World Water Day is held on 22 March, declared by the UN in 1993 to remind us of the importance of this liquid substance vital for our entire planet. Saying that life on Earth wouldn’t exist without it may be a cliché, but it’s true. Water has been a constant companion of Martin Pivokonský from the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the CAS all his professional life. Is there anything new left to be learned about water? The article below was originally published in Czech in the quarterly <a href="https://pdf.avcr.cz/A/2023-03/#page=58">A / Magazine</a> of the CAS.
A life-giving liquid. It can be cool, warm, sweet, salty, tap, spring, rain, ground, mineral, but also stagnant, polluted, sometimes even toxic. Some of these modifiers probably could not be used for any other one single word. The chemical compound has the formula H2O and the systematic name oxidane, but we all know it by its common name: water. To make sure we can associate it as much as possible with its positive attributes, we need to look after it properly. One of the most qualified individuals that’s in the know about all things water is hydrochemist Martin Pivokonský, director of the <a href="https://www.ih.cas.cz/en/">Institute of Hydrodynamics</a> at the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Although his surname evokes another liquid, a beverage that is very popular among the Czechs, it is water which Pivokonský has devoted his career to. As he himself says, his personal relationship to water is not very particular, but neither is it very positive: “The first thing that comes to mind when I think of water is: wet and cold. I don’t really like getting wet, but I feel like I get wet all the time, for instance, whenever I find myself cycling or hiking.” Despite this, water has been a staple of his life for a long time – the researcher has been dedicated to it since his university studies, and his professional relationship to it is very positive.
<h4>From monitoring to testing</h4>
To begin with, it is important to clarