Jana Kalbáčová Vejpravová Receives European Physical Society Award

The European Physical Society awards the Emmy Noether Distinction to outstanding women physicists working in Europe. This year, Prof. Jana Kalbáčová Vejpravová from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, has become the first recipient from the Czech Republic. The EPS jury recognized her pioneering research in low-dimensional materials, as well as her significant role in shaping international scientific collaboration and strengthening the position of women in physics.

“The Emmy Noether Distinction is among the major awards of the European Physical Society, and receiving it comes as a complete surprise to me. I deeply appreciate its international scope, and at the same time, I see it as a strong commitment not to slow down in the future. I also regard it as recognition of the long-term work of our team and all colleagues I collaborate with, both in the Czech Republic and internationally,” said the Czech physicist.

Jana Kalbáčová Vejpravová currently focuses on experimental physics of low-dimensional systems. At the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, she leads a laboratory that is among the few worldwide capable of combining advanced optical spectroscopies with extreme conditions, such as high magnetic fields and low temperatures. Her team contributes to a deeper understanding of quasiparticles in low-dimensional systems, which are key to the development of new optoelectronic and quantum technologies.

Professor Kalbáčová Vejpravová has led or co-led around twenty research projects, including an ERC Starting Grant, and serves on a number of international evaluation panels and scientific boards. She has also contributed to the evaluation of the Graphene Flagship, one of the most prominent European initiatives in advanced materials research.

She currently represents the Czech Republic in the Quantum Community Network and leads a working group preparing the Supply Chain and Enabling Technologies Roadmap within the Strategic Research and Industry Agenda (SRIA 2035) for Quantum Technologies in the EU. At Charles University, she co-founded the interdisciplinary study programme Science, a unique programme in the Czech Republic integrating biology, chemistry, and physics.

In addition to her research and education activities, she is actively involved in supporting women in science, particularly through long-term collaborations with leading researchers in Taiwan (NTU, NTNU, Academia Sinica) and Japan (JAIST). She also engages in science outreach and public communication. For her popularization activities, she received the František Běhounek Prize awarded by the Czech Ministry of Education in 2019. In 2023, she was included in Forbes magazine’s list of the most prominent Czech female scientists.