held in 2021 in Rehovot, was held online. Despite the difficult online format, but also thanks to it, the school was attended by more than 400 students from 44 countries.

The Summer School provides a broad overview of progress in drug development, from basic research to the development of the manufacturing process. As in previous years, participants can present their research in the form of poster presentations

Detailed information on the Summer School website and in the leaflet.

The 10^th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA 2022, www.rafa2022.eu) will take place in Prague, Czechia, on 6-9 September, 2022.

The RAFA organizers, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague, Czechia) and Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), part of Wageningen University & Research (The Netherlands), would like to invite food scientists from academia together with representatives of industry, national and international agencies, control authorities, governmental and commercial laboratories to attend this event. The conference is chaired by Prof. Jana Hajslova, Prof. Michel Nielen and Dr. Stefan van Leeuwen, who are affiliated with the respective organizers.

RAFA has grown since the conference was launched in 2003. Previous events were usually attended by over 750 participants from more than 50 countries of Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa, and supported by more than 50 sponsors, exhibitors and media partners.

The RAFA 2022 symposium will provide an overview of contemporary trends in analytical & bioanalytical strategies in food quality and safety control and will discuss challenges and novel approaches in food and natural products analysis. The following recent and emerging issues will be addressed within the RAFA 2022 sessions: Multi-omics in food analysis; Food fraud, forensics and authenticity; Organic crops & foodstuffs; Bioactivity determination and identification; Micro- and nanoplastics in food; Human biomonitoring and exposure assessment; Portable on-site food analysis; Food legislation and food control; QA/QC & Chemometrics & Big data handling; Mycotoxins, marine and plant toxins in a changing climate; Process induced contaminants; Pesticide & veterinary drug residues; Environmental contaminants; Emerging alternative proteins: allergens and other issues; Metals & metalloids & speciation; Healthy nutrients & vitamins; Cannabinoids in food and supplements; Flavours in food engineering.

Workshops, Seminars, Tutorials

The conference programme will be accompanied by several satellite events on novel analytical strategies, including for example workshops on “Vibrational spectroscopy and chemometrics”, and “Analysis of contaminants & migrants in circular food production”. Other session will include tutorial on “Data Quality and Smart Data Handling in Food Analysis”. An interactive seminar will discuss “Step by Step Strategies for Fast development of Smart Analytical Methods”. The EU Reference Laboratories Colloquium will include a workshop on “Experiences, Achievements and Challenges Addressed by EU Reference Laboratories”.

Vendor Seminars and Exhibition

Vendor seminars will be organised by leading companies to introduce recent instrumentation and analytical strategies for advanced food quality and safety control. An exhibition of modern instruments, laboratory equipment, reference materials, and consumables used in food analysis will be an important part of the symposium.

Opportunities for Young Scientist

A platform for young scientists will be offered to present their scientific work. Typically 20% of the contributed oral presentations are assigned to the next generation. RAFA 2022 Student Travel Grants will be provided. The best poster presentation(s) by a young scientist(s) will be awarded with the prestigious RAFA Poster Award and sponsored poster award(s).

In summary, RAFA 2022 will offer again a high-quality scientific programme with top-quality presentations followed by stimulating discussions, a series of satellite events, state-of-the-art exhibition and an attractive social programme. Scientific contributions will be presented by leading scientists through keynote lectures and by contributed oral and poster presentations. The RAFA 2022 programme will be tailored to provide a lot of opportunities for networking as well as exploration of the latest results of the food analysis community.

More details can be found on the RAFA 2022 website at www.rafa2022.eu.

Prof. Jana Hajslova, Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, UCT Prague

and Prof. Michel Nielen & Dr. Stefan van Leeuwen, Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), part of Wageningen University & Research

RAFA 2022 chairs

On 23.8. a Taiwanese delegation of nine distinguished scientists from four Taiwanese universities visited the UCT Prague. The discussion during the meeting attended by the rector of the UCT Prague prof. Matějka and representatives of all four faculties was focused on scientific cooperation and the possibility of student exchange The delegation then visited the university brewery.

Taiwan Scientists Delegation

Prof Sinn-wen Chen (陳信文), National Tsing Hua University
Prof Bing-Joe Hwang (黃秉照) National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Prof Nae-lihWu (吳乃立) National Taiwan University
Prof Bing-Hung Chen (陳炳宏)National Cheng Kung University
Prof Kuo-lunTung (童國倫) National Taiwan University
Prof De-HaoTsai(蔡德豪) National Tsing Hua University
Prof Li-Hsien Yeh(葉禮賢) National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Prof Ho-HsiuChou(周鶴修) National Tsing Hua University
Prof Hong-weiYen (顏宏偉) Tunghai University

On the occasion of the anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops, we have prepared an exhibition of photographs by Jiří Volf, a graduate of the University of Chemistry and Technology, entitled August 68'-The First Day of the Occupation. Jiří Volf, a PhD student from the Department of Organic Technology, documented the events of that dark day in our history.

The direct testimony in the form of photographs and text can be seen in the Respirium of Building B in Prague's Dejvice until mid-October.

In July 2022, UCT Prague became a member of PRIDE Network (https://pride-network.eu/), an association for professionals in doctoral education. The mission of this association is focused on the professional development of administrative staff and academics who support or ensure the doctoral education agenda. Charles University was the first Czech university member and UCT became the second one.

The vision of constant quality improvement and international competitiveness led to joining another important organisation – EUA-CDE (EUA Council for Doctoral Education, https://eua-cde.org/). UCT Prague will officially become a member this October as the fifth Czech university after Palacký University in Olomouc, the University of Economics, Masaryk University and the Brno University of Technology. By promoting collaboration and exchange of good practices among its members and disseminating the outcomes of its work, EUA-CDE makes an important contribution to the development of doctoral education and research training in Europe. Its members enjoy many opportunities to exchange on issues of common interest and take part in shaping the doctoral education landscape of the future.

Being a member of the PRIDE Association and EUA-CDE marks an important milestone in doctoral studies at UCT mostly because UCT as a member of the Association of Research Universities (AVU ČR) emphasizes the quality of its doctoral studies intending to further improve its doctoral education. Fulfilling one of the goals of AVU ČR Charter “to support the quality and international dimension of doctoral study programs”, UCT strengthens its international position in the doctoral study field.

UCT has been cooperating with NCHU since 2011, when the memorandum of cooperation for student exchange was signed. At the meeting with prof. Wang current information about the possibilities of student mobility and areas of scientific cooperation between UCT Prague and NCHU were outlined and discussed.

On 12 July, the Rector of UCT Praguee, Pavel Matějka, met with representatives of the Belarusian national minority and a representative of the Belarusian Student Association of the Czech Republic.

The subject of the meeting was an offer of cooperation from the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and recognized representatives of the Belarusian community in the Czech Republic in the matter of assistance to current and future Belarusian students of UCT Prague in view of the ban on the provision of technical assistance and other measures in connection with the war situation in Ukraine.

The parties agreed to help in the matter of possible verification of problematic cases and securing an opinion from the official representatives of the Belarusian national minority confirming that this is a person who shares the humanistic and democratic values of the European community. Students with Belarusian citizenship who will be affected by the measures in question and who are interested in benefiting can contact Alena Kovářová Cichanovič and Kryscina Šyjanok.

The parties agreed to help in the matter of possible verification of problematic cases and securing an opinion from the official representatives of the Belarusian national minority confirming that this is a person who shares the humanistic and democratic values of the European community. Students with Belarusian citizenship who will be affected by the measures in question and who are interested in benefiting can contact Alena Kovářová Cichanovič and Kryscina Šyjanok.

During the meeting, the possibilities of employment for students nearing the end of their studies and for creating research positions for doctoral students with Belarusian citizenship were also discussed. UCT Prague’s efforts will to enable them to carry out their basic research activities in full. Applied research funded by the Czech Science Foundation would be possible according to individual assessment. For applied research financed by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, the granting of exemptions does not seem realistic.

Finally, it was said that UCT Prague stands in solidarity with persecuted Belarusian students and is carefully following the fate of a political prisoner in Belarus who was supposed to apply to study chemistry in the Czechia. However, the University does not limit itself to supporting only publicly active representatives of the Belarusian student community, but strives to keep its doors open to all those from Belarus interested in studying here.

Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and holder of an honorary doctorate from UC T Prague, regularly visits the Czech Republic at the end of the academic year. We are glad that he also came to visit us at UCT Prague this year. First, he met with Rector Pavel Matějka and his former students, Professor Vladimír Setnička and Dr Petr Kovaříček. After that, in Uhelna, he talked with doctoral students for almost two hours about his experiences in the field of science and the position of women in science. The young scientists were also interested in how to get funding for research, if one is not a renowned scientist or conducting research in a “hot topic” area. Another subject discussed was the pursuit of publishing a large number of articles, which, however, can mean lower quality and often, even research validity.

We hope to meet Jean-Marie Lehn again in good health in one year!

On Tuesday, 28 June 2022, the Czech Hydrogen Technology Platform (HYTEP) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Korean H2Korea Alliance, an organization focusing on the development of the hydrogen economy in the Republic of Korea, in the presence of the Minister of Industry and Trade, Jozef Síkela, and the Korean Minister of Industry, Chang Yang Lee.

On behalf of the Czech side, the Memorandum was signed by the Vice-Chairman of the Board of HYTEP, Prof Martin Paidar, PhD, from the Department of Inorganic Technology at UCT Prague.

On the Korean side, the participants were the Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Glovis. Cooperation within the framework of the Memorandum is also open to other companies.

The purpose of the Memorandum is to support the development of hydrogen mobility in the Czech Republic through demonstration pilot projects that will focus on both the production of equipment and vehicles and their operation on Czech roads. Cooperation on the part of Czech companies should also ensure the construction and operation of hydrogen filling infrastructure and subsequent operations. The main goal of the Memorandum is to support hydrogen mobility particularly in freight and bus transport.

Aleš Doucek, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HYTEP, emphasized: ‘The memorandum is the first step towards the development of closer cooperation between Czech and Korean companies in the field of hydrogen mobility and related infrastructure. Hydrogen is the fuel for emission-free transport. Its indisputable advantages, especially in the segments of long-distance truck and bus transport, lie in the ability to have a longer range and in fast refueling, which takes a maximum of 20 minutes for trucks compared to other technologies.’

The Korean side, led by the H2Korea Alliance, perceives cooperation as an opportunity to spread innovative hydrogen technologies to the Czech Republic and to search for potential partners for cooperation. The Republic of Korea itself has been supporting the development of the hydrogen economy for a long time, and thanks to this, it will be possible to fill up with hydrogen at more than 40 filling stations on Korean roads this year. The Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company also offers a hydrogen car powered by the Hyundai Nexo Fuel Cell, or the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell truck, which is already running commercially in Switzerland, for example.

‘This Memorandum is particularly important because it will strengthen cooperation in the field of hydrogen mobility between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Korea. We believe it will help set a business model suitable for other projects to follow,’ emphasized Moon Jae-do, the Chairman of the H2Korea Alliance.

The electronic exercise book in the Organic Chemistry Portal from the University Chemistry and Technology in Prague recognized as the best project from the Czech Republic.

The Electronic Exercise Book in the Organic Chemistry Portal project from UCT Prague was awarded as the best project from the Czech Republic in the INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHER AWARD 2021/2022 competition organized by the Profformance consortium, which focuses on the development of teaching at universities. The award was presented on June 16, 2022, at a meeting in Budapest.

• Organic Chemistry Portal

About the Electronic Exercise Book in the Organic Chemistry Portal

The electronic exercise book in the Organic Chemistry Portal, which is available in Czech and English, was created at the Department of Organic Chemistry in cooperation with the UCT Prague’s Centre for Information Services (CIS). The main authors are Radek Cibulka, Hana Kotoučová, Ondřej Kundrát, Martin Mastný, and Markéta Rybáčková. However, it is necessary to mention the participation of more than a dozen master and doctoral students, who participated mainly in testing the tasks. The original version of the exercise book was programmed by Bedřich Košata.

The electronic exercise book in the Organic Chemistry Portal allows you to practice organic chemistry using the “language of formulas”, which is essential for understanding organic chemistry. Each task is not only graphically entered, but also requires a response in the form of a chemical formula, which the user actively draws. The answer is evaluated immediately after sending and, in case of a wrong answer, help appears. The exercise book can be used while studying or the user can be tested. The test is self-assembled, the number of examples and the test area can be selected (for example, alkenes or electrophilic aromatic substitution). In addition to online testing, you can insert user-selected sets of examples into a PDF document and prepare your own exercise book. Drawing formulas in a computer environment also allows you to get acquainted with one of the most common drawing programs used in many databases (Marvin JS editor). The electronic exercise book is part of the portal, which is ready for the possibility of inserting examples by other co-authors.

On Thursday, June 23, 2022, the awards of the French Embassy in the Czech Republic were presented, which are presented annually to young talented scientists in seven categories. Representatives of UCT Prague were able to rejoice in the success of three of them.

Jaroslav Aubrecht triumphed in the category of environmental and climate research with the work “Development of Cr-free environmentally-friendly hydrogenolysis catalysts to make ester hydrogenolysis sustainable”. Filip Antončík won second place in the chemistry category for his work “Next-generation high-temperature superconductors”, and Bronislav Jurásek finished third in the pharmacy category with his work “Analogs and Metabolites of New Psychoactive Substances”.

Dozens of candidates from across the Czech Republic traditionally enter the competition. Candidates are first selected by their institutions and then appear before a jury composed of Czech and French experts with defense of their work. The three best candidates will receive a financial reward in the form of a check donated by the relevant sponsoring company. In addition, the first two winners will receive a scholarship from the French Embassy in the Czech Republic for a month-long internship in a French lab of their choice.

The award ceremony takes place at the French Embassy in Prague, in the Buquoy Palace. The ceremony is chaired by the Ambassador of France to the Czech Republic and Jean-Marie Lehn, winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987, who was the initiator of the competition.

UCT Prague defended its second place among Czech universities and is ranked 358th in the world.

For the fouth time in a row, UCT Prague defended its second place among Czech universities in the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2023. 

The excellent result in the QS World University Rankings 2023 was most influenced by UCT Prague’s small student-to-academic instructor ratio. Individual support for education and the inherent involvement of students in the research process even earned UCT 29th place in the world and first in Czechia in this aspect of rankings system evaluation process.

“The fourth success in a row is, of course, a nice outcome of all the staff and students of our university. We strive to build a supportive and fair environment for everyone, where everyone can participate in scientific activities. But I understand that the ranking is just a number. It is more important that we work on ourselves and continue to improve,” said Pavel Matějka, UCT Prague Rector.

The international environment of the university, with a high number of students (by Czech standards) from abroad in recent years, contributed to the good ranking. The university has also recently attracted international academics who have linked their careers to UCT Prague. After last year, which was greatly affected by the pandemic situation, these indicators have increased again. In the overall result, this means that UCT Prague is ranked 230th in this criterion.

Other Czech universities were also successful in this year’s edition of the rankings. The largest Czech university, Charles University, placed in the 288-290 world ranking range. CTU Prague moved to the 378-379 ranking range; Masaryk University achieved 551-560; Palacký University in Olomouc, 651-700. A total of 16 Czech universities were ranked.

The full list of rankings and a description of the QS methodology can be found on the QS World University Rankings 2023 website.

In May 2022, the PARC (European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals) project was launched, supported by the new Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework Program (2021-2027). The project in which UCT Prague participated, is closely linked to the European Green New Deal, aiming to significantly reduce the impact of chemicals on human health and the environment. This transnational European project involves almost 200 institutions from 28 countries and three European Union institutions.

UCT Prague (Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition) will participate in activities related to the development of new analytical methods and their application for biological and environmental monitoring of chemicals, which, due to their adverse effects on human health, are of a high concern among scientists.

“As part of the ‘Monitoring and Exposure’ work package, we will build on our experience from a previous project, HBM4EU (the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative) and will participate in surveys on the quality and comparability of data obtained from biomonitoring studies. We will also be involved in solving the issue of environmental and multi-source monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkylated (PFAS) substances and other chemicals interfering with the endocrine system in various environmental compartments (especially water, food, air),” Prof. Jana Pulkrabová stated.

To fulfil this task, UCT Prague is part of a team that supports the development of new analytical approaches to target and non-target screening of these chemicals in the environment and biological matrices.

In the work package, “Building infrastructural and human capacities” led by the RECETOX research centre at Masaryk University in Brno, UCT Prague will also participate in capacity building and harmonization for biological and environmental monitoring, which will generate the necessary data for chemical risk assessment in Europe.

Update dated February 24, 2022: UCT Prague unequivocally condemns the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation that are being conducted against the sovereign and independent Ukrainian state, that are clearly in conflict with international law and which have already taken human lives.

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UCT Prague does not agree with Russia’s current actions towards the Ukraine, which exacerbate the situation, violate democratic principles, and are a harbinger of vehement assault on humanity and freedom.

UCT Prague expresses its support for Ukrainian students and academic staff and is considering how to help them, for example, in the form of special scholarships.

We also express our support to Russian students and academics in Russia and other countries in their search for the truth within the universal concepts related to academic freedom. We do not agree that students and academics should become hostages to political situations.

International academic cooperation and mobility of students and academics help foster mutual knowledge and understanding of each other, reducing the risks of xenophobia and international strife.

UCT Prague’s Rector is in contact with other colleagues from the Czech Rectors Conference, whose opinion you can read here (in Czech).

Pavel Matějka
Rector, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague

Позиція Xіміко-технологічного університету в Празі щодо російської агресії

Оновлено 24 лютого 2022 р.: ХТУ Прага однозначно засуджує агресивні дії Російської Федерації, які проводяться проти суверенної, незалежної держави Україна, та які явно суперечать міжнародному праву і вже несуть відповідальність за людські життя.

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ХТУ Прага не погоджується з нинішніми кроками Росії щодо України, які загострюють ситуацію, порушують демократичні принципи, та є передвісником насильницьких порушень людяності та свободи.

ХТУ Прага висловлює свою підтримку українським студентам та викладачам і розглядає способи допомогти їм, наприклад, у формі спеціальних стипендій.

Ми також висловлюємо підтримку російським студентам і вченим у Росії та інших країнах у їх пошуку істини в рамках універсальної концепції академічної свободи. Ми не згодні з тим, аби студенти та науковці стали заручниками політичної ситуації.

