The Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences expresses deep concern over the government’s decision to reduce funding allocated for research, development, and innovation by CZK 790 million and redirect it to other expenditure items of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Government Resolution No. 914/2025 of 19 November 2025). The budget of the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR),...
The Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Science of the University of South Bohemia will host the prestigious PLANTMETALS 2025 scientific conference in the second week of September. The meeting will take place from 9 to 12 September 2025 on the scientific campus in České Budějovice and aims to bring together experts from all disciplines working on trace metals in...
For the proper growth and development of all organisms, it is important not only to have genes, but also to turn those genes on or off at the right time. For example, during germination, plants first use the reserves stored in the seed, but as soon as the sprout emerges from the ground and the first green leaves appear, "plant photovoltaics" are turned on, and the plant begins to...
The international portal Research.com has published its latest rankings of the most cited scientists for 2025. More than 20 researchers from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences appear among the Czech scientific elite across several disciplines. Notably, two of them – Julius Lukeš and Jiří Macas – secured leading positions in the fields of genetics and molecular biology.
Seven years ago, Lenka Caisova discovered a very peculiar organism that looked like a moss. However, genetic sequencing revealed that this organism was not moss, but a Chlorophyte green alga. She named this alga as Draparnaldia erecta and started to develop this alga as a new model to study alternative mechanisms for multicellularity and terrestrialization in green plants. The importance of...
Austria's most highly endowed research prizes have been awarded: On the recommendation of an international jury of experts, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has selected cell biologist Jiří Friml from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) to receive the FWF Wittgenstein Award. Jiří Friml is the ERA Chair at the Biology Centre of the CAS within the MOLIPEC project supported by...
Two new research groups has been established at the Institute of Plant Molecular Biology of the BC CAS. The first is headed by Lenka Caisová, whose research focuses on plant terrestrialization. The second group, led by Ivan Kulich, investigates the development and growth of plant cells. The new research teams have been initiated within the framework of the MOLIPEC project, supported by the...
24 scientists from the Biology Centre CAS are ranked among the top 2 % of the world's most cited scientific authors. The list of the best scientific authors is published annually by Elsevier according to an analysis by Stanford University. The datasets are based on the Scopus database and include all scientific disciplines.
Jiunn Luh Tan, a dedicated PhD student at the Institute of Entomology and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, achieved a remarkable accolade at the 8th Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group on "Integrated Control of Plant-Feeding Mites" held in Belgrade, Serbia, from September 4th to 7th, 2023. Tan received the prestigious "Best PhD Student Oral Presentation Award" for his...
Scientists at the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS) have discovered a new plant virus that severely impacts the yield of certain strawberry cultivars. To combat this emerging threat, they've developed a diagnostic kit capable of swiftly and accurately detecting the virus. This kit allows detection of the virus already in seedlings, effectively preventing the spread of the...
