News

Professor Roman Barták from the Department of Theoretical Computer Science and Mathematical Logic received The Douglas D. Dankel II Award last week in Florida. He is the first European recipient of this award, which is presented annually by the Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society.

The “afterglow” of the universe is an important piece of evidence for the Big Bang. This background radiation also provides important answers to the question of how the first galaxies were able to form. Researchers at the Universities of Bonn, Prague and Nanjing calculate that the strength of this radiation has probably been overestimated up to now. If the results prove to be accurate, it would call into question the theoretical foundation of the standard model of cosmology. The results have now been published in the journal “Nuclear Physics B.”

The award was given to four titles, accompanied by a financial prize from the Dean’s fund. Two of the awarded books were published in English.

Gold has fascinated humanity since time immemorial and has made its mark on history in many ways. Until recently, however, we knew nothing about the cosmic “alchemists” capable of creating gold. These are highly magnetised neutron stars known as magnetars.

Distinguished members of Charles University were awarded memorial medals by the Charles University Scientific Council. Among the three recipients was also Associate Professor Erin Carson, recognized for her outstanding scientific work.

The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to CERN collaborations during a ceremonial event on 5 April in Los Angeles. The prize was received by the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments, which bring together scientists from more than 70 countries.

Scientists from the team of Associate Professor Martin Kozák at the Department of Chemical Physics and Optics, CUNI, have developed an optical method that allows information to be encoded and read in pure crystals of silicon and diamond within an extremely short period of time. The research results were published in the journal Nature Physics.

David Hoksza studies proteins; however, he is not a biologist, as one might assume, but a computer scientist. At the Department of Software Engineering, he develops tools that enable the visualisation of protein structures or the identification of key sites where drugs bind. While scientists worldwide, including major European molecular databases, utilise software created by his research group, his expertise is particularly valued by students at Charles University. Thanks to Hoksza and his colleagues, bioinformatics—a modern, multidisciplinary field combining biology, computer science, and mathematics—has been taught for several years at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and the Faculty of Science.

The academic community at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University and beyond is deeply saddened by the passing of Professor K. R. Rajagopal, who died on March 20, 2025.

In the centre of our Galaxy, there is a super-massive black hole weighing 4 million Suns called SgrA*. Around it, many stars are orbiting in a puzzling way. In the publication by Jaroslav Haas and collaborators from Charles University and Bonn University, some of the puzzles have been solved. Their work has been published by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Erin Carson from the Department of Numerical Mathematics and Marc Fehling from Department of Mathematical Analysis have received awards from the international Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The award ceremony was part of the CSE25 conference, which took place in early March in Texas, USA.

„While programmers write code, we theoretical computer scientists sit in armchairs and invent new algorithms,“ says Václav Rozhoň with a smile. After completing his bachelor's studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, he went on to study at one of Europe’s most prestigious universities, ETH Zurich. He also spent a year in the United States at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. What did he learn during his seven years abroad? What aspects of life in the U.S. were difficult for him to adjust to? And why are theoretical computer scientists often pessimists?

Deep neural networks are increasingly growing through various sectors of industry and services. A new open course, Deep Learning, provides insights into their principles with an emphasis on practical applications. Graduates of the course will receive a so-called micro-certificate.

February 11 traditionally marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, aimed at promoting gender equality and highlighting the important role women play in the scientific world. At Matfyz, we take pride in our many talented female scientists, graduates, and students. Join us in revisiting the stories of three of them. Why did astronomer Tereza Jeřábková, mathematician Hana Turčinová, and physicist Iveta Zatočilová choose a scientific career?

Europe's leading AI companies and research institutions combine their forces and expertise to develop next-generation open-source language models in an unprecedented collaboration to advance European AI capabilities, the OpenEuroLLM project.

Since January 20, 2025, a new canteen has been in operation at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, located at Lesser Town Square (Malostranské náměstí). Its opening was preceded by a thorough reconstruction of the basement premises and a complete modernization of all equipment.