Міжнародне академічне співробітництво та мобільність студентів і науковців сприяють взаємному пізнанню та розумінню, зменшують ризики ксенофобії та міжнароднього розбрату.

Ректор Хіміко-технологічного університету в Празі контактує з іншими колегами з Чеської ректорської конференції, з думкою яких ви можете ознайомитися тут.

Pavel Matějka, ректор Хіміко-технологічного університету в Празі

Позиция ХТУ Прага к русской агреcсии

Актуализация 24. 2. 2022: Химико-технологический университет, Прага однозначно осуждает агрессивные шаги Российской Федерации направленные против cуверенной и независимой Украины, которые однозначно противоречат международному праву и на их совести уже человеческие жертвы.

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Химико-технологический университет, Прага не соглашается с последними шагами Росии против Украины обостряющими ситуацию и нарушающими принципы демократии, которые являются предзнаменованием насильственного нарушения гуманности и свободы.

Химико-технологический университет, Прага заявляет поддержку украинским студентам и академическим работникам и обсуждает возможности как им помочь, например в форме внеочередных стипендий.

Мы заявляем поддержку также русским студентам и академическим работникам в России и в других странах при поиске правды в рамках универсального понимания академических свобод. Мы не согласны с тем, чтобы студенты и преподаватели стали заложником политической ситуации.

Международное академическое сотрудничество и студенческая и преподавательская мобильность содействуют взаимному сближению и уменьшают риск ксенофобии и международных раздоров.

Ректор ХТУ, Прага вступил в связь с коллегами из Чешской конференции ректоров. Её официальную позицию можно прочитать здесь.

Pavel Matějka, ректор ХТУ

One of the hallmarks of the Lean Startup course at UCT Prague is learning from international experts. The most recent guest was Delana Mikolášová, who spoke about startup lessons from Israel.

Israel is recognized as a country with vibrant technology and startup ecosystem and impressive successes making frontline news despite being located in a less than friendly neighborhood.

Mrs. Mikolášová pointed out that the successes of the “Startup Nation” in recent years were substantial, in fact the investments in last year were the highest ever!

She named multiple factors of this success, including the often quoted IDF (military) service as a melting pot and source of connections; culture of chutzpah and celebration of courage, risk taking and making decisions.

Specific suggestions for Czech entrepreneurs included: be over-prepared for each meeting, understand the purpose and required outcome of each meeting and follow up quickly.

Delana Mikolášová is Scientific, R&D and Innovation Counsellor of the Czech Republic to Israel, working at the Embassy of the Czech Republic to Israel. Her mission is to focus on fields such as nanotech, biotech, IT and engineering, supporting strategic partnerships between Israeli and Czech institutions and representing Czech R&D.

She has graduate degrees in political science from Palacký University in Olomouc and has been a visiting student at Tel Aviv University.

We are excited to open the doors for UCT Prague students to help our community bring their solutions to market!

The course is supported by Deloitte Czech Republic and Impulse Ventures.

The School of Business of the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague offers programs in the field of education in the field of management, intended for a wider range of students, and programs aimed at closer integration of management disciplines with the fields of natural and technical sciences developed at the faculties of the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague. The activity of its faculty includes professional topics of a purely management focus as well as interdisciplinary topics, usually in cooperation with other departments. The School of Business thus educates graduates with a strong theoretical foundation, capable of applying their knowledge in practice.

On Friday, December 3, 2021, the Study in Prague university consortium organized an award ceremony for the extraordinary scholarships of prof. Miroslav Vlček. Among the scholarship recipients at the Prague City Hall Mayor's Residence was a student of UCT Prague – Ashley George.

Miroslav Vlček's scholarship is awarded to commemorate a professor and longtime vice-rector for external relations of the Czech Technical University in Prague, who established and developed the Study in Prague project between 2015-2019. The merger of 7 Prague public universities contributed to a higher internationalization of the university environment and attracted hundreds of international students to the Czech capital.

This prize is presented to international degree-seeking students that, in addition to their study obligations, contribute to sharing the good name of universities in Prague. As a student ambassador, Ashley has been a long-term partner of the International Department. She is not only a reference point for prospective students, but also helps with the organization of promotional events, and participates in the integration process of incoming international students.

Study in Prague

At UCT Prague

Do you also want to get an internationally recognized degree? The admission procedure for English study programs at UCT Prague is open from January 15 to February 28, 2022. Visit our website study.vcht.cz for more information.

At other universities

If you are also interested in other fields of study at Prague universities, refer to the Study in Prague website directly.

Photo credit: Zuzana Markéta Macková, AMU

Ivana Suchánková won the Czech part of the competition with her bachelor thesis Comparison of the ability of capsid proteins of selected flaviviruses to assemble nucleocapsid under in vitro conditions and will participate in the international WE Local conference in London.

SHE STEM Award is an award given by the Brno branch of the international non-profit organization Society of Women Engineers in cooperation with Honeywell spol. s r.o. The award is given to the authors of the best undergraduate theses prepared at technical universities in Czechia.

The competition is organized to promote outstanding achievements of girls and women in technical fields. It is part of the mission of the Society of Women Engineers, which annually recognizes the achievements of women and girls at all levels of their careers in technology.

On Wednesday, October 6, 2021, a Czech-German partner group of the Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) started its activities at UCT Prague. UCT Prague’s Rector, Pavel Matějka, and MPICI’s Director, Peter Seeberger, also took part in the opening ceremony connected to a small symposium. The group, led by Dr. Petra Ménová from the Department of Organic Chemistry, will deal with organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, and carbohydrate chemistry. In addition to financial support of 20,000 euros a year for five years, the partnership with one of Max Planck's institutes importantly brings with it the possibility of intensive scientific cooperation with a prestigious international institution and the development of student internships. “It is a first-class workplace with the appropriate equipment and know-how, where students experience working with the world’s best,” says Dr. Petra Ménová, whose research group currently has 10 students in various stages of study.

“We are working on several projects related to carbohydrate chemistry, with the main project focused on the preparation of lipid nanoparticles with a modified carbohydrate surface, which would allow targeted transport of CRISPR/Cas9 to hepatocytes, which has great potential for the treatment of hepatitis B,” adds Dr. Ménová, who did a postdoc at MPICI from 2014 to 2017. The group will also explore the synthesis of therapeutically useful oligosaccharides, such as vaccine antigens or lectin receptor ligands.

The Max Planck Institutes (associated with the Max Planck Society) have a program to support their alumni, the so-called Max Planck Partner Group. Applicants must meet a number of conditions, including returning to their own countries after working at an Institute, addressing related topics, and additionally being nominated directly by the Director of an Institute. “In my case, I was approached directly by Prof. Seeberger, saying that this program exists and that I should apply for it. I am very happy that I succeeded with my application, mainly because of my students, who have a chance to gain more insight, participate in prestigious projects, and strengthen their CVs,” says Dr. Ménová.

Prague was the intended location for the conference and the organisation was led by the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and supported by artificial intelligence research and development company GoodAI. GoodAI sees ma

DocEnhance created a transferable skills pilot course Data Stewardship that address the future needs and competences of researchers. The aim of the course was to focus on transferable skills, as these skills facilitate the transition into employment and are widely applicable, regardless of scientific field and chosen career path.

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague was happy to host online pilot course designed and developed by the UiT – The Arctic University of Norway on Data stewardship in May and June 2021. 

As research data becomes more openly available, data stewardship is a skill in high demand, both within and beyond academia. This brand-new project introduced PhD candidates to the complexity and significance of data management. The course consisted of three basic modules. Each module was specific and focused on deepening skills that are sought-after within both the academic and private sector.

Module 1 was available for study needs from the faculty Moodle (e-learining) system. PhD candidates were given a general introduction to the basics of how to handle research data in a PhD thesis through videos and assignments.

Module 2 was based on active participation. Lecturers from UCT Prague lead PhD candidates to make use of what they learned in Module 1, through practical assignments working in small groups with other PhD candidates.

Module 3 – organised as a workshop, offered practical assignment/tasks in cooperation with some business or public service entity, which helped PhD candidates to prepare for a career outside academia. 

14 students, who completed the course, mastered theory and concepts of data management and learnt how to collect, analyse and manage research data with hands-on digital skills training, and on-site practical assignments in non-academic settings.

Internal and external lecturers in organised workshops helped students to better understand to how to put theory in practice. We welcomed representatives from EOSC Future (Mr. Gareth O'Neill), National Library of Technology in Prague (Martin Svoboda), from CERIT SC (Luděk Matyska), Unipetrol (Tomáš Herink, Michal Zbuzek, Arnošt Křižan) or from Zentiva (Marcela Tkadlecová, Jaroslav Havlíček, Tomáš Pekárek).

The UCT proudly announces that the same course will take place in 2022. Further information and official announcement will be revealed later. We all hope to encourage more students to take part in this interesting project.

DocEnhance has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society programme under grant agreement no. 872483

Professor Zdeněk Sofer received support for his second ERC CZ program project in a row, within a public tender for research, experimental development, and innovation. The five-year project entitled “The Next Generation of Monoelementary 2D Materials” will be supported by CZK 64 million and it thematically follows up on the first ERC CZ grant awarded to Prof. Sofer last year.

The project deals with the study of methods of exfoliation of 2D materials, preparation of monolayers using physical and chemical methods, and their functionalization using covalent and non-covalent interactions. The newly synthesized materials will be studied for energy storage applications in the form of batteries and supercapacitors, heterogeneous catalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, and optoelectronic applications in hybrid OLED structures.

The ERC CZ program is aimed at supporting excellent research in the Czech Republic by implementing projects submitted to the calls of the European Research Council (ERC) that have not received support from European funds. Specifically, these are projects that were included in Categories A or B in the second round of international peer review by ERC expert panels. In this sixth ERC CZ program call, only 6 of these prestigious grants were awarded.

EuroNanoMed is an international call to support breakthrough nanomedicine projects. Professor Sofer succeeded in gaining funding for the TEIGER project, focused on cancer immunotherapy, which consists of rejuvenating the anti-tumor response by blocking the immune checkpoint by using mesoporous silica nanoparticles. The three-year project will be completed by a team from the Czech Republic, France and Taiwan.

Checkpoint blockade immunotherapies work by inhibiting pathways that keep the duration and strength of the immune system in check. To treat cancer by targeting the immune system instead of the tumour itself is an attractive approach, since fighting a tumour directly requires depletion of all malignant cells. Even a small number of surviving tumour cells can induce recurrence; thus, a traditional anticancer drug needs to reach billions of cells. On the contrary, for cancer immunotherapy, it is more realistic to achieve the activation of several thousands of leukocytes sufficient to induce potent anticancer response.

Our strategy for removal of immune tolerance is to elicit antitumor immunity in several thousands of T cells using mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) targeting potent immune checkpoint inhibitors irrespective of their cellular localization such as inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) in the nucleus and cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) on T cell’s surface. Thus, the aim of our project is to elicit antitumor immunity against melanoma via targeting ICER in CTLA-4 positive T cells using MSNs loaded with anti-ICER small interfering (si)RNA decorated with oligopeptides spanning specific paratopes trapping CTLA-4. Importantly, these peptides are meant not only to guide ICER RNAi delivery into CTLA-4 positive T cells, but also to serve as functional CTLA-4 blockade replacing ipilimumab, a clinically proven monoclonal antibody against melanoma blocking CTLA-4. It is expected that targeting ICER in CTLA-4 positive T cells will primarily circumvent regulatory T (Treg) cell’s ability to affect the potency of antigen presenting cells (APCs) to activate tumour-specific T cells.

The project will involve employees from all four University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) faculties; another partner from the Czech Republic is Josef Bodor from NanoSYS Biologics. The French partner is the pharmaceutical company V-nano, which will translate project results real industrial practice. Preclinical and clinical trials will take place at two Taiwanese universities, National Yang-Ming University and Chang Gung University. The project will run until the end of 2023.

Ph.D. student at the Department of Informatics and Chemistry

My name is Isabel and I am from Spain, a country which has no common history with the Czech Republic (CR). Before coming here, I only knew how to locate CR on a European map and the name of the capital, Prague. Because of this, I did some research before moving, using my good friend, Google. Just the basics: cost of living, religion, language, currency, the price of beer, and so on. And so I moved to Prague with no hesitation.

My first contact with the city was when I landed at Prague’s airport, where my supervisor picked me up and brought me to the university dorms. That day, one of the windows of his car broke and we couldn’t close it, so the whole trip on the highway was spent with the two of us trying to talk with a loud windy sound in the background. Once we arrived at the dorms, I realized why he had gone with me, because the person at the reception desk didn’t speak English at all. Finally, I got a room key, but when I opened the door, there were two beds! I had never shared room before and besides, there was no Wi-Fi. The next day, at the university, my colleagues asked me if I wanted to go for lunch with them at 11:30! I was completely shocked because it was so early (now I must admit that I love it, but it took me several days to get used to it).

Since this “first contact”, I have been surprised about several facts of life here. Like the -ová at the end of every female surname; how dorms, student canteens and public transport have extremely cheap prices; the way one tips (saying the amount you want to give, including tips when you pay); holidays in February for skiing; how funny it sounds to hear Ježiš Maria in a truly non-religious country; how easy and efficient public transport is; how much Czech people like to go to the mountains/forests for hiking— and also to rivers in the summer; how easy it is to get to other countries, even by bus; and of course, the fact that beer is cheaper than water. There are some good and bad aspects, but for now I just have one big bad point: the university dorms are located very far from the university, which is something that only exists at this university, as far as I know. So far, so good.

I like to live in Prague. It is a wonderful and beautiful city full of opportunities for working, traveling and learning. I know I will never regret moving here. Not just because of the city; I am truly lucky with my colleagues and my supervisor.

Originally published in SPIN 1/2018

Artificial life (commonly abbreviated Alife) is an interdisciplinary field that can be most briefly described as the study of life as it could be as opposed to the biology, which studies life as we know it here on Earth. This is a fascinating field where topics range from artificial intelligence and robotics to the chemical synthesis of artificial cells to almost philosophical considerations (what exactly is life?). In the Alife community, one encounters computer scientists, robotics researchers, physicists, chemists, biologists and also representatives from humanities disciplines and even artists. ALIFE conferences have been held annually since the 1980s, when the first conference was hosted by Christopher Langton, one of the founders of the field, in Los Alamos, United States.

Originally, this year’s conference was supposed to take place in Montreal, Canada, but due to the current situation and limited opportunities to travel, it was moved online to become the first fully virtual ALIFE conference. Next year the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague), will organize the conference. I am optimistic about the future, so we are planning ALIFE 2021 as a hybrid conference. This means that the conference will take place in Prague but that those who will not be able to in-person will be able to participate virtually. However, it will not be the first hybrid ALIFE conference: already starting in 2019 for the Newcastle (U.K.) event, scientists from the ALIFE community could choose whether to attend in-person or to choose a more environmentally friendly option by attending lectures online. We believe that the hybrid format will eventually become common for all conferences.

Although artificial life does not have much of a tradition in the Czech Republic (and currently only I and a handful of CIIRC scientists are supporters of this field), next year’s event will be the second international conference on artificial life to take place in the country. The first, ECAL (The 6th European Conference on Artificial Life), was organized by Jozef Kelemen in 2001. The ALIFE conference will therefore “return” to Prague after 20 years and its theme this time will be the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Čapek’s R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), source of the globally used word “robot”, which first appeared in this work.

Anyone who has read Čapek’s play or seen it in a theatre knows that Rossum’s robots were not metal monsters, as many people imagine robots imagine, but were made of chemically prepared matter that behaved as if it were alive. The play states: “Nature has found only one way to organize living matter. However, there is another way, simpler, more malleable and faster, which nature has not encountered at all.” With a little exaggeration, it could be said that Karel Čapek formulated some of the ideas and goals of the scientific field of artificial life as early as 1920. In R.U.R., we find many topics that scientists are still dealing with today: whether it is the processes of synthesis of artificial tissues and organs, questions surrounding evolution and reproduction, the ability to imitate the behaviour of human beings and to show at least signs of intelligence or consciousness. R.U.R. also outlines societal issues related to globalization, the division of power and wealth, religion, and the status of women. Basically, almost every scientist could show an example of how R.U.R. opens one of the still unanswered questions in their area of investigation. And that’s exactly what I did! At first I decided to recall how this hundred-year-old play is related to chemistry, but later I began to relate individual ideas to artificial life and other fields. I contacted my colleagues and acquaintances and asked them to read the Čapek's original R.U.R. (especially abroad, many had no idea about this work) and then to write their commentaries about it. And so the book Robot 100 was created.

From last autumn to January this year, I collected a total of 86 short chapters and several illustrations from 100 personalities—not only scientists, but also fiction writers, journalists, athletes, and artists. About a third are Czechs; the other authors come from all over the world. If we look at it like the Olympics symbol with its five interlocking rings, there are representatives from all five continents in the book. You will be able to find out who and what they contributed to the book on the website www.robot100.cz and social media. From now until November, the details about the book Robot 100 will be gradually released. And the book itself will see the light of day in November 2020, exactly one hundred years after the book edition of Čapek’s R.U.R. For now, I will tell you that the author of the cover of Robot 100 is the well-known Czech illustrator Jonáš Ledecký.

The Czech version of Robot 100 will be published by us at the UCT Prague Press. UCT Prague is the largest chemistry oriented university in the Czech Republic, which focuses not only on teaching and research in chemistry, chemical technology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and materials engineering, but also gives us, researchers, the ability to explore relatively new fields such as artificial life, as mentioned above. The UCT Prague Press, headed by Ing. Eva Dibuszová, PhD, is the only specialized publishing house in the Czech and Slovak Republics that systematically publishes chemical literature. In addition to coursepacks and textbooks, the publishing house also publishes conference proceedings and books for the general public.

