News
Astronomers have uncovered new clues about the birthplace of the Solar System’s oldest and most primitive materials. A recent study published in Nature Astronomy by Sarah E. Anderson (Aix Marseille University), Pierre Vernazza (Aix Marseille University), and Miroslav Brož (Charles University) provides compelling evidence that two major groups of carbonaceous meteorites — known as CM and CI chondrites — originated from asteroids that arrived from beyond Saturn, Uranus, Neptune to the inner Solar System from two distinct locations (~10 AU and >20 AU) at two distinct times: ~3–4 and ~4–5 million years, respectively, after the very formation of the Sun.
On August 19, a meeting took place at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, with representatives of the Academy of Innovative Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing (AISSM) from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan. The six-member delegation was led by Prof. Yan-Kuin Su, Dean of AISSM NCKU.
The Department of Applied Mathematics at Matfyz recently hosted The Midsummer Combinatorial Workshop, a gathering of top experts on graph theory, combinatorics, and discrete geometry. Held from July 28 to August 1 at Malá Strana, the workshop brought together 92 researchers and students to discuss key developments in this field.
Fourteen young talents from across the world have taken a major step toward shaping the future of computer graphics. Over the past five years, the PRIME project brought together top universities, world-class research institutions, and leading technology companies to train a new generation of experts in predictive rendering – one of the most demanding research areas in visual computing.
Šimon Libřický, a student from the Prague Music Computing Group, has merged music with computer science to create a model for the difficulty of saxophone scores. His bachelor's thesis, which addresses a previously unsolved problem, was evaluated by the committee as being at the master's thesis level. Šimon is also a co-author of an article on this research that has been accepted to the prestigious international conference ISMIR 2025. What led him to such an achievement? “I wanted to make life easier for wind players,” he explains.
Researchers from Matfyz, in collaboration with scientists from the Université de Lausanne and Harvard University, describe a mechanism of cell division in gram-negative bacteria. Several species of these bacteria exist and some are responsible for difficult-to-treat diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis, or plague. The new mathematical model, published in the prestigious journal PNAS, gives unique insight into their division process and may thereby facilitate the development of antibiotics in the future.
Almost a hundred experts gathered in Prague in the second half of June for the 19th International Conference on Learning and Intelligent Optimization (LION).
Dominika Hájková from the Department of Atmospheric Physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, has received a prestigious award presented annually by the French Embassy in the Czech Republic. Her doctoral research on atmospheric gravity waves earned second place in the category focused on environmental issues.
In June, the prestigious journal Science Advances published a new study offering insights into the ice cycle on Jupiter’s moon Europa. The study’s first author is Martin Kihoulou, a PhD student at Matfyz (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University) and Nantes Université.
The Embassy of France in the Czech Republic and the French company Eviden awarded, for the fifteenth time, young researchers working in the field of computer science. Second place in the Joseph Fourier Prize competition was awarded to Dr Zdeněk Kasner from the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics.
In the first week of June, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics hosted the international conference called Programming 2025 under the subtitle The Art, Science, and Technology of Programming. The ninth season was attended by 104 researchers and students from 19 countries around the world.
In the second half of March this year, the optical instruments aboard the interplanetary probe Solar Orbiter captured the very first and globally unique images of the solar disc in the region of the Sun’s southern pole. Electronic equipment developed at Matfyz is also operating successfully on board the probe.
From 28 to 30 May, an international conference was held in Prague to honour the memory of theoretical physicist Jiří Bičák. Among the distinguished guests was also the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Kip Thorne, whose public lecture crowded the Blue Lecture Hall at the Carolinum.
The honorary lecture in computer science commemorated Jiří Matoušek for the second time. Jan Černocký addressed the topic of speech recognition.
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 German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) in Görlitz has been gradually developing since 2021. Its ambitious scientific programme aims to support the development of Saxony and the entire region following the end of coal mining. In mid-May, Matfyz also became one of DZA’s partners.