It is terrific that our university’s publishing house has included Robot 100 in its publishing plan for this year. I am glad that, here at UCT Prague, we will be able to commemorate Čapek’s original concept: that his R.U.R robots originated by chemical means, and that for the first time, the word “robot” was used essentially for a chemical invention, albeit only a fictitious one. However, we are not the only ones planning to celebrate the centenary of the word “robot”. I am collaborating, for example, with Zdeněk Vacek, director of the Karel Čapek Memorial, where various events are planned in this context for autumn 2020. In January 2021, Jiří Dědeček and Jaroslav Veis will hold a several-day conference at the Archa Theater to celebrate 100 years of R.U.R. Some other authors and I will give lectures at events for the general public, especially during November’s “Night of Scientists”. I collaborate with Jana Horáková from Masaryk University in Brno, who wrote an amazing book, Robot as Robot, about R.U.R. from the theatre studies perspective. And the highlight of all this will be the ALIFE international conference, which will take place in Prague in summer. And at that time, the English version of Robot 100 will be published.

The Laboratory of Molecular Electronics and Smart Materials of the Department of Computing and Control Engineering, UCT Prague in cooperation with Tanta University and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology has obtained an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project. The received funds will enable the staff and students of all institutions to conduct experiments in the laboratories of their foreign partners as a part of long-term study and work internships. This three-year project builds on the previous successful cooperation between UCT Prague and Tanta University in the field of materials based on conducting polymers for the catalysis and degradation of toxic substances in wastewater treatment.

The Laboratory of Molecular Electronics and Smart Materials will work with both Egyptian universities on key topics for solving current Egypt’s environmental problems - polluted air and surface water. The aim of the cooperation is to develop new materials and equipment that will enable rapid detection, absorption or decomposition of pollutants.

The project was also created thanks to the very good work of the employees of the Department of International Relations of UCT Prague.

UCT Prague received the highest rating (A) in 11 criteria, the highest ranking in Czechia.

U-Multirank is not a standard ranking system and does not provide a ranked list of the best universities and therefore does not even claim which university is the best in a given year.

The ranking system, created by a consortium of Dutch and German universities, evaluates universities according to dozens of criteria divided into five areas. UCT Prague achieved the highest level of evaluation according to 11 criteria, which is the most of the Czech universities. UCT Prague was placed highest according to these criteria: the field of research (publications, cooperation with industry partners and the private sector), and, for example, student mobility. For detailed results, see UCT Prague’s profile on the U-Multirank site.

U-Multirank evaluates almost 1,800 universities from 92 countries. On its website, you can compare universities according to criteria important to a particular interested party and search for universities with similar profiles. There are 15 Czech universities evaluated in U-Multirank. However, for some, not all data are available and thus comparison for some criteria is not possible.

According to the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2021, UCT Prague kept second place among Czech universities last year. In the global ranking, the university improved by thirteen places from last year, achieving a rank of 342^nd.

This good result in the QS World University Rankings 2021 was mostly due to the small faculty-to-student ratio at UCT Prague. For this ranking metric (individual support for the education and involvement of students in research activities), UCT Prague even earned 40th place in the world and first in the Czech Republic.

“I am glad that after last year’s success in the first inclusion of our university in the rankings system, we have confirmed that our ranking is not coincidental. We try not only to make our university friendly and fair to students, but we also offer them a family environment, intensive contact with instructors, and involvement in scientific activities. I know the rankings are just a number. I consider it important that we keep developing and improving. If this is reflected in the rankings, it will just be the perennial “icing on the cake,” said Pavel Matějka, UCT Prague Rector.

The international environment of the university, with a large number of students from abroad according to Czech standards, significantly contributed to this year’s ranking as well. In recent years, the university has also attracted international scholars who affiliate their careers with the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague.

Other Czech universities were also successful in this year’s ranking. The largest Czech university, Charles University, improved to 260^th in the world. CTU Prague took 432^nd place; Masaryk University placed between 531-540; Palacký University in Olomouc, 591-600; BUT Brno, 701-750; TU Liberec 751-800; and CULS Prague, 801-1,000; Mendel University in Brno, 701-850; and the University of Pardubice, 801-1,000.

Full rankings and descriptions of methodology used are available on the QS World University Rankings 2021 website.

The European Water Association (EWA) has decided to honour Professor Jiří Wanner with its prestigious Honorary Membership in the association. Professor Wanner was elected President from 2005-2007 and was a member of the EWA Council, the Management Committee (MC), the EWA European Technical and Scientific Committee (ETSC) and different workgroups for many years.

Professor Wanner’s main professional interests include the study of biofilm processes, especially concerning the stabilization of the nitrification process in biofilm. Prof. Wanner also studies the population dynamics of activated sludge: both the growth of microorganisms associated with biological removal of nitrogen and phosphorus and the population dynamics of microorganisms affecting the separation properties of activated sludge, including mathematical model descriptions of these. For example, the method of bioaugmentation of nitrifying bacteria in-situ using the regeneration zone in the return sludge stream can be attributed to the successful study of population dynamics. This method is used, inter alia, at both CWWTP Prague water treatment plants. He formulated the principles of metabolic selection to control the sedimentation properties of activated sludge in anaerobic and/or anoxic zone systems. This also deals with calculations and the principles of the correct construction of modern settling tanks. Since 2008, Prof. Wanner’s research activities have focused on technologies that allow the reuse of purified wastewater as a substitute for river or drinking water. The importance of these technologies continues to increase with the risk of water scarcity due to drought and the ever-increasing price of drinking water.

Congratulations!

On Wednesday, December 11, 2019, at Prague Castle, the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, appointed Professor Pavel Matějka Rector of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague.

Professor Matějka will become leader of the university on January 1, 2020, with a four-year term of office.

Joining Professor Matějka at the event were Radek Cibulka, Chair of the UCT Prague Academic Senate, and outgoing Rector, Karel Melzoch.

Prof. Dr. RNDr. Pavel MATĚJKA studied physical chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, joining UCT Prague in 1993. In 2003, he became associate professor and since 2008 he has been a full UCT Prague professor. From 2010 to 2013, he was Vice-Dean for External Relations at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. Since 2013, he has been Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry. In 2016, he became UCT Prague‘s Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication. He is interested in the development of vibrational spectroscopy techniques using nanoparticles and nanostructures, resulting in approximately 150 publications in high-quality journals, more than 2,100 citations (without self-citations), and h-index 23.

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) is a natural hub for top-class education and research in the field of chemistry in the Czech Republic. It is one of the largest Czech educational and research institutions focused on technical chemistry, chemical and biochemical technologies, material and chemical engineering, food sciences and the environment. There are over 4,000 students studying at the university, with an extraordinary proportion of doctoral students (on average, 700). Some of the educational programmes are unique and crucial for the future of the entire Czech Republic. UCT Prague cooperates with more than 100 academic institutions mainly in Europe, but also in the USA, Canada, Japan, Vietnam, and beyond.

Photography: fotoarchiv KPR, Hana Brožková

He will replace the incumbent Dean, Professor Tomáš Ruml, whose second term of office will expire on December 31, 2019.

On Tuesday, November 19, the Dean of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague‘s Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology was elected. The Academic Senate chose from three candidates: Professor Karel Melzoch, outgoing Rector of UCT Prague; Professor Pavel Kotrba, currently holding the position of Vice-Rector for Research and Development; and Professor Jan Masák, Head of the UCT Prague Department of Biotechnology.

The Academic Senate of the Faculty elected Professor Jan Masák as its candidate for the new Dean already in the first round by a majority of six votes. The proposal for appointment will now be submitted to the Rector of UCT Prague. The new Dean's term of office will start on January 1, 2020.

Professor Masák graduated from the Secondary School of Food Technology in Podskalská, Prague, and subsequently studied fermentation technology at the UCT Prague Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology. As a doctoral student, he studied brewing technology and was awarded the title of Candidate of Science in 1989. The same year, he was appointed as an assistant professor, devoting himself first to brewing and later to environmental biotechnology. He is currently engaged in biotechnologies focused on the elimination of microbial infections. In 2003, Jan Masák became an associate professor and in 2009 he was appointed full professor in the field of biotechnology.

He has held the position of Head of the Department of Biotechnology since 2012. In the management of the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, he first served as Vice-Dean for External Relations from 2010 to 2012. At the end of the same year, he accepted the position of Vice-Dean for Education, a position he currently holds. At present he is also a member of the Board for Internal Evaluation of UCT Prague. In 2012–2013, he was a member of the Czech Council of Universities and chair of its committee for educational activities. Since 2015, he has been a member of the expert team developing the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation of the Czech Republic (National RIS3 Strategy). He also takes part in several scientific boards of universities and research institutes. From 2016 to 2018, he was UCT Prague‘s principal investigator for Central Development Projects focused on the creation of procedures for internal evaluation of the quality of higher education institutions.

His long-time research activities include applied biology and the development of biotechnological processes. He is the co-author of 78 publications listed in Web of Science (number of citations 502, h-index 14) and several patents and monographs. He is also the co-author of two industrial implementations for in situ decontamination of soil for an area of 35 hectares and decontamination of industrial wastewater in bioreactors measuring almost 500 m3.

More information about the elections (in Czech) can be found on the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology Academic Senate website.

The 9^th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA 2019) will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 5-8 November, 2019.

The RAFA organizers, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague, Czech Republic) and Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), part of Wageningen University & Research (The Netherlands), would like to invite food scientists from academia and industry, and representatives of national and international agencies, control authorities, governmental and commercial laboratories to attend this event.

RAFA has grown since the conference was launched in 2003. The previous events were usually attended by 800 participants from more than 60 countries of Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa, and supported by more than 50 sponsors, exhibitors and media partners.

The RAFA 2019 symposium will provide an overview of contemporary trends in analytical & bioanalytical strategies in food quality and safety control and discuss challenges / novel approaches in food and natural products analysis. Following areas related to recent & emerging issues will be addressed within the RAFA 2019 sessions:

• Mycotoxins, marine and plant toxins
• Migrants from food contact materials
• Processing contaminants
• Pesticide & veterinary drug residues
• Industrial contaminants
• Allergens, antinutrients
• Metals & metalloids & speciation
• Healthy nutrients & vitamins
• Flavour significant compounds
• QA/QC & Chemometrics & Big data handling
• Authenticity & food fraud
• Omics in food analysis
• Food forensics
• Microplastics in food
• Novel food bioactives & supplements
• Organic crops & foodstuffs
• Human biomonitoring
• Portable on-site food analysis

Workshops, Seminars, Tutorials

The conference programme will be accompanied by several satellite events alongside workshops, seminars, and tutorials on novel analytical strategies, including workshops on “Vibrational Spectroscopy and Chemometrics for the Monitoring of Food and Feed Products and Contaminants Detection”, and “Human Biomonitoring in Food Quality and Safety”, and  “Microplastics in the Food Chain”, and “Portable Food Analysis and Citizen Science”. Other sessions include “Data Quality and Smart Data Handling in Food Analysis” and “METROFOOD-RI: Workshop on Metrology in Food and Nutrition”.

An interactive seminar will discuss “Step by Step Strategies for Fast development of Smart Analytical Methods”.

The EU Reference Laboratories Colloquium will include a workshop on “Experiences, Achievements and Challenges Addressed by EU Reference Laboratories”.

The Food Authorities’ Summit — EU and Beyond, will include a seminar from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on “Food Safety Issues Beyond the EU”  as well as workshops on  “Food Safety in China: Past, Present and Future” led by China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA).

An open day of the EU-China-Safe: Delivering an Effective, Resilient and Sustainable EU-China Food Safety Partnership, will focus on the latest developments and strategies in food safety and authenticity control and demonstration of the best practice for a joint EU-China food safety control system. RAFA Smart Lab showcasing FoodSmartphone and PhasmaFood projects will demonstrate smart analysers and applications for on-site testing of food quality and safety. Another session will discuss the collaboration challenges within the EU framework programme for research and innovation.

Vendor Seminar and Exhibition

Vendor seminars provide the opportunity for leading companies to introduce recent instrumentation and analytical strategies for advanced food quality and safety control. An exhibition of modern instruments, laboratory equipment, reference materials, and consumables used in food analysis will be an important part of the symposium.

Young Scientist Opportunities

A platform for young scientists will be offered to present their scientific work; typically 20% of the contributed oral presentations is assigned to the next generation. Also a number of RAFA 2019 Student Travel Grants has been provided. The best poster presentation(s) by a young scientist(s) will be awarded with the prestigious RAFA Poster Award and sponsored poster award(s).

In summary, RAFA 2019 will offer again a high-quality scientific programme with top-quality presentations followed by stimulating discussions, a series of satellite events, a large state-of-the-art exhibition and an attractive social programme. Scientific contributions will be presented by leading scientists through keynote lectures and by contributed oral and poster presentations. The RAFA 2019 programme will be tailored to provide a lot of opportunities for networking as well as exploration of the latest results of the food analysis community.

More details can be found on the RAFA 2019 website www.rafa2019.eu.

Prof. Jana Hajslova, Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, UCT Prague

and Prof. Michel Nielen, Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), part of Wageningen University & Research

RAFA 2019 chairs

Martin Pumera is the first person to be named to this position.

At its meeting on October24 , the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague’s Scientific Council approved the establishment of the position of visiting professor at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry in the field of Chemistry Education and subsequently appointed associate professor Martin Pumera to the position effective for the period November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022.

Professor Pumera is a world-renowned expert in the field of inorganic chemistry and his rankings in prestigious databases confirm that he belongs to the top percent of most cited chemists in the world. Before joining UCT, he worked for many years at the prestigious Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, an institution with which UCT Prague has been developing closer ties. Since 2017 he has been the head of the UCT Prague Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots.

“The establishment of the position of visiting professor and the appointment of Professor Pumera will further strengthen the scientific activities at our faculty and the whole university,” said Professor Karel Bouzek, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology.

The privilege of appointing visiting professors was granted to UCT Prague in June 2019, within its institutional accreditation in the fields of Chemistry and Food Technology Education. The post is given only to the scholars who have achieved academic rank abroad comparable to Czech professors and associate professors or who were prominent professionals practising in their fields for at least twenty years.

At the UCT Prague, visiting professors are appointed by the Scientific Council based on the Rector’s submission upon a proposal by the Dean of the respective faculty.

Prague, October 15, 2019 – On Tuesday, October 15, the Academic Senate of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, elected its candidate for Rector for the period 2020-2023, Professor Pavel Matějka from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. He will be taking on leadership from outgoing Rector Professor Karel Melzoch, whose second (final) term expires on December 31, 2019.

The decision that the Senate reached in the second secret ballot round, will now go to the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic and then to the Czech President. The latter should appoint the candidate as Rector.

In addition to Professor Matějka, two other candidates, Professor Milan Pospíšil from the Faculty of Environmental Technology and Professor David Sedmidubský from the Faculty of Chemical Technology, ran for the Rector's position. Professors Matějka and Pospíšil advanced from the first round. In the second round, 13 of a total 24 votes were given to candidate Professor Matějka.

Prof. Dr. RNDr. Pavel MATĚJKA studied physical chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, joining UCT Prague in 1993. In 2003, he became associate professor and since 2008 he has been a full UCT Prague professor. From 2010 to 2013, he was Vice-Dean for External Relations at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. Since 2013, he has been Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry. In 2016, he became UCT Prague‘s Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication. He is interested in the development of vibrational spectroscopy techniques using nanoparticles and nanostructures, resulting in approximately 150 publications in high-quality journals, more than 2,100 citations (without self-citations), and h-index 23.

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) is a natural hub for top-class education and research in the field of chemistry in the Czech Republic. It is one of the largest Czech educational and research institutions focused on technical chemistry, chemical and biochemical technologies, material and chemical engineering, food sciences and the environment. There are over 4,000 students studying at the university, with an extraordinary proportion of doctoral students (on average, 700). Some of the educational programmes are unique and crucial for the future of the entire Czech Republic. UCT Prague cooperates with more than 100 academic institutions mainly in Europe, but also in the USA, Canada, Japan, Vietnam, and beyond.

Prague, 2 OCT 2019 – At the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (UCT), a prestigious new position called Chair – Medicinal Chemistry is being established for a leading foreign expert in drug discovery and development. It offers an unconventional form of collaboration with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), which will be supporting the new researcher with a grant of 7M CZK over a period of five years. That money will also assist in starting an excellent new research group at UCT.  

The agreement was signed by representatives of both institutions on 2 October 2019. The application process for an international competition will be opened this coming winter, with the selection committee comprising experts from UCT and IOCB Prague alongside two foreign scientists.  

Meet the UCT Prague representatives at the International Education Fairs in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey!

IEF Kazakhstan 2019 – NURSULTAN, SHYMKENT, ALMATY, Kazakhstan

• 5-6 October - Nursultan, Congress Center
• 8-9 October - Shymkent, Rixos Khadisha Shymkent
• 11-13 October – Almaty, Palace of sport and culture named after Baluan Sholak

Presentation of UCT Prague study programmes – BAKU, Azerbaijan

• 19 October - Jafar Jabbarly 44, Caspian Plaza III, I. Floor
  Registration form

Begin Edu Fair 2019 – BAKU, Azerbaijan

• 19 October – Baku, JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel

IEFT Turkey Fairs Fall 2019 – ISTANBUL, Turkey

• 25 October – Istanbul Asian Side, Bostanaci Dedeman Hotel
• 26-27 October – Istanbul European Side, Istanbul Congress Centre

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP).

The collaboration will focus on several areas including students and teaching staff exchanges, development of double degree programmes, joint supervision of PhD studies, joint research and teaching activities, organization of joint seminars and conferences, and development of joint research programmes. 

The study and research areas both institutions will develop their joint activities in will include mainly chemical engineering, petroelum engineering and applied chemistry.

Delegates from UCT Prague who also attended the signing ceremony were the Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Technology, Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Kočí, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Technology, Dr. Marek Šír, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology, Assoc. Prof. Pavel Novák, Head of the Department of International Relations, Iva Žilíková, MA.

After the signing ceremony the UTP delegation had a lab tour at UCT Prague and discussed some joint research topics with UCT researchers.

For the first time, UCT Prague has been ranked among the 1,000 best universities in the world, rising to 355^th place, the second best position among Czech universities this year.

These excellent results in the QS World University Rankings 2020 was largely due to the small student-to-academic instructor ratio. Individual support for the educational process and the consequential involvement of students in research activities has finally carried UCT Prague to 47^th place in the world and first in the Czech Republic.

“We are pleased that student support at UCT Prague is also appreciated at the international level. But we are really talking about students and their individual growth, so the rankings results are just a pleasant consequence,” said Karel Melzoch, Rector of UCT Prague.

Contributing to this year’s ranking was the international environment of our university—for the Czech context, a relatively high number of students from abroad. In recent years, the university has also attracted international researchers who decided to pursue their careers at UCT Prague.

“Placing in the first 400 can help us attract more excellent students and researchers from abroad,” said Pavel Matějka, Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication. “On the other hand, I don’t want to overstate one year’s ranking; we don’t know how the numbers will look like next time, particularly because we ranked in the first 1,000 for the first time,” added Matějka, who sees room for further improvement. “As a disciplinary-focused university, we will never have as much recognition as the larger universities. Yet solid work in science and research as well as collaboration with companies and institutions can push us even higher.”

This year was a good year for all Czech universities included in the rankings. Charles University broke through to the top 300 in the world, and all other Czech universities have improved. CTU Prague was ranked 498^th, Masaryk University 551-560^th, Palacký University Olomouc 601-650^th, and BUT Brno 651-700^th. New to the rankings were TU Liberec (751-800^th) as well as the the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS) and the University of Ostrava, both in the 810-1,000^th ranking band.

All rankings together with ranking methodology can be found online at: QS World University Rankings 2020.

On 29 and 30 April, Nanyang Technological University Singapore hosted a second meeting with the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (UCT Prague) and the prestigious University of Singapore. This followed a February workshop in Prague and the January signing of a Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation. The main objective of the April meeting was to define specific joint research tasks in the fields of sustainability, food safety and nutrition, and biomedical sciences.

UCT Prague also invited representatives from Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU Prague) and the Brno University of Technology (BUT) to the meeting because of their complementary expertise in electromobility, hydrogen fuels, electrode materials, and related areas. “This is the birth of a new Czech research consortium with a clear goal and the potential for participating in international bilateral grant projects,” says Pavel Kotrba, Vice-Rector for Science and Research, UCT Prague and one of the organizers of the tour.

The UCT Prague delegation was led by Rector Karel Melzoch, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology, Karel Bouzek, and other our leading experts: Prof. Hajšlová, Prof. Krýsa, Doc. Pulkrabová, Associate Professors Pumera, Sofer, Bartáček, and Dr. Kubička. Representatives of NTU Singapore at the meetings included the Vice Presidents of the University, Prof. Ling San and Prof. Alan Chen, as well as Prof. Subodh Mhaisalkar, who is also Director of the Energy Research Institute. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Singapore, Ivan Hotěk, also attended the first day of the meeting.

The meeting concluded with an agreement about the creation of a platform for cooperation in science and research in the areas of sustainability and food safety. A framework for a student exchange program was negotiated and concrete cooperation between UCT Prague and NTU Singapore was launched for the following research areas:

Electrochemical Energy Storage for Mobility: Doc. Pumera, Prof. Mhaisalkar [Energy Research Institute @ NTU; Assoc. Vice President of NTU – Strategy and Partnership]

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell/Electrolysis Cell: Prof. Bouzek, Prof. Siew Hwa Chan [School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering; Energy Research Institute @ NTU]

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell: Prof. Bouzek, Doc. Sofer, Prof. Siew Hwa Chan [School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering; Energy Research Institute @ NTU]

Photo Membrane Reactor - Concept II: Prof. Krýsa, Doc. Bartáček, Dr. Teik-Thye Lim [Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute]

Multifunctional Structured Catalysts Derived from Layered Double Hydroxides: Dr. Kubička, Dr. Poernomo Gunawan [School of Chemical and Biomedicinal Engineering]

Food Safety (microbial through metabolomics; point-of-care mycotoxins detection), Security (nutrition for aging population) and Authenticity (imported food): Doc. Pukrabová, Prof. Hajšlová, Doc. Pumera, Prof. William Chen [Director, Food Sci and Technology Programme;  School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering]

Singapore

• Destination with unlimited business opportunities.
• Gateway to Southeast Asia.
• Silicon Valley of the East.

• How to do business and get investment there?
• What to get ready for?
• What are the tips and tricks for expanding your idea (startup) globally?

About the speaker

Expara is an industry leader in early-stage venture capital and venture services.

Douglas Abrams, founder and CEO, is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, angel investor and educator who has been investing, venturing and teaching in Singapore since 2000.

Expara works closely with start-up and growth companies, as well as key players in both the public and private sectors in the local enterprise ecosystem.

The 5^th Hanami will take place on Thursday, 25 April, from 12:00 to 22:00 in front of building B (Technická street).

As usual, you can look forward to hanging out, lovely music, cotton candy stand, wonderful wine from the Hruška wine shop, cherry beer special, UCT microbrewery’s beer called Lachout, rolled ice cream by Rolovanázmrzlina.eu, tea shop, Kaiser Franz street food, Hot God hot dogs and much more.

The Department of Power Engineering (UCT) brought the tradition from Japan back in 1999 so this year marks the 5th anniversary. Moreover, the sakura trees were planted by UCT academic staff in the Technická Street in 1979, thus they are turning forty!

Entrance is free and we look forward to you!

Programe:

12:00-14:00 Dj Radio Wave
14:00-14:45 Dave Tichý – piano
14:45-16:45 DJ Radio Wave
16:45-17:15 Marek Matvija – Shakuhachi japanese flute
17:30-18:00 UCT Prague Orchestra
18:00-18:30 Theatre improvisation
18:30-19:00 UCT Prague Choir
19:00-19:15 Yosakoi – Japanese modern dance
19:15-22:00 Djs Radio Wave

IEFT Spring Tour 2019 – Istanbul
Feb 28 - Mar 3, 2019 Istanbul, Turkey 

16th EDUfair – Belgrade
Mar 8 - Mar 9, 2019 Belgrade, Serbia

Begin Euroasia Tour 2019 – Baku
Mar 9, 2019 Baku, Azerbaijan

Begin Euroasia Tour 2019 – Tbilisi
Mar 10, 2019Tbilisi, Georgia

ZurichEduCa Expo 2019 – Zürich
Mar 12 - Mar 13, 2019Zürich, Switzerland

Days of International Education 2019 in the Baltic States
Mar 13, 2019 K. Donelaičio str. 27, Kaunas, Lithuania
Mar 14, 2019 Konstitucijos pr. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania
Mar 16, 2019 Elizabetes iela 55, Centra rajons, Rīga, LV-1010, Latvia
Mar 17, 2019 Liivalaia 33, 10118 Tallinn, Estonia

The Sustainable Energy and Smart Mobility Workshop took place as the first event of a new collaboration between UCT Prague and Nanyang Technological University Singapore. 

Among workshop participants were guests from the world’s top research universities who collaborate with UCT Prague’s researchers. 

Scientific topics

Hydrogen Economy as the Way to the Sustainable Energy (UCT Prague, Prof. Karel Bouzek; dean)

Nanostructured transition metal oxide based electrode materials for beyond lithium-ion batteries (NTU Singapore, Prof. Madhavi Srinivasan)

ABILE – Air Batteries with Ionic Liquid Electrolytes (BMW Group, Dr. Jakub Reiter)

Ammonia as an Energy/Hydrogen Carrier (NTU Singapore, Prof. CHAN Siew Hwa)

Redox Flow Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage (UCT Prague, Prof. Juraj Kosek)

Perovskite Semiconductors: Challenging the Optoelectronic Limits (NTU Singapore, Prof. Subodh Mhaisalkar; Assoc. Vice-President)

Liquid State Photoemission Spectroscopy: Underused Tool from a Perspective of Ab Initio Theory (UCT Prague, Prof. Petr Slavíček)

The chemistry and electrocatalysis of 2D materials (UCT Prague, Prof. Zdeněk Sofer)

Cambridge-CREATE: Electrochemical CO2 reduction (Cambridge University, Prof. Adrian Fisher)

New article in Nature Catalysis journal by UCT Prague researchers.

Abstract of the article

The unique anisotropy and electronic properties of 2D materials have sparked immense interest in their fundamental electrochemistry and wide spectrum of applications. Beginning with the prototype 2D material — graphene — studies into an extensive library of other ultrathin layered structures have gradually emerged. Among these are the transition metal dichalcogenides, layered double hydroxides, metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) and the black phosphorus family of monoelemental compounds. In this Review, we discuss the similarities of these 2D materials and highlight differences in their electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties. Recent progress on 2D materials for energy-related electrocatalysis in industrially important reactions is presented. Together this shows that dimensionality and surface characteristics are both vital aspects to consider when designing and fabricating compounds to achieve desired properties in specific applications.

Fulltext of the article on Nature webpage

Traditional school co-organized by UCT Prague will take place in Izrael this year in December.

Following four successful years of the Prague Summer School on Advances in Drug Discovery, this year the school will be held Jointly with the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel (www.weizmann.ac.il). The school is co-organized by the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS.

Winter school 2018 website

• Deadline for abstract submission: October 1^st, 2018
• Notification of acceptance: November 1^st 2018
• Winter school: December 3^rd - 7^th

The International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering (IMETE) is a Joint Master Degree Programme, taught in English, bringing together students and scholars from all over the world. 

In IMETE, you will become part of a new generation of environmental scientists. As a graduate, you will be able to design and apply state-of-the-art environmental technology and engineering solutions to tackle today’s global environmental problems.

​You will study two years at three leading European universities in 3 different European countries: the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (Czech Republic), Ghent University (Belgium), and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (The Netherlands).

IMETE – call for applications

IHE Delft now welcomes applications from international and EU candidate students seeking admissions to the International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering (IMETE). The programme starts in September 2019, Erasmus Mundus scholarships are available.

The IMETE programme takes two years to complete and starts yearly in September at UCT Prague. In February of the next year students move to Delft, the Netherlands, where they can choose between two tracks, "Ecotechnology" and "Advanced wastewater treatment technologies". An optional internship can be completed in Summer. In September students move to Gent, Belgium to choose between "Air" and "Soil" tracks in the 3rd semester. Finally, in February of the 3rd year, students start their thesis research at one of the three academic institutions or at an associated partner.

Erasmus Mundus Scholarships

Erasmus Mundus JMD scholarships are available on a competitive basis.  There are two types of scholarships, depending on whether your country of residence is a partner or programme country.

The following countries will be considered as programme countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey.

All other countries, which are not indicated above, should be considered as partner countries. 

he submission deadline for an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship application is 15 January 2019 for applicants from Partner Countries and 15 February 2019 for applicants from Programme Countries. Applications received after this date will be taken into consideration for academic admission, but not for Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. In those cases, you need to submit your application before 15 May 2019.

Read more about the programme, application & admissions and Erasmus Mundus scholarships at the programme's website: www.imete.eu.

EM3E-4SW – call for application

The call for application (master edition 2019-2021) is now open. Erasmus Mundus scholarships are available.

The Master in Membrane Engineering for a Sustainable World (EM3E-4SW) offers an advanced educational programme related to membrane science and engineering at the interface between materials science and chemical engineering and focused on specific applicative fields. It involves 6 Higher Education Institutions of 5 European countries:

• Université de Montpellier (France), coordinating organisation,
• Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier (Toulouse, France),
• University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic),
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal),
• Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain),
• University of Twente (Netherlands).

Associated partners are:

• Università della Calabria (Italy),
• Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium).

The pedagogical project of the master comes from the close collaboration between partners through the European Research Network of Excellence NanoMemPro.

The Master course has a duration of two years: 4 semesters spent in at least 3 different countries. In the first year, theoretical and practical fundaments are provided. After an integration week, students enter the Master either at Université de Montpellier or at Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier. During the second semester, students follow mandatory teaching units to acquire knowledge and skills on process modelling and simulation at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague. During the second year, students choose to pursue their training in one of three university in order to acquire specific skills in an application field: Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (Universidad de Zaragoza), Energy and Environment (University of Twente), and Biotechnologies, Food and Health (Universidade Nova de Lisboa). The last semester is devoted to a 6 months master thesis in a university or an industrial company. The number of enrolled students is maximum 30.

The language of instruction is English. Students will be awarded with a multiple Master’s degrees from the three hosting universities, together with a Diploma Supplement.

Deadline for submission of applications for admission with an Erasmus Mundus scholarship: January 31st 2019 (mid-night CET).

Deadline for submission of applications without an Erasmus Mundus scholarship: May 31st 2019 (mid-night CET).

For more information

• See the EM3E-4SW website
• Download information sheet
• Contact Dr. Ing. Vlastimil Fíla, Vlastimil.Fila@vscht.cz

ICETI 2018 - International Conference on Environmental Technology and Innovations will take place on 21^st - 23^rd of November 2018.

The conference will provide a forum for presentation and discussion of scientific papers, covering a number of topics within environmental science and engineering.

ICETI is organized in cooperation between the Faculty of Environmental Technologies, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, cluster WASTen, z.s.,  Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton Duc Thang University, Université de Strasbourg - Icube and University od Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

This conference brings together engineers, scientists, researchers, students, managers and other professionals in order to address and discuss emerging environmental issues dealing with interactions of industrial development and environment. The success of this conference reflects the critical environmental topics that are discussed as well as the quality of the presented papers. All the papers which are selected for either oral or poster presentations undergo a review process.

The registration is open until end of August 2018.

ICETI conference website

On Monday November 19th our university welcomed students of international study program ATHENS. The Faculty of Environmental Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering regularly offer courses Environmental Technology  and Digital Signal and Image Processing with Applications.

Prospective students were able to chat with our representatives at the International Educational Fair in Kazakhstan to find out more information about studies at UCT Prague.

The event took place on:

• 10-11 November in ASTANA
• 12-13 November in ATYRAU
• 14-16 November in SHYMKENT
• 17 November in ALMATY

The first run of the autumn school for Japanese students from a partner institution Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, took place at the Faculty of Chemical Technology of UCT Prague during the week of October 22. - 26. 2018. The event was led by Professor Josef Krýsa from the Department of Inorganic Technology and organized in collaboration with the Department of International Relations of UCT Prague.

Lessons were focused on Chemical Technologies and Advanced Materials and were taught in addition to Professor Josef Krýsa also by the associate-professor Martin Paidar from the Department of Inorganic Technology, Professor David Sedmidubský from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Professor Jaroslav Kvíčala from the Department of Organic Chemistry and associate-professor Pavel Novák from the Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering.

Seven students from Kyutech were accompanied by professors Teruhisa Ohno and Teruyuki Nakato. The group had the chance to introduce Kyutech and their major subjects during an informal meeting at Carbon café.

The weeklong programme included many cultural and enriching activities and the students had for example the opportunity to visit successful manufacturing company RAKO 3, LASSELSBERGER s.r.o, in Lubná u Rakovníka, which is the biggest producer of ceramic wall and floor tiles in the Czech republic and ranks among the largest European tiling material producers at the same time.

After the first very successful run, the second one should be organized in the following academic year 2019/2020. At this time Kyutech will be the host institution. For further information you can contact the Department of International Relations in December.

UCT Prague joined over 300 exhibitors representing 170 institutions from 25 different countries at 28th  IEFT International Education Fairs of Turkey.

You could meet our representatives from the Department of International Relations and one of our international student Ms. Aliye Hazal Koyuncu in Istanbul European Side and Istanbul Asian Side:

26 October -  Dedeman Bostanci Hotel

27-28 October – Istanbul Congress Centre

Thank you for visiting us!

Our Representatives attend China Annual Conference for International Education & Expo (CACIE) in Beijing.

Vice-Rector Pavel Matějka will represent our University at the educational fairs in China from 20th till 21th October. 

You can find more information about studying at UCT Prague as foreigner on Study UTC website.

Every year, the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) awards three grants supporting international mobility and cooperation between European research teams in the area of corrosion and anti-corrosion protection at the world’s largest corrosion conference, EUROCORR. The grants are for early career researchers who would like to visit a foreign workplace under the supervision of experts as part of a short-term study stay.

One of the three grant recipients for 2019 is Darya Rudomilova from the Metallic Materials Construction Group at UCT Prague’s TECHNOPARK Kralupy. Rudomilova will have the opportunity to visit and work in Dr. Michael Rohwerder’s corrosion research group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung in Düsseldorf, Germany, a world-renowned center for novel electrochemical techniques related to atmospheric corrosion. During her stay, Rudomilova will focus on the detection of hydrogen in the structure of high-strength steel using the SKPFM (Scanning Kelvin Sample Force Microscopy) technique. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Kelvin Probe (SKP) techniques are also available at TECHNOPARK Kralupy, and the collaboration with the Rohwerder group will allow their wider application in research and development projects.

Photo: Darya Rudomilova receiving the EUROCORR Young Scientist Grant from Professor Wolfram Fürbeth, chair of the EFC’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) during the EUROCORR 2018 conference in Kraków.

Prof. Richard Compton from Oxford University, Editor of the Electrochemistry Communications and the most prominent electrochemist will give talk on 'New Insights in Nanoparticles' at UCT Prague, hall AI on Friday 5/10 at 2:00 PM.

UCT Prague, Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, in cooperation with the EU-funded project FoodIntegrity, organizes a Training week in Prague from the 3rd to 7th September 2018.

The event consists of TRAINING SCHOOL on assuring the integrity in the food chain (3-5 September 2018), and SYMPOSIUM for Post-Graduate Students on Food Fraud (6-7 September 2018).

Website of the FoodIntegrity Training week

In the following academic year, we are extending our successful mentoring programme for students of Master and Bachelor degree programmes and we are now looking for mentors.

What is mentoring and why become a mentor?

Mentoring is a professional relationship of two people in which a mentor shares his experience and knowledge with a mentee. The mentor acts as a guide and helps the mentee to find the right direction in a particular area or topic.

By working with students, you have not only the opportunity to pass on your experience, but you also get a fresh look at your work or new contacts, and you will not only support student’s development but also your own.

Details

The UCT Prague mentoring for students runs during the academic year; from October to June. Students work with a more experienced mentor in an area they are interested in for future. We are looking for mentors in companies, same as in the scientific and academic spheres, and we also do not forget about doctoral studies.

More information about the mentoring programme.

If you want to become a mentor, please fill in this registration form.

May you have any questions considering the mentoring programme, please contact the programme coordinator Radka Nováková.

UCT Prague is one of two organizers hosting the 50th International Chemistry Olympiad, a prestigious competition for the 300 most talented young chemists from 76 countries around the world.

The Olympiad will be held at the end of July in Prague and Bratislava. One of its highlights will be a Summer IChO Party offering a mix of good music and open-air science. The event will take place on Wednesday, 25 July, from 15:00 to 22:00 on our grounds at Vítězné náměstí.

Features include: musical entertainment provided by bands Tata Bojs and Kašpárek v rohlíku and singer Debbi; chemical experiments for the public; a big fireworks show; a presentation by the elite anti-chemical unit of the Czech Army; and an exciting street food market.

The highlight of the evening will be the arrival of the Olympiad competitors from the Podbaba Train Station, who will arrive on a special train directly from Bratislava.

Entrance is free and we look forward to you!

On June 20, 2018, scientific prizes to the Czech Republic were awarded by the French Embassy at Buquoy Palace, presented by French Nobel Prize winners and major world scientists: Jean-Marie Lehn, Jean-Pierre Sauvage, and Serge Haroche. The Nobel Prize winners honored 21 young scientists who published breakthroughs in their disciplines last year. The award ceremony was followed by the Sounds of Science conference, which linked the world of science with the world of music and featured a work entitled “Daily Patterns” by composer and UCT Prague graduate Petr Cígler.

The general public had the opportunity to take part in the Meet the Nobelists conference on June 21, at which Jean-Maria Lehn and Jean-Pierre Sauvage discussed their research and further development directions in their scientific pursuits.

Jean-Marie Lehn is the winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and has, of the three Nobelists, probably visited our university the most. Nevertheless, each of his visits to UCT Prague is a very welcome and pleasant event. On Friday, June 22, he first briefly talked to the Rector about the quality of Czech beer, wine, and cheese, and afterwards discussed details of his next visit to Prague in June 2019. The members of the UCT Prague orchestra prepared a surprise for Prof. Lehn: in front of the bust of Prof. Votočka they played one of Votoček’s compositions. After this emotional moment, Jean-Marie Lehn took the time to sit down with students, to answer their questions, and –most importantly—to motivate everyone present to more diligent and strenuous scientific work.

This extraordinary evening will be attended by three outstanding personalities of French science  the Nobel Prize winners:

• Jean-Marie Lehn (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1987),
• Serge Haroche (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2012) and
• Jean-Pierre Sauvage (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2016).

The latest findings from their fields will be presented to the audience in a way accessible to the general public, from high schoolers to researchers.

Their performance will be accompanied by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra with a special "scientific" program, playing music composed by scientists or for scientists.

The event is open for public, with discount for UCT Prague students and employees

• Registration form
• See more information 

Ing. Lucie Habartová from Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, UCT Prague, won the 1^st place in Best Poster Award 2018 at 10^th International Society of Clinical Spectroscopy Meeting (SPEC 2018) that took place on 10^th - 15^th of June 2018 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ing.Lucie Habartová is doing research in field of biospectroscopy of blood plasma in order to diagnose cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Cooperation in the areas of research and education. Cooperation regarding substance identification and counterfeiting. Joint development of analytical methods and procedures; cooperation in the fields of certification and accreditation of guidelines. These are the main points of the Memorandum of Cooperation signed on Thursday, May 3, between the UCT Prague and the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic.

Present at the signing of the Memorandum were UCT Prague Rector, Karel Melzoch; UCT Prague Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication, Pavel Matějka; General Director of the Customs Administration, Milan Poulíček; and the First Deputy General Director of the Customs Administration, Lumír Šatran.

Our Representatives attend Days of International Education in Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn

Representatives of the project Study in Prague attend for the second time the biggest Baltic specialized study abroad fair “Days of International Education”. The biggest Baltic study abroad Fair with a well-known brand name in the Baltic region and beyond is a chance for our prepresentatives to to meet face-to-face with almost 20.000 of our potentional applicants and institutional partners.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 22 in Vilnius, on Saturday, March 24 in Riga and on Sunday, March 25 n Tallinn. 

Our Representatives attend International Education Fairs Turkey (Ankara, Istanbul).

One of our international students Mr. Emre Ilpars will represent our University at the educational fairs in Turkey (Ankara, Istanbul) from 19th till 25th March. 

You can find more information about studying at UCT Prague as foreigner on Study UTC website.

QS World University Rankings included our school among the world’s best in Chemistry for the first time.

For almost fifteen years, QS World University Rankings has been evaluating universities worldwide. In addition to global overall rankings, which do not reflect a university’s size or focus, it also publishes compares universities according to individual disciplines.

For UCT Prague, a specialized chemistry and technology university, the subject assessment is much more relevant than the overall rankings.

This year, UCT Prague reached the top for Chemistry, achieving a ranking of 301-350^th best in the world.

AFO Warm-up may definitely make happy all fans of the famous festival of science documentary films, the Academia Film Olomouc, which 53rd edition is going to be held on April 24-29.

Now, you can start looking forward to enjoying our Kampus Dejvice's free three-day warm-up with science documentaries and interesting accompanying program.

When: February 20 - 22nd
Where: Balling Hall, National Library of Technology (NTK)

In Prague you can look forward to a three-day tasting festival, which will offer audiences on 20-22 February a varied composition of films and an interesting accompanying program.

Free entry

Program

Tuesday February 20th

6:45 pm
Opening ceremony of the PETotem lighting installation in front of the National Library of Technology

19:30
Theater performance PET(m)use (in the Atrium of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, CTU)


Wednesday, February 21st - Balling Hall, NTK

14:30
Film: One Foot in the Absolute, Second Foot on the Edge
Film: One Foot in the Absolute: Beings and Apparatus


16:30
One foot in the Absolute: Blackout
Offline is the New Luxury

19:00
The Future of Work and Death

Thursday 22.2. 2018, Balling Hall, NTK

14:00
Bugs: Nature's Little Superheroes

15.30
Prisoners of the white god

17:00
Before the Flood 

18.45
The End of Memory
Whispers of String Theory

Accompanying program

Debates after film screenings and more entertainment in the Parter (ground floor) of the National Library of Technology.

We love science and want to celebrate it. Join us and come hear thirteen representatives of research groups from UCT Prague discussing the scientific challenges they are currently facing. Afterward, during the informal part of the meeting, you can meet panelists to talk about possible cooperation opportunities or simply chat.

Science Rendezvous takes place on 14^th of February at 13:30 in the BII lecture hall.

Panelists include: 

• Zdeněk Sofer – Department of Inorganic Chemistry
• Pavel Ulbrich – Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology
• Radek Cibulka – Department of Organic Chemistry
• Karel Friess – Department of Physical Chemistry
• Jan Bartáček – Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering
• Pavel Novák – Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering
• Kamil Záruba – Department of Analytical Chemistry
• Pavel Lhoták – Department of Organic Chemistry
• Vojtěch Hrbek – Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition
• Marek Staf – Department of Gaseous and Solid Fuels and Air Protection
• Tomáš Hlinčík – Department of Gaseous and Solid Fuels and Air Protection
• Juraj Kosek - Department of Chemical Engineering
• Ondřej Uhlík – Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology

More information about programe & abstracts.

Snacks are provided; open to all. We look forward to meeting you!

Senior Vice President for Research & Chief Technology Officer at Georgetown University, Dr. Spiros Dimolitsas, met with the representatives of UCT during his visit to the Czech Republic organised by the Czech Science & Technology Attaché in Washington, Luděk Moravec, MSc..

Dr. Dimolitsas discussed with the Vice-Rector for Research and Development, Prof. Pavel Kotrba, and Vice-Rector for for External Relations and Communication, prof. Pavel Matějka, the ways of developing closer links between the institutions.

Both institutions have strong education and scientific background and the visit highlighted the mutual research interest in the areas of computation drug design, food safety and chemical catalysis.

On Wednesday, November 29, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic granted awards for higher education, science, and research in 2017.

UCT Prague’s Lukáš Pekárek was granted the award by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for outstanding students and graduates of the programs and for extraordinary achievements.

Pekárek, a student at the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, was interested in introducing procedures for the purification of viral structural proteins. By analysing their interactions with nucleic acid, he laid the foundations for the introduction of a quantitative system for composing Dengue and Zika virus particles and testing potential inhibitors of these dangerous viruses.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has been granting this award since 2014. Students or graduates of Bachelor, Master, or PhD program are eligible for awards based on outstanding results in studies or scientific, research, development, artistic, or other creative activities related to their studies. Awards can also be given for extraordinary acts demonstrating civic bravery, responsibility, or dedication.

During the festive afternoon, the Award for Outstanding Results in Research, Experimental Development, and Innovation; the František Běhounka Prize; and the Milada Paulova Prize were awarded.

More information here (in Czech language).

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague run traditionally two ATHENS courses in November.

The first - Environmental Technology coordinated by Dr. Pavla Šmejkalová took place at the Department of Environmental Chemistry and the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering. The course included the excursion to the Old wastewater treatment plant in Bubeneč.

The second course - Digital Signal and Image Processing with applications was coordinated by Prof. Aleš Procházka from the Department of Computing and Control Engineering at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. The students visited the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU and the Technical Museum.

About ATHENS program

ATHENS or Advanced Technology Higher Education Network, Socrates is an international programme started in 1997. Universities participating in this programme organize week-long intensive courses in technological fields.

The courses are held twice a year (March and November), language of instruction being English, French or Spanish. The courses consist of approximately 30 hours of lectures, seminars and excursions, they are complemented by 12-15 hours of cultural programme so that the participants will also learn about the culture and environment of the host country.

UCT Prague is part of this programme together with Czech Technical University. We organize two Athens courses in November and one course in March - language of instruction is always English. More information about our courses can be found on this page. 

Applications are possible via official ATHENS website. (Our courses are listed together with the Czech Technical University's courses.)

A Conferral Ceremony of Doctor Honoris Causa upon Prof. Jiří Drahoš, former President of the Czech Academy of Sciences and UCT Prague alumnus, took place on Friday, 24 November, at the Dancing House (Tančící dum) in Prague.

Kobe University is pursuing further academic collaboration between Japan and Europe through its Brussels European Centre and Kobe University Liaison Office in Kraków. As a member of the Kobe University Advisory Board, Prof. Drahoš has shared his vast experience as President of the Czech Academy of Sciences to strengthen the international activities of Kobe University in Europe.

Recognizing his significant role and contribution to Europe, the Czech Republic, and Kobe University, Kobe University has conferred a Kobe University Doctor Honoris Causa upon Prof. Drahoš.

University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Department of Carbohydrates and Cereals and Czech Chemical Society organize the 13^th International Conference on Polysaccharides – Glycoscience which is held on 8^th - 10^th November, 2017 in Prague, Street Novotného lávka.

Major experts will present last trends in the research field of saccharides, polysaccharides and its derivatives.

Scientific topics:

• Characterization and analyses of polysaccharides from natural sources
• Physiological effects of natural polysaccharides
• Production of polysaccharides and agricultural sources
• Biodegradable plastics based on polysaccharides
• Chemically modified polysaccharides
• Resistant and slowly digestible starch
• Nanoparticles of polysaccharides

13^th ICPG will offer Young Scientist's Competition in oral and poster presentations.

More details can be found on the 13^th ICPG website

Doc. Ing. Evžen Šárka, CSc.
Prof. Ing. Jana Čopíková, CSc.
Ing. Roman Bleha

Scientific committee ICPG

The 8^th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA 2017) will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 7–10 November, 2017.

The RAFA organizers, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague, Czech Republic) and RIKILT, Wageningen University & Research (The Netherlands), would like to invite food scientists from academia and industry, and representatives of national and international agencies, control authorities, governmental and commercial laboratories to attend this event.

RAFA has grown since the conference was launched in 2003. The previous two events were attended by 800 participants from more than 60 countries of Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa, and supported by more than 50 sponsors, exhibitors and media partners.

The RAFA 2017 symposium will provide an overview of contemporary trends in analytical & bioanalytical strategies in food quality and safety control and discuss challenges for novel approaches. The following recent & emerging issues will be addressed by RAFA 2017 sessions:

Workshops, Seminars, Tutorials

The conference programme will be accompanied by several satellite events alongside workshops, seminars, and tutorials on novel analytical strategies, including workshops on “Vibrational Spectroscopy and Chemometrics for the Monitoring of Food and Feed Products and Contaminants Detection” and “Analysis of Nanoparticles in Food, Cosmetics and Consumer Products” and  “Human Biomonitoring of Food”. Other sessions include “Smart Portable Food Analysis Systems and Citizen Science” and “Data Quality and Smart Data Handling in Food Analysis”. There will also be an opportunity to enhance your knowledge of mass spectrometry at the RAFA Mass Spectrometry School.

An interactive seminar will discuss “Sample-prep, Separation Techniques and Mass Spectrometric Detection in Food Quality and Safety: Step by Step Strategies for Fast development of Smart Analytical Methods”.

The Reference Laboratories Colloquium will include a workshop on “Experiences, Achievements and Challenges Addressed by EU Reference Laboratories

The Food Authorities’ Summit — EU and Beyond will include a seminar from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on “Food Safety Issues Beyond the EU”  as well as workshops on  “Food Safety in China: Past, Present and Future” and Sustainable Food Security and Quality – Challenges for Developing Countries”.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) information platform on emerging food quality/safety issues of high concern will also be discussed.

An open day on food integrity will focus on the latest developments and strategies in safety, quality, authenticity and traceability and the HORIZON 2020 session will discuss the collaboration challenges within EU framework programme for research and innovation.

Vendor Seminar and Exhibition
Vendor seminars provide the opportunity for leading companies to introduce recent instrumentation and analytical strategies for advanced food quality and safety control. An exhibition of modern instruments, laboratory equipment, reference materials, and consumables used in food analysis will be an important part of the symposium.

Young Scientist Opportunities

A platform for young scientists will be offered to present their scientific work; typically 20% of the contributed oral presentations is assigned to the next generation. Also a number of RAFA 2017 Student Travel Grants will be provided. The best poster presentation(s) by a young scientist(s) will be awarded with the prestigious RAFA Poster Award and sponsored poster award(s).

In summary, RAFA 2017 will offer a high-quality scientific programme with top-quality presentations followed by stimulating discussions, a series of satellite events, a large state-of-the-art exhibition and an attractive social programme. Scientific contributions will be presented by leading scientists through keynote lectures and by contributed oral and poster presentations. The RAFA 2017 programme will be tailored to provide a lot of opportunities for networking as well as exploration of the latest results of the food analysis community.

More details can be found on the RAFA 2017 website www.rafa2017.eu.

Prof. Jana Hajslova

RAFA 2017 chairwoman

We have a new video spot. We are the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague.

Following the opening course in 2014, and very successful courses in 2015 and 2016 the 4^th Prague Summer School "Advances in Drug Discovery" took polce in September 2017, focusing on the whole process from discovery to drug marketing.

The Summer School wes organized by the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS.

As in 2016 the attendants were presenting their research in the form of poster presentation.

The Summer School is intended mainly for PhD students and postdocs. Expert speakers from major international pharma and biotech companies and academia covered in September 2017 these broad areas:

• Target discovery
• General chemical approaches – medicinal chemistry
• Structure and In silico based drug design
• Lead structure characterization
• Precinical and clinical development
• Principles and examples of commercial drug development cycleS
• Specific section devoted to personalized medicine and related diagnostic.

 
SELECTED SPEAKERS

• James Douglas Engel
  University of Michigan
  Developing Therapeutics for the Worlds most Common Inherited Genetic Disease
   
• Thomas Ullrich
  Novartis, Institutes for Biomedical Research
  Local Drug Delivery to Joints and Tendon
   
• Petr Váchal
  MSD
  Topic: Medicinal Chemistry Enabled by Novel, Transformational Capabilities
   
• Sergej Zezula
  ENAMINE
  Discovering Drugs with a CRO
   
• Stephan Bachmann
  Roche
  Catalysis as Key Technology in the Synthesis & Scale-up of APIs and their Intermediates
   
• Ernst Plefka
  Biocrates
  Pharmacometabolomics in Drug Development and Precision Medicine 

More Information - website of the Prague Summer School

Flyer

University of Chemistry and Technology, Department of Inorganic Chemistry invites you to the lecture - Cooperative Function in Atomically Precise Nanoscale Assemblies.

• Thursday -  8. 6. 2017, 10:00 
• Lecture room BI

Prof. Dr. Paul S. Weiss

He is a leading American nanoscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He holds numerous positions, including UC Presidential Chair, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of Materials Science and Engineering.

He is founding Editor-in-Chief of ACS Nano.

From 2009–14 he held the Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences and was the director of the California NanoSystems Institute.

Weiss has co-authored over 300 research publications and holds over 30 US and international patents.

Abstract

We use molecular design, tailored syntheses, intermolecular interactions, and selective chemistry to explore the ultimate limits of miniaturization. We direct molecules into desired positions to create nanostructures, to connect functional molecules to the outside world, and to serve as test structures for measuring single or bundled molecules. Interactions within and between molecules can be designed, directed, measured, understood, and exploited at unprecedented scales. Such interactions can be used to form precise molecular assemblies, nanostructures, and patterns, and to control and to stabilize function. We selectively test hypothesized mechanisms of function by varying molecular design, chemical environment, and measurement conditions to enable or to disable function and control using predictive and testable means. Critical to understanding these variations has been developing the means to make tens to hundreds of thousands of independent single-molecule/assembly measurements in order to develop sufficiently significant statistical distributions, while retaining the heterogeneity intrinsic in the measurements. We use a number of excitation mechanisms to induce changes in the molecules and assemblies, including electric field, light, electrochemical potential, ion binding, and chemistry. We measure the electronic coupling of the contacts between the molecules and substrates by measuring the polarizabilities of the connected functional molecules. We have likewise developed and applied the means to map buried chemical functionality and interactions. The next steps are to learn to assemble and to operate molecules together, both cooperatively and hierarchically, in analogy to biological muscles. We discuss our initial efforts in this area, in which we find both interferences and cooperativity.

Such is the title of the 11th European Electrochemical Engineering Symposium, hosted by the UCT Prague Faculty of Chemical Technology, with Dean Prof. Karel Bouzek at its forefront. The main target of the Symposium is to provide a focused forum for researchers and users of electrochemical technologies in a broad spectrum of existing and emerging fields of applications and thus to trigger an intense exchange of ideas and information.

The Symposium will focus on, but not be limited to, six key topics: green technologies for sustainable development, electrocatalysis and electrochemical technologies, safe water and air, energy conversion processes, bioelectrochemistry - a launchpad for new frontiers in electrochemical technologies, surface treatment and corrosion engineering. International guests include Prof. Anthony A. Wragg, who has been honored with a special award for his contributions to electrochemical engineering. Prof. Wragg has been very influential in the development of the electrochemical research at UCT Prague, as he helped young scientists cultivate their knowledge at the University of Exeter. Not only because of this, he holds the Votoček medal – the highest academic award granted by UCT Prague.

Prof. Des Richardson (University of Sydney) presented a morning lecture on May 22.  His visit to UCT Prague was initiated by Prof. RNDr. Vladimír Král, CSc., Department of Analytical Chemistry. 

Prof. Richardson has made significant contributions to cancer research, primarily in understanding the role of iron in cancer cell proliferation and the development of novel anti-tumor agents known as iron chelators. Indeed, these studies have resulted in highly promising and potent anti-cancer drugs and are subject of a suite of active national patents, undergoing their first rounds of clinical testing.

In his lecture, "Developing novel anti-tumor agents via chelation of essential metal ions and the generation of redox active stress,” Prof. Richardson discussed current projects and new research developments.

 During his visit to the Czech Republic, Richardson met with the editorial team of Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) and conducted other activities related to clinical testing of active antitumor molecules. He also visited a children’s oncology ward in Brno and lectured at Masaryk University.

Our Representatives will attend European Higher Education Fair - Study and Research in Europe: Quality-Diversity-Opportunity. The event is organized by Study in Europe program.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday, May 20 at Meiji University in Tokyo and on Saturday, May 21 at Doshisha University in Kyoto. 

Karen McCloskey is Professor of Cell Physiology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen’s University Belfast. Since 2012, she has been Director of the Gender Equality Office in the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences.

She led the successful Athena SWAN Silver Award Applications for the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences in 2012 and 2016, working with an enthusiastic and highly-motivated Gender Equality Committee representing staff and students at all levels across the research and education units of the School.  In 2016, she proposed and implemented a strategy for a Gender Equality Office in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, serving 4 Schools. Chairing the University SWAN Champions Group has provided valuable insight into the challenges faced by colleagues in other disciplines as they work towards Gender Equality and has enabled good practice to be shared across the University.

UCT Prague student Shadi Alnahari has won photo competetion organized by Study in Prague. The topic of the contest was "We’ve met in Prague".

You can see the photo on author's Instagram profile.

Prague, 20. 2. 2017 – A joint research team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the University of Heidelberg, and the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) present results of a new method for experimental observation of electron-transfer mediated decay (ETMD) processes in the March 2017 issue of Nature Chemistry, “Observation of electron-transfer-mediated decay in Aqueous Solution” by Isaak Unger, Robert Seidel, Stephan Thürmer, Marvin N. Pohl, Emad F. Aziz, Lorenz Sm . Cederbaum, Eva Muchová, Petr Slavíček, Bernd Winter, and Nikolai V. Kryzhevoi.

This work utilizes X-rays to observe aqueous solutions in new ways. Historically, Nobel Prize winner (1914) Max von Laue was the first to discover diffraction of X-rays by crystals. This new research illustrates how chemists can use X-rays to observe ETMD in the liquid phase.

UCT Prague was represented on the project team by Prof. Petr Slavíček and RNDr. Eva Muchová.

According to Prof. Slavíček, Dr. Bernd Winter’s liquid microjet for photoelectron spectroscopy was key for this research, since it makes photoelectron spectroscopy applicable to highly volatile liquid solutions, including water.

Such techniques may have broad ranging future applications, according to RNDr. Muchová. The present work is just the first step into a new research field and future studies will reveal how ETMD spectroscopy may become a powerful tool for studying various properties of aqueous solutions.

Electrons emitted from highly volatile solution experience multiple elastic and inelastic collisions with gas-phase (water) molecules, and the latter must be avoided for detection of electron kinetic energies. The seemingly contradictory concept of achieving undisturbed electron travel in a region of high vapor pressure has been realized by the development of the vacuum liquid microjet technique. In tandem with the jet, an X-ray beam (with focal size matching the diameter of the jet), and the imaging focus of a hemispherical electron energy analyzer (EA) are spatially overlapped in the main interaction chamber.
 
Laboratory of theoretical photodynamics (Photox)’s main goal is to understand how controlling molecules with light is possible through the use of laser technology. Much of the work group is also dedicated to the development of new theoretical methods and approaches that deal with photodynamics.

RNDr. Eva Muchová, PhD. completed her master's degree and PhD studies at the Faculty of Science of Charles University. She’s been working at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague since 2013. Her scientific work focuses on theoretical photochemistry, photodynamics, and the development of new approaches for studying both models and realistic systems.

Prof. RNDr. Petr Slavíček, PhD. completed his master's degree at the Faculty of Science of Charles University and his PhD studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University. He finished his post-doctoral internship at the University of Illinois in the USA under Professor Martinez and earned the title of professor at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. He also cooperates with the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) is a technical research university with a prestigious international reputation. UCT Prague was founded in 1952 and currently consists of four faculties - the Faculty of Chemical Technology, the Faculty of Environmental Technology, the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering.

Translation assistance from interns Caroline Coulter, Brandon Donohoe, Ellen Lechman

Full text

The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague regularly collects achievements during the annual Siemens Awards. Nothing changed in the 19th year of the competition, which culminated on February 9th at a gala in Bethlehem Chapel. The Best PhD Thesis Category was dominated by MSc. Martin Ullrich, PhD from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering for his work on the "formation of liposomes for controlled release of reactants and actives." Ullrich was mentored by Prof. František Štěpánek from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering.

The winning thesis deals with topics at the intersection of many disciplines, and focuses on the preparation of structured microparticles used in medicine and other scientific fields.

"The main scientific contribution of this work is that Martin created a functional prototype for a chemical robot, i.e. microparticles capable of carrying encapsulated content that could release said content on the basis of a radio frequency signal, locally create a biologically active product, and then release those products into the surroundings. What was when Martin Ullrich started his doctoral studies only a concept, is now a reality," explains Professor Štěpánek.

Congratulations to MSc. Ullrich, who also won a multimillion-dollar contract with the aim of testing chemical robots as drug carriers in the preclinical phase.

It has been shown that the preparation of the microparticles is possible by combining the individual components. It was not a simple and straightforward matter but what eventually overcame these complications was a composed particle the size of tens of micrometers which acted as a "micro-laboratory". Inside the particles are small liposomes with closed reactants and magnetic nanoparticles.  A contactless radio-frequency impulse “turns on” a reaction inside the microparticle. The reaction product is then expelled into the environment of the particles. This technology is one of the first that involves a radio frequency signal that enables a remote controlled release of molecules from biochemical reactions at the single cell level.  It effectively links chemistry and biology to the world of Cybernetics. This technology demonstrates an entirely new drug delivery method using an electronic device with this contactless radio frequency functionality in interaction with human senses or in personalized medicine.

• Official press release (in Czech)
• More details (in Czech) and pictures from the event

Stephanie Krueger with special thanks to intern Brandon Donohoe

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) is offering a unique opportunity for an Early Stage Researcher to undertake research in the framework of the project “Smart phone analyzers for on-site testing of food quality and safety (FoodSmartphone)”. The Early Stage Researcher will be funded for 3 years by the prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Innovative European Training Network (MCSA-ITN-ETN-2016) programme. The successful candidate will be offered the opportunity to enrol on the following PhD programme: Enzymatic FoodSmartphone assays for AChE inhibitors (ESR 6). He/she will be an active member of a research project team assisting in the delivery of research and training activities within a specified project scope aimed to meet overall FoodSmartphone research objectives and submit a thesis in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD degree.

Information

For more information regarding this position please contact Prof Dr. Jana Hajslova; jana.hajslova@vscht.cz or at (+420)220 443 185.

Application

Please submit your motivation letter with CV by e-mail to martina.vlckova@vscht.cz (this is the only correct way to apply) before March 27, 2017. Any applications reaching us, in any other way are not taken into consideration.

FoodSmartphone encourages qualified women, researchers from recent member states and researchers with a refugee status to apply as well. A screening research is part of the selection procedure and employment conditions at UCT Prague.

More information here

The University of Chemistry and Technology Prague is continuing its collaboration with The Molson Coors Brewing Company, the world’s third largest beer producer. A ceremonial signing of a partnership memorandum took place on January 16 during a visit by European Molson Coords managers to the university.

Signatories included UCT Prague Rector Prof. Karel Melzoch; Simon Cox, President and CEO of Molson Coors Europe; and Ing. Petr Kovařík, Managing Director of Molson Coors Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Under the agreement, UCT Prague students are able to participate in the Staropramen trainee program as well as to take part in internships and excursions at the Staropramen brewery, which is also providing topics of investigation for Bachelor and Master theses. 

The Molson Coors Brewing Company produces 21 million hectoliters of beverage products annually and employs more than 6,200 workers worldwide. In the Czech Republic, the company owns the Ostravar and Braník brands in addition to Staropramen.

The Czech branch of the company employees a number of UCT Prague graduates, as do the majority of breweries in the Czech Republic, a result of the university’s long tradition of educating brewers and managers at the Department of Biotechnology.

Gary Loke, Deputy Chief Executive/Head of Policy and External Relations for Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), visited UCT Prague in October 2016 and discussed issues of gender of equality in higher education, using examples from the United Kingdom, with members of the UCT Prague community. Loke also addressed equality issues more broadly.

Loke participated in a European Commission funded project, GENDER-NET, the first European Research Area network exploring gender equality in research careers and content. He has been on a number of UK advisory bodies, including the Research Excellence Framework equality and diversity panel, the Quality Assurance Agency’s advisory group on the Quality Code on student support, learning resources and careers education, information, advice and guidance, as well as the Legal Education and Training Review Diversity and Social Mobility Expert Advisory Group. He is currently a member of the policy advisory group on migration and ethnicity of the UK Economic and Social Research Council Research Centre on Micro-Social Change at the University of Essex and a member of the gender equality commission of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is also a visiting research associate at the Forum for Research into Equality and Diversity at the University of Chester.

ECU supports universities and colleges to build an inclusive culture that values the benefits of diversity, to remove barriers to progression and success for all staff and students, and to challenge and change unfair practices that disadvantage individuals or groups.

Those interested in learning more about how ECU can support them are encouraged to contact Loke directly.

A team of Czech scientists—including members from the Department of Experimental Physics and Department of Physical Chemistry, Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Faculty of Science, Palacky University in Olomouc; the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague; the Division of Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University; and the Institute of Scientific Instruments, The Czech Academy of Sciences—has developed the world's smallest metal magnets.

The results of their efforts were been published in Nature Communications on September 15, 2016, in an article entitled Air-stable superparamagnetic metal nanoparticles entrapped in graphene oxide matrix.

• Full article
• Article in Tyden.cz (Czech language)
• Interview on Czech TV with dr. Ing. Zdeněk Sofer PhD

On  November 9-10, Jan Heyda from FCHE attended a rector’s conference of universities for the Danube region and Central Europe at the Danube University Krems. At this conference, young scientists—one from each of the participating states—received awards.

→ More information

The award seeks to encourage young scientists to engage themselves in the scientific examination of the multifaceted issues and questions specifically related to the Danube and to stimulate the specific community in the Danube Region. Universities, Academies of Sciences and research institutions in all 14 countries of the Danube Region have been encouraged to nominate suitable and promising candidates that have been assessed by an international expert jury. The highest ranked candidate of each of the countries that submitted eligible nominations will now be awarded with the prize.

Dr. Jan Heyda, born June 18th, 1983, is a theoretical physical chemist, experienced in atomistic computer simulations, development of coarse-grained models, and applications of statistical thermodynamics. His fields of research are soft matter and aqueous solutions; in particular, ion- and cosolvent-specific effects and the control of biomolecular stability. During his PhD and postdoctoral research, he made a step from qualitative characterization of weak ion-specific effects to their thermodynamics description.

Dr. Heyda is co-author of 37 publications in peer-reviewed journals, with more than 600 citations and h-index of 17. He holds several awards.

Prague, September 19 – Prof. Jana Hajšlová from University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague was honoured with the prestigeous Harvey W. Wiley Award for 2016. Prof. Hajšlová was given the award at a ceremony in Dallas, Texas, during the 130th member’s meeting of the AOAC International asociation, which plays an important role as a platform for scientists using analytical methods regularily.

While at the conference, prof. Hajšlová gave a presenation on today’s technical procedures and challanges in food analysis, be it for quality, security or authenticity‘s sake.

Since 1956, the Harvey W. Wiley Award is the most prestigeous award that AOAC grants. It is bestowed upon researchers, who attribute to the development of official analytical methods in an extraordinary way. It is named after Dr. Wiley, who has attributed greatly to legislature regulating food quality.

The Phytochemical Society of Europe, at the 23rd Conference on Isoprenoids, gave appreciation to Dr. Silvie Rimpelova from Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology for her lecture "Natural and semisynthetic sesquiterpene lactones in cellular context: Focus on live-cell imaging and gene expression analysis" and also to Ing. Lukáš Huml from the Department of Chemistry of Natural Compounds for his poster "Immunoassay for determination of Trilobolide."

Congratulations!

3rd Prague Summer School for Advances in Drug Discovery, which introduces PhD students and postdocs to the drug discovery process and is organized by the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (UCT Prague) in conjunction with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, will be held September 5-9, 2016, and will be held at UCT Prague on the Prague-Dejvice science and technology campus.

Experts from academia as well as major international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will lecture in the following areas:

•    General chemical approaches – medicinal chemistry
•    Biochemical approaches – target-oriented research
•    Structure and in silico based drug design
•    Lead structure characterization
•    Pre-clinical and clinical development
•    Principles and examples of the commercial development cycle

Selected speakers include:

•    Tomáš Cihlář, Giled Sciences: Novel compounds for Ebola treatment
•    Vít Perlík, PharmInvent: Development of Medical Inhalation Products PharmInvent
•    Sergey Zozulya, Enamine, Inc: High-throughput screening of compound libraries

> View full programme and list of conference speakers

Attendees are invited to participate in the poster session held in conjunction with the event, which additionally includes a welcome party, a guided tour including dinner, and lunch with experts.

A seminar on forensic DNA analysis for students from the VHL University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands was held at the UCT Prague Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology from August 29 to September 2 .

Participants in the seminar listened to lectures on the history of DNA analysis, tried methods of quantification of DNA profiling using short tandem repetitions, and had the opportunity to isolate their own DNA, obtaining a DNA profile exactly as is the case in forensic identification or in determining paternity. The week-long seminar is held annually, usually before the winter semester begins. The current fee for the seminar, taught in both English and Czech, is €250 per person. If you are interested in future iterations of the course, please contact: jan.lipov@vscht.cz.

Two iterations of a camp for first-year students will be held this year at Resort Kletečná. To register, contact Jana Zapletalova (zapletan@vscht.cz) asap.

• When: 10.-13.9.2016 or 13.-16.9.2016 
• What: Sports, social, and cultural events
• How much: 1600 CZK (includes full board, accommodation for 3 nights – sleeping bag necessary)
• More details (in Czech)

Science is the theme of the annual Festival of Science, which will take place on Wednesday, September 7, outside in the park near the Dejvice metro stop (exhibits and more) and also at the National Library of Technology (lectures).

Fun for all ages; open to the public.

• Program
• Images from previous festivals
• Organizers

On August 24, 2016, UCT Prague Rector Professor Karel Melzoch signed a participatory agreement with Daniel Kočí, Managing Director of the Future Forces Forum, an international platform for defence & security information exchange and for promotion of the allied countries and their partners’ objectives within national and global security. The project consists of a compilation of events and activities at a high political, military and expert level. All events are primarily focused on the presentation of current and future needs of the armed and security forces, state-of-the-art technologies and R&D programmes with interactions between all involved participants due to the interconnected topics.

UCT Prague will present projects for the NATO and US Army within the R&D pavillion at Future Forces Exhibition in Hall 4 on October 19-21, 2016, including research which has created an affordable device to assist security agencies in rapid and reliable detection of explosives and chemical warfare agents.  Assoc. Prof. Martin Vrňata, Department of Physics and Measurements, has led the NATO-supported project team (also including the Czech University of Defense; Yerevan State University, Armenia; and the Armenian National Bureau of Expertises) for the past two years.

While highly sophisticated detection equipment already exists for chemical warfare agents and explosives, this equipment is often very expensive and only able to be used by specialized departments with skilled personnel. "We are working to develop sensors for devices that will be accessible and affordable for police, firefighters, and other first response units," said Assoc. Prof. Vrňata.

Project team member Ing. David Tomeček has already been awarded several prizes, from the point of view of research applicability (first place ABB best diploma thesis award; second place - Crytur best diploma thesis award) and from point of view of scientific merit (EMRS 2016 Lille Young Scientist Award).

UCT Prague Student Josef Dostál won a silver medal in the men's kayak single 1000m event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also part of the Czech team that won a bronze metal in the men's kayak four 1000m event and was Czech flag bearer during the closing ceremonies.

Photo (source): Instagram, Josef Dostál

In July, a Memorandum of Understanding between UCT Prague and TU Munich (TUM) was signed by  the Rectors of both institutions at TUM's new Garching campus. TUM is one of Europe's most prestigious technology universities in Europe. Prof. Dr. Jörg E. Drewes from TUM led this initiative and will be visiting UCT Prague in November.

Cooperation between the two institutions will encompass:

• Exchange of doctoral/postgraduate students;
• Exchange of professors/researcher for short-term collaboratives;
• Development of joint research programs;
• Organization of the bilateral symposiums, seminars, and conferences;
• Involvement of leading scientists from TUM as advisors to UCT Prague's Research Centre;
• Cooperation in international funded (EU) projects such as Horizon 2020
• Scientific cooperation aimed developing joint scientific outputs as well as patents, primarily in the fields of:
  •  Forensic analysis,
  • Human health and the environment,
  • Advanced materials, technology and the environment.

Last week five representatives of our University visited Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes (ENSCR) in France, a long-term partner institution, to discuss details of a Master double degree programme which the two institutions would like to implement from the academic year 2017/2018. 

UCT Prague developed its cooperation with ENSCR a couple of years ago and now it actively works both within the Erasmus+ programme (student and staff exchange) and “cotutelle“, i.e. joint supervision of a doctoral thesis. 

Double degree is a study programme that is carried out at two different universities in which a student is expected to complete the two programmes in a regular Masters time period and in the end achieve degree acknowledged by both universities.

Now UCT Prague students might enrol for Master double degree in the study field Basic and Special Inorganic Technologies at the Faculty of Chemical Technology. More info: http://uat.vscht.cz/en/offer-for-students/.

On Tuesday May 17 a four-member delegation from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) visited UCT Prague. At the meeting, which representatives and students of the Faculties of Chemical Technology and of Chemical Engineering also took part in, the President of KRICT dr. Kew-Ho Lee and the Rector prof. Karel Melzoch signed an agreement on cooperation, Memorandum of Understanding. Afterwards participants discussed about potential common research areas and forms of cooperation and did a short tour at the University visiting selected departments and laboratories.

Prof. Pospíšil, Assoc. Prof. Šimáček and Ivan Souček, PhD were in Belgrade. 

UCT Prague made a strong showing at FameLab 2016. Václav Bystrianský won the Academy of Sciences Award and Jakub Kubečka received the Audience Award. Quyen Nguyenová's work was also showcased. Congratulations! Eliška Selinger from Charles University will represent the Czech Republic in the final international competition. 

UCT Prague's running team received the silver medal in the university category at the Volkswagen Prague Marathon. Running for the team "Chemici VŠCHT" were Petr Holánek, Jiří Charvát, Tomáš Kapal, and Jiří Lietavec. Congratulations!

Doctoral student Ing. David Tomeček won the Graduate Student Award at the E-MRS 2016 Spring Meeting for his contribution EE: Carbon-, or nitrogen-containing nanostructured thin films, work conducted in relation to NATO Science for Peace Project 984597. His advisors are Ing. Přemysl Fitl, Ph.D. and doc. Dr. Ing. Martin Vrňata.

On Friday, April 22, UCT Prague welcomed representatives of major American universities including MIT, Kansas State University, and the University of Maryland as part of a Fulbright Commission workshop aimed at deepening cooperation between Czech and American universities. Prof. Pavel Matějka organized the visit.

Between April 20-22, UCT Prague Prof. Pavel Hasal together with Mgr. Iva Žilíková, Head of the International Relations Department, participated in International Days at IUT de Quimper (France).

Prof. Hasal lectured to students on many interesting topics, and Ms. Žilíková presented information about UCT Prague as well as about life in Prague.

Conference participants, in addition to students interested in studying abroad, included other International Relations staff from many European institutions, including Norway, Poland, Germany, and Spain.

The Czech Constitutional Court recently referred to Prof. RNDr. Štěpán Urban's research into human smell recognition. 

• Read more about the case (in Czech)
• Read more about Prof. Urban's research

Relay races, games, and other events, starting at 13:00.

• More information and team registration details

Mining University in St. Petersburg (Russia) hosted its annual conference for young scientists April 20-22, 2016 and several UCT Prague students attended and presented the results of their research, winning three awards: Ing. Veroniky Šnajdrová (first place) and Ing. Katerina Maneva and Ing. Tomáš Hudský (second place). Congratulations!

UCT Prague held its traditional Hanami celebration on April 18,  welcoming the blossoming of the beautiful sakura trees on Kampus Dejvice. Hanami comes originally from Japan;  UCT Professor Jelínek brought it to his alma mater in 1999, and it is has been celebrated ever since.

This year, a highline crossing between two buildings symbolized cooperation with the Czech Technical University in Prague, UCT's neighbour on campus.

18.4.2016, Prague - The European Commission (EC) Commissioner for Health & Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, visited various locations on campus as part of an official visit to Prague.

• More images from the visit on Twitter
• More information (in Czech)

IASTE UCT Prague is sponsoring its annual career fair on April 20. Be sure to register by April 18 (entrance free).

• Questions? Contact IASTE's Lenka Kadeřábková

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Department of food analysis and nutrition, is the main organizer of the international conference "Assuring the integrity of the food chain: Fighting food fraud (FOODINTEGRITY 2016)", organized in collaboration with Fera Science Ltd., UK.

The conference takes place on April 6 - 7, 2016, in Prague, in the conference center at the Diplomat Hotel.

This conference will focus on the latest research outputs on developments and strategies in the field of food integrity - safety, quality, authenticity and traceability, from the project and beyond, including:

• Tools for food integrity assessment
• Gaps in current research in food authenticity on topics
  • Non targeted analysis
  • Complex foods
  • Transparency along the food chain
  • Rapid methods
• Analytical tools for food authentication
• Demonstration how a European knowledgebase on analytical methodology and databases for food authenticity can be exploited by stakeholders

In addition, series of workshops will be organised to include:

• Food Crime, occurrence, motivations and mitigations
• Industrial perspective for strategies applied for assuring food authenticity
• Citizen science potential approaches to food integrity
• Authenticity of herbs and spices

On-site demonstration of the approaches for food authentication developed by the FoodIntegrity project, will also provide unique opportunity to discuss with FoodIntegrity experts the latest developments and strategies in the field of food integrity - safety, quality, authenticity and traceability.

Similarly, as for the conferences undertaken in the previous two years, for the FOODINTEGRITY 2016 it is anticipated participation of 150 to 200 scientists, representing academics, industry representatives, regulators, government and commercial laboratories, from more than 25 countries around the world, who will hear in the upcoming program about 45 lectures and watch 50 poster presentations.

Within the accompanying exhibition and the workshops, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in modern instrumentation and other equipment used to assess the quality, safety and authenticity of food.

More information about the international conference FOODINTEGRITY 2016 is available on the website www.foodintegrity2016.eu.

Prof. Jana Hajšlová, PhD
Chair of the FOODINTEGRITY 2016 Organizing Committee

25.2.2016, Prague - The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague); University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna; and Queens University, Belfast are launching the MultiCoop Project. Goals of this partnership are strengthening links between project partners. The project will include a series of training and mobility initiatives and will encourage publication of joint scientific papers.

The project will run from January 1, 2016, until December 31, 2018.

Main Coordinator is Prof. Jana Hajšlová in cooperation with Prof. Tomáš Ruml. 

→ Press release

10.2.2016, Prague - The opening of UCT Prague's updated biotechnology labs took place on February 9. The state of the art labs, funded by the KvaLab project, offer students and researchers new research options.  Equipment offered will, for example, enable cell sorting by flow cytometry and open up new horizons for analyzing gene expression and cellular response to test sustances and pharmaceuticals as well as the development of new production strains of microorganisms.

8.2.2016, Prague - Two UCT Prague students, Ing. Vít Svoboda and Ing. Jan Hostaša, Ph.D., received Werner von Siemens awards for their works, "High resolution overtone spectroscopy of atmospherically relevant molecules" (mentor: Mgr. Ondřej Votava, Ph.D. ) and "Transparent YAG ceramics for laser applications (mentor: doc. Dr. Dipl. Min. Willi Pabst)," respectively.

Werner von Siemens awards are sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 2016 marks the eighteenth time the awards have been granted.

1.2016, Prague - Prof. Ing. Jitka Moravcová, PhD, who has had a long-term affiliation with UCT Prague, was appointed by the Government of the Czech Republic's Deputy Prime Minister for Science, Research, and Education Pavel Bělobrádek to the national R&D council.

Prof. Moravcová was born in 1950 in Prague and graduated from the University of Pardubice's Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology. In 1980 she began her career at UCT Prague, where she led the Department of Chemistry of Organic Compounds (2000-2005), becoming full professor in 2005 and served as Vice-Rector for Research and Development (2005-2007). From 2010-2011 she was Vice-Dean for Education at the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology. She currently teaches and conducts research for the Department of Chemistry of Organic Compounds in the area of carbohydrates and their role in cell recognition. She is a member of several scientific and professional boards and projects related to scientific policy, including main vocational guarantor for the IPN Metodika project (2012-2015). 

"Professor Moravcová is not only a well-known scientist in the field of organic chemistry, she also will bring the R&D Council a leading expert in evaluating research, development, and innovation," said Deputy Prime Minister for Science, Research, and Education Bělobrádek.

→ More about the appointment (in Czech)

→ Interview (August 2014) (in Czech)

→ CV

Photo by: Michal Ureš 

4.12.2015, Prague - A delegation led by Dr. Kew How Lee, President of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, visited UCT Prague to explore possibilities for future collaborative research activities. 

8.12.2015, Prague - Thanks to cooperation between UCT Prague and the Royal Canon of Premonstratensians at Strahov, cultural heritage objects have now been conserved and restored at Strahov Library, ranked as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. This effort also enabled the chemical analysis of medieval manuscripts and prints. The two partners formally signed an agreement on December 7 at the newly renovated Strahov Philosophical Library.

The Premonstratensians arrange excursions to professional workplaces for students pursuing bachelor's or master's degrees in cultural heritage conservation and restoration, allowing them to practice. Undergraduate students may even pursue a semester-long project directly on the monastery premises.

Students are currently preparing a comprehensive restoration of the pontifical Albrecht von Sternberg, a medieval manuscript from the period of Charles IV, which is stored in Strahov Library.

12.11.2015, Prague - At a meeting on 11.11.2015, the UCT Prague Academic Senate approved a new four-year term for the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology Dean Prof. Ing. Tomáš Ruml, CSc.

Prof. Dean has held other prominent positions throughout his career. His research interests include the structure and function of retroviral proteins and particles, heavy metal biosorption, biodegradation in pesticides, and biocompatibility of materials for clinical applications.

12.11.2015, Prague - Prof. Manfred Horvat, lead for European and International Research and Technology Collaboration at the Vienna University of Technology, spoke and led a discussion on the topic of Human Resources for Research (HR4R), a European Commission initiative to support research institutions and funding organizations in the implementation of the HR4R Charter & Code in their policies and practices. 

Benefits of HR4R include tools for helping organisations to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of the actions that they should undertake to provide an attractive and supportive environment to researchers. In addition, organizsations taking part in the process will become part of a network of like-minded organizations from across Europe, providing opportunities for the exchange of experiences and the sharing of good practice with other organizations also implementing the HRS4R. 

Prof. Horvat described how the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER), an organization to which he is a senior advisor, has positively benefited from implementing HR4R principles over the past two decades.

11.11.2015 - On Monday, November 16, UCT Prague will host students from the international study program ATHENS. The Faculty of Environmental Technology and the Faculty of Chemical Engineering will offer courses on Environmental Biotechnology (http://web.vscht.cz/~benesp/athens.htm) and Digital Signal and Image Processing with Applications (http://uprt.vscht.cz/prochazka/pedag/ATHENSe.htm).

More info: http://intranet.cvut.cz/incomers/athens

11.11.2015 - UCT Prague was one of the organizers for the International Wworkshop on Computational Intelligence for Multimedia Understanding (IWCIM 2015), held at Strahov Monastery, 29-30 October 2015. 41 papers by 145 authors from 16 countries were presented. Additional details and complete video transcripts of four keynote lectures are available at: http://iwcim.isep.fr/. All papers will be published in IEEE Xplore.

The 7^th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA 2015) will be held at the Clarion Congress Hotel Prague, in Prague, Czech Republic, on November 3–6, 2015.

The RAFA organizers, the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague, Czech Republic), Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, and RIKILT Wageningen UR (The Netherlands), would like to invite all food scientists from academia and industry and representatives of national and international agencies, control authorities, governmental and commercial laboratories to attend this event, being the leading conference in food analysis.

RAFA has grown since it was launched in 2003: the previous event was attended by 800 participants from 63 countries in Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa, and supported by more than 50 sponsors, exhibitors and media partners.

The 2015 symposium will provide an overview of the state-of-the-art on analytical & bioanalytical food quality and safety control strategies and introduce the challenges for novel approaches in this field. The following recent & emerging issues will be addressed by RAFA 2015:

The conference program will be accompanied by several satellite events (tentative list):

Workshops on novel analytical strategies:

• 3^rd European workshop on ambient mass spectrometry in food and natural products
• Workshop on ‘Infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and chemometrics for monitoring of food and feed products, bringing the lab-to-the-sample’
• 1^st European workshop on the analysis of nanoparticles in food, cosmetics and consumer products
• Workshop on ‘The application of micro / nano systems in food safety control’
• Workshop on ‘Smart data sets processing in food analysis’

Interactive seminar – Be active and learn from each other:

• On ‘Sample-prep, separation techniques and mass spectrometric detection in food quality and safety: step by step strategies for fast development of smart analytical methods’

Food authorities’ summit, EU and beyond:

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) seminar on ‘Food safety issues beyond the EU’
• FAO/IAEA Workshop: Food Safety – challenges for developing countries
• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) information platform on emerging food quality  / safety issues of high concern

Reference laboratories colloquium:

• Workshop on ‘Experiences, achievements and challenges of EU Reference Laboratories’

EU framework program seminar:

• Tutorial for newcomers in HORIZON 2020, the EU framework Programme for Research and Innovation: a discussion platform mediating networking and joint planning of projects within the Societal challenge ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research’, and the ‘bioeconomy’ (chaired by an EC representative and supported by the Czech National Contact Point)

Exhibition and sponsorship opportunities

An exhibition of the most modern instrumentation recently used in food analysis and other equipment and consumables, reference materials, literature, etc., will be organized during the symposium.

Vendor seminars will be organized to introduce recent commercial instrumentation and scientific strategies for advanced food quality / safety control.

Young scientist opportunities

A platform for young scientists will be offered to present their scientific work; typically 20% of the contributed oral presentations will be assigned to the next generation. Also a number of RAFA 2015 Student Travel Grants will be provided. The best poster presentation(s) by a young scientist(s) will be awarded with the prestigious RAFA Poster Award and sponsored poster award(s).

In summary, RAFA 2015 will offer a high quality scientific program with many top quality presentations followed by stimulating discussions, several satellite events, a large state-of-the-art exhibition and an attractive social program. Scientific contributions will be presented by leading scientists through keynote lectures and by contributed oral and poster presentations. The RAFA 2015 programme will be tailored to provide a lot of opportunities for networking as well as exploration of the latest results of the food analysis community.

Please join us today and register for participation in the Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA 2015) at www.rafa2015.eu.

Deadline for registration at a reduced fee and submission of an abstract for oral presentation is July 31, 2015; deadline for submission of an abstract for poster presentation is August 31, 2015.

E-mail:                 rafa2015@vscht.cz         Website: www.rafa2015.eu

Prof. Jana Hajslova (UCT Prague), RAFA 2015 chairwoman & Prof. Michel Nielen (RIKILT), RAFA 2015  co-chair

9.2015, Prague - Czech universities participated in Eduexpo, an educational fair held in Bello Horizonte, Brazil, and attended by nearly 2,400 students interested in studying abroad. From the fields offered by UCT Prague, most students were interested in pharmaceuticals production and and environmental protection.

A second expo geared towards undergraduates was also held in Brasilia. UCT Prague's booth received interest from students in chemical engineering and biotechnology.

Photo: Representatives of Czech universities with the Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Brazil.

31.8.2015, Prague - A majority of UCT Prague's departments received the ability to use the term "Eurobachelor®" in the field of chemistry. Together with Charles University and the University of Naples, UCT Prague was the first institution in the Czech Republic to be given this right. Authorization was granted by the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) board of directors during an August 28 meeting in Prague. The ECTN general assembly will take place in April 2016 in Gdansk, Poland.

The Eurobachelor® label enables students to apply for future studies at any other university bearing the Eurobachelor® designation.

31.8.2015, Prague - On August 28, the Administrative Council of the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN) gathered at UCT Prague. ECTN, a European organisation of faculties and universities dedicated to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and chemistry education, is registered as a non-profit organisation in Belgium which continues many years (1996 to present) of network activity in this area. The Association was created to provide a sustainable future for all activities that were previously conducted under the auspices of EU grant-funded projects.

ECTN members include higher education institutions, national chemical societies, and chemical and software companies. There are currently over 120 members in the network from thirty European countries, with associate members worldwide.

Expert European groups work on a range of topics and produce reports with a real European dimension. These reports and recommendations are available on the ECTN website (http://ectn-assoc.cpe.fr/).

The association also awards European quality labels to chemistry programmes (Eurolabels).

A multi-lingual series of tests (EChemTest) that can be used for certification/ alidation of competence in chemistry at various levels is now available on Internet. Associated eLearning facilities have also been produced. The purpose of the tests is to validate the competencies of all citizens, regardless of their learning paths.

Photo by R. Jung, ECTN AC at the UCT Prague student brewery lab

31.8.2015, Prague - Czech high school students won one gold and three silver medals at the 47th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. 291 participants from 75 countries competed in both theoretical and practical problems, each of which had a five-hour time limit. "This year's problems were extremely difficult and time-consuming and participating students had a hard time with both sections. We had preparatory training and knew we had a strong team, but none of us expected we would be so successful! It's certainly a great motivation for next year," said participant Petr Holzhauser.

Czech individual medal winners included:

• Jiří Etrych (Pardubice High School) - 68th place
  
• Jan Šugar (Ostrava High School) - 80th place
  
• Ladislav Prener (Czech Budejovice High School) - 80th place
  
• Stanislav Chvíla (J. A. Comenius in Uherský Brod High School) - 93rd place
  

Next year's event will be held in Prague and Bratislava. Congratulations!

14.7.2015, Prague - An international research team led by doc. Ing. Zdeněk Sofer, Ph.D. has recently published an article in ACS Nano entitled "Insight into the Mechanism of the Thermal Reduction of Graphite Oxide: Deuterium-Labeled Graphite Oxide Is the Key."

Enlivening Campus

Campus leaders signed an agreement on 17 June 2015 to proactively work towards making Campus Dejvice more attractive and engaging for the social, academic and research lives of students, scientists, professors and the general public.

Prague, June 17, 2015 - Previous meetings by campus leaders about the Campus Dejvice confirmed the need for systematic and prudent efforts to cultivate a common area on the science and technology campus. Its restoration is planned in several stages, with varying degrees of urgency and complexity in relation to proposed solutions. The University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, for example, has already received a green light for creating a pedestrian zone in Technická street, which will enable better pedestrian movement between the Dejvice metro station and the center of campus.
 
Activities associated with the development of the campus will be coordinated under the auspices of a working group composed of representatives from the various participating institutions (NTK; Czech Technical University in Prague; the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University; the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry; the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague; and the district of Prague 6). The working group is very interested in the opinions of students, employees, and neighborhood residents and welcomes your comments and thoughts on the project at: http://tinyurl.com/Campus-Dejvice.

Promotion of International Cooperation on Research and Development at UCT Prague

Professor Daniel W. Koon from St. Lawrence University, NY, USA, spent almost a year of his sabbatical at UCT Prague

“Defects of thin films and their diagnostics” is a field of research which, due to fortunate circumstances, linked two scientists from opposite corners of the world. Why did an American physicist choose to spend his sabbatical at UCT Prague, Department of Solid State Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemical Technology? Who did he work with? What was the purpose of his scientific research? Read about all of this—and even something extra—in the following interview with Prof. Daniel Koon conducted by Ing. Anna Mittnerová from Department of Scientific Research and Development.

Professor, what do you do at St. Lawrence? Where did you get the idea that you, as a physicist, might spend a year of scientific research at UCT Prague?

St. Lawrence—in Czech it’s Svatý Vavřinec—is a school with about 2,000 students, almost all of whom are undergraduates pursuing a bachelor degree. We don’t have any physics graduate students, no doctoral students. It’s primarily a teaching institution. In American English, we refer to it as a college; it doesn’t have different faculties, it doesn’t teach graduate students. I will have been there for 28 years; I came there right after graduate school. My graduate work was experimental solid state physics.

Did you graduate from St. Lawrence?

No, I graduated from the University of Rochester, New York, which is the home of world famous Kodak, Xerox. My field of study was Experimental Solid State Physics. During a regular school year, I usually teach about three equivalent classes per semester, so it’s hard to get a lot of research done. When you’re mostly teaching, you don’t have graduate students, etc. So every seven years—I’m lucky to say that—at our school we have the possibility of having a sabbatical year to focus on research. A lot of people, when I talk to them in Prague, ask me: “Are you teaching any classes?” and I say “NO! It’s sabbatical!” And most of the Czech professors I talk to are very envious.

My wife teaches at Clarkson University, which is near St. Lawrence. She teaches English Composition for non-native speakers. Since she and I love to travel and she has an experience teaching English to non-native speakers, we like to go abroad when we have sabbatical.

How long have you been in Prague?

Well, I will have been in Prague for 11 months. Judy, my wife, was here for just 4 months because of family issues, and our son was here for a week. This was my fourth sabbatical; in past, I’ve had sabbaticals in Albuquerque, in Costa Rica, and in Madrid.

How did you find out about UTC Prague?

It was a coincidence. One scientific journal sent me an article and I was asked to go through it as a referee. This paper came to my attention. I looked at all these figures and without reading any of the paper I knew what this person is doing. I looked at the title and the author, if it’s someone I knew, then I looked to see the affiliation and it’s Prague.

In 1981-1982, right before graduate school, as a student, I received a Fulbright grant to study in West Berlin. Towards the end of the stay, some Americans that were also in Berlin told me they had just returned from Budapest and Prague and I had to go to both cities. And I did. I spent less than 24 hours in Prague and I fell in love with it, it’s a beautiful city.

So when this paper came across my desk, I asked my wife immediately “What would you think about sabbatical in Prague?” and her response was “What language do they speak?” (Which may have something to do with why she only wanted to stay for 4 months). So I was excited, because there was somebody who was working on a project that I was familiar with and that I was very interested in and had done some work in and as it turns out it was a perfect matchup, because he was approaching it from purely experimental standpoint and I had done some work on the theory, so we could combine our work together and complement each other.

Exactly, complementarity is the most important thing in European projects.

Every time I’ve gone on sabbatical, except the first time, I’ve liked to visit where I’m planning to stay before I come in, so two summers ago I came here and visited the lab. Pepa (Ing. Josef Náhlík, CSc.) and I, despite the language obstacle, get along really well. So not just our research interest, but our personalities I think are a good match.

I came here in summer 2013 with my wife. It was a great opportunity to show her the Charles Bridge and everything. I came in here and gave a presentation, I talked with Pepa and with his students and got the sense of the laboratory, of what we could do, what source of project we could work with. On that trip I also talked with my colleagues in Copenhagen, if we might work on the theoretical side and we also discussed possible things I might do on my sabbatical. I felt strongly that this was a good idea, a wonderful city to work in as well as wonderful group that complemented my skills and would be good people to work with. During my very first sabbatical, I was working in a completely different field, which was strange. So to find a field and a group and a city? It’s perfect. It all came together. From all sabbaticals, this one could be the one most impactful, the one in which I get the most accomplished.

That sounds great! So you decided to come to Prague. You had to find some money for traveling and living here, how did you do it? I remember our email conversation when you applied for Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship grant, which didn’t work out.

One of the nice things about the sabbatical is that I can either choose to spend one semester (6 months) away at full pay or two semesters (full year) at half pay. Because of the differences in currency and cost of living, I figured that even if I didn’t get any money from a grant, between that and savings that I had, I could do this and it could be worth it.

Can you say something about your research, the project you work on, your co-workers in Prague, especially Ing. Josef Náhlík, CSc.?

One of the analogies for what we do that I like is the story of Archimedes, who was given the king’s crown. The king suspected that it wasn’t all gold, that the goldsmith could have stolen some gold and replaced it with silver. Archimedes was able to figure out how much of that gold was missing. If you think about it, the crown is a mixture of two things—gold and silver. How is the mass density of that averaged between the value for silver and the value for gold? It’s somewhere in between, right? But if you have one little gram of gold here and one gram of silver there, what effect do those two have on what you measure for the whole thing? So, what we’re interested in is: if you use this circular disc of copper foil here and we measure the electrical properties of it, putting a hole in there, it’s going to change what we measure. The question is, how much impact does that hole create on what we measure? And it depends on a few things: how large is the hole, where is it located and what’s the shape of the thing that has a hole in it.

There, I would rather insert the description of experiments, as explained by Ing. Martina Heřmanová, a PhD student at Dr. Náhlík’s lab, who’s working hard on the experimental part of the project.

In our laboratory, we deal with research in the field of sensitivity of thin films to local defects. We use electrical measurements for this purpose, in particular the measurement of resistivity and the Hall coefficient using the Van der Pauw method. The Van der Pauw method offers the advantage that after fulfilling known assumptions, it doesn't require a specific shape of sample. The size of the sensitivity depends on several factors: the shape of the sample (thin film), and the size, shape and location of the defect. To be able to verify all these factors, we have prepared several series of samples of various shapes with different size and location of defects. The samples were prepared by photolithography, by the procedure developed in our laboratory, on commercially available printed circuit boards (copper foil with a thickness of 35μm). For the measurement of resistivity and the Hall coefficient, we use special fixtures developed by Dr. Náhlík and Keithley electronic devices. The experiments are controlled by computer (software in NI LabView environment developed in our lab).The sensitivity of the examined quantity to local defects can be assessed by comparing of the measured values of the sample with a without defect. Prof. Koon examines this task theoretically by solving the Laplace PDE by finite difference method in MS Excel. Our results are in good agreement.

And as Dr. Náhlík adds, what Prof. Koon simulated theoretically, we immediately verified experimentally. The impulse for our cooperation was to determine whether the theory and experiment would give the same result and that we either confirmed or found together the cause of deviations. Then we corrected the used procedures on both sides—the theoretical and experimental. We have similar nature with Daniel; it is joyful when the theory and the experiment are consistent, but even more exciting is the search for the causes of differences.

Professor, you have spent a year at UCT Prague. Can you compare working at UCT with working at St. Lawrence? What would you recommend to UCT, what should we improve?

It’s hard to say. I tend to be a solitary worker. If I can lock myself in a room and work away all day, I’m happy. Some people are more social workers and need to have an interaction with a lot of people, so it’s hard for me to say. I found the people in this department to be friendly. Although, except the hallway or the Christmas party, I haven’t met a lot of them.

I completely understand. Chemists are solitary workers, too. They focus on their research and don’t want to be bothered with any administration. Therefore, it’s necessary that here at UCT are departments that can handle all of the administrative stuff.

For people in my situation, Americans for example, it’s hard to know what sort of projects are going on, what sort of research infrastructure is in different countries. And certainly the former Socialist Bloc is an area that’s still mysterious to a lot of us Americans, partly because of the language. But one of the things I found interesting: This year I signed onto Facebook. Partly it’s a way of just sending out all these beautiful pictures that I was taking to my friends and family, but I also discovered the Fulbright Commission Facebook page. They have a wonderful presence on Facebook. In addition to broadcasting various program that they have, they also highlight some of the places in the USA that are looking for Czech students for some specific scholarship places.

That’s a good tip, to focus on the Fulbright Commission and forward this information to our students, maybe promote it on the UCT webpages.

I would say that you (UCT) could include various collaborations that faculties here are involved in. I know that there is an increasing interest in America, largely for undergraduate exchange programs and part of that is just how gorgeous Prague is and the reputation it has achieved among kids of a certain age, partly just for the drinking (laughing). But more consciousness is being raised, I keep hearing about someone who’s been in Prague, people share their experience. Think of every advantage you can use.

You have been in the Czech Republic almost a year. Except for Prague, have you had an opportunity to visit any other cities or places in our country?

Not as much as I should. A couple weeks ago I decided I had to take couple weekends off. Last weekend I went to Pilsen—lovely old city. I loved the architecture, I love Art Nouveau. I’ve also been to Karlštějn and Pec pod Sněžkou. Pec was one of the first places I visited, because August 10 is the name day for Svatý Vavřinec, St. Lawrence. In Pec pod Sněžkou, there is a pilgrimage every August 10 up Sněžka to the chapel. Then I went to Kutná Hora with my family. This weekend, I plan to go to Tallinn. There are many beautiful places, but it reminds me in some ways of Prague.

Will you come back to Prague one day?

I will.

Would you like to add something to conclude this interview?

Actually, when I first found out about this group and I saw the affiliation is the University of Chemistry and Technology, I thought to myself: “That’s not chemistry, that’s physics.” There’s also been this added fun about this year in being one of the few physicists and being with somebody who’s not a chemist in this institution, surrounded by all these chemists. Most of the equipment and tools that chemists use are developed by physicists.

Thank you very much for the interview! I wish you all the best and hopefully, a continual cooperation with Josef Náhlík’s research team.

The article was supported by project LE 12005, funded under the programme EUPRO II of MEYS.

16.6.2015, Prague - UCT Prague and Unipetrol will continue the strategic partnership in the year ahead, under the auspices of an agreement signed by UCT Prague Rector Karel Melzoch and Unipetrol Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO Marek Świtajewski. Collaborative efforts between UCT Prague and Unipetrol date back to 2002. 

9.6.2015, Prague - UCT Prague leaders and special guests—including Tomáš Prouza, State Secretary for European Affairs at the Czech Prime Minister's Office—inaugurated the new innovation center Technopark Kralupy on June 5 in Kralupy nad Vltavou.

The new center will provide agile solutions for small- and medium-sized enterprises and serve as an intermediary between industrial and academic research initiatives.

9.6.2015, Prague - Representatives from UCT Prague met with David Maenaut, Counsellor of the Flemish Community and of the Flemish Region from the Embassy of Belgium in the Czech Republic, to discuss possibilities of cooperation with Flemish universities for future projects, research, and student exchanges.

2.6.2015, Prague - Representatives from UCT Prague—including Petr Slavíček, Eva Muchová, Daniel Hollas, Jan Chalabala, and Martina Rubešová—were co-organizers of the COST Action, Our Astrochemical History CM1401, held May 25-29 at the J. Heyrovsky Institute AS CR. v.v.i. in Prague, a center for fundamental research in physical chemistry, electrochemistry, and chemical physics.

COST is the longest-running European framework supporting trans-national cooperation among researchers, engineers and scholars across Europe, and the aim of this international Action was to bring together laboratory and theoretical gas phase and surface chemistry as well as large facilities based experiments with the aim of rationalizing the molecular evolution. Specific markers, such as isotopic fractionation, ices composition, and abundance ratios of isomers, must be used and understood, in order to draw a coherent picture of our chemical origins.

Succeeding former European initiatives that shaped the field of Astrochemistry, this Action focused on the molecular evolution towards higher complexity. Being a stepping-stone for building models, the Action provided a context for delivering new schemes for physical chemistry at large, like chemistry of transient species and photochemistry, in gas or on surfaces.

• Conference Program
• List of Attendees

1.6.2015, Prague - Professors Reiner Salzer (Dresden University of Technology),  Janusz Ryczkowski (Maria Curie-Skłodowska-University), and Jiří Barek (Charles University in Prague)—committee members from the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN)—visited UCT Prague for three days in order to evaluate its study programmes in relation to extending Euromaster®.

Committee members met with students, toured labs, and reviewed study programme materials and textbooks in the areas of chemistry and chemical technology, materials technology, food technology, environmental protection technology, fuels and environmental technology as well as analytical and physical chemistry and nano and microtechnologies in chemical engineering.

Results of the review were presented publicly, and committee members noted several positive aspects of UCT Prague's study programmes, including: partnerships with industrial partners (including the new University Center UCT Prague - Unipetrol); inclusion of toxicology in the first year Bachelor curriculum; self-confidence and high ability of students to express theoretical concepts (also in English); ability to publish in-house (CIS); good student mobility and undergraduate thesis quality; availability of excellent instrumentation even for undergraduates.

As with many institutions, UCT Prague should analyze its undergraduate programmes to ensure students do not prolong their studies if they study abroad.

Committee members encouraged UCT Prague to apply for additional Euromaster® Chemistry programmes and the Doctorate Eurolabel®.

The biannual series of International Conferences on Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals (FLC‘s) is devoted to basic and applied aspects of new self-assembling materials possessing chiral and polar structures and properties. This year's conference will be held in Prague, around the corner from UCT Prague at Hotel DAP***.

Prof. Ing. Jiří Svoboda, CSc. from UCT Prague is a co-chair of the conference, and conference organizers include the Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague; the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague; and the Czech Physical Society, a section of The Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists.

• Register and read more

Prague, 26.5.2015 – UCT Prague Faculty of Chemical Technology alumnus Ing. Antonín Králík, currently a doctoral student at the University of Regensburg (Germany), received the prestigious two-year Kekulé Mobility Fellowship for exceptional doctoral students from the Chemical Industry Fund (FCI) of the German Chemical Industry Association (Verband der Chemischen Industrie, VCI). Only ten such awards—covering relocation, living costs, and conference attendance—are granted annually. 

Králík is currently a PhD student at the University of Regensburg's Research Group König, where is he is completing his dissertation entitled Development of Novel Catalytic Systems Based on Immobilized Ionic Liquids.  

Prague, 19.5.2014 - An event for FameLab finalists marking the occasion of the Queen’s birthday took place at the British Embassy in Prague on May 19.  UCT Prague students Marek Lanč, Eva Maxová, Matěj Novák, and Ondřej Rychecký—finalists of FameLab Czech Republic—presented amazing chemical experiments during a garden reception for VIP quests.

More photos at: 

https://www.facebook.com/ukinczechrepublic

https://www.facebook.com/dasa.sephton

Prague, 19.5.2015 - Professor Petr Slavíček was presented an award for talented scientists from the Learned Society of the Czech Republic at a ceremony at the Prague Karolinum on May 18. 

Prof. Slavíček conducts his teaching and research at UCT Prague's Department of Physical Chemistry. The Slavíček Research Group uses the tools of theoretical chemistry to explore the interaction of light with molecules and materials, simulating the response of molecules to photons with the goal to design molecules with specific functions.

Prof. Slavíček is author of more than eighty articles published in prestigious journals including Science, Nature Chemistry, Physical Review Letters and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He is also recognized for his role as an educator and proponent of science education for the public. 

Prague, 14.5.2015 - Head of UCT Prague's Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Prof. Tomáš Ruml, recently received a medal of honour for his outstanding contributions to the development of Vietnam. The President of Vietnam, Trương Tấn Sang personally bestowed the award.

Prof. Ruml has, over the course of his career, forged relationships with over ten Vietnamese universities and research institutes, developed a network for support for joint research projects, worked with Czech ambassadors in Vietnam to streamline the admissions process for Vietnamese students, and created a special preparatory programme for Vietnamese students prior to beginning their studies at UCT Prague. Prof. Ruml is now focused on collaborative research projects and other Czech-Vietnamese cooperative endeavors.

Prague, 7.5.2015 - This week, ESN UCT Prague students, as a part of the ExchangeAbility project, tested campus accessibility for people with special needs. Results of the test will be published on MapAbility.

ExchangeAbility and MapAbility are intended to encourage young people with special needs to participate in mobility programmes such as Erasmus+.

Prague, 5.5.2015 - UCT Prague student Andrea Vichrová was crowned Miss Majáles 2015 at the annual student festival. Students also won the prize for the best allegorial parade float. 

Prague, 5.5.2015 - Ondřej Lidický, a UCT Prague student who completed his doctoral thesis on polymer drug performance at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IMC), won the national FameLab competition and will represent the Czech Republic at the FameLab International Grand Final, which will be held at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival in June.

Chemical engineering/biomedical engineering student Matěj Novák won second place and received the British Council/ADETO prize, enabling him to attend the grand final in Cheltenham. 

Prague, 24.4.2015 - The new University Centre is housed in the newly-renovated premises in Chempark Litvínov (Ústí nad Labem Region, where the largest oil refinery in the Czech Republic is located). 

Three bachelor's degree programmes are offered at the Centre, and a master's degree programme is being planned.  

The Centre also offers a continuing education services to employees of Unipetrol.

"We also focus on the promotion of science and technology education, support a variety of primary and secondary schools in the region, foster international cooperation, and offer technical seminars," said Prof. Zdeněk Bělohlav, Vice-Rector for Education and initiator of the concept for the Centre.

Prague, 23.4.2015 - UCT Prague's Rector, together with the rectors of other Czech universities, had lunch with U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Andrew H. Shapiro to discuss collaborative possibilities in higher education.

Prague, 22.4.2015 - A total of fifty teams, divided into five heats, participated in the first annual Cross Campus relay race event, hosted by all the Dejvice campus universities and institutes.

This event marks the beginning of conversations by all campus partners to improve campus social life.

Prof. Drašar and Prof. Macek visited Karaganda, Kazakhstan, for the "Current Status and Prospects of Further Development of Phytochemistry," conference organized by the Institute of Phytochemistry. They were presented with awards of merit and traditional Kazakh costumes, hats, and cloaks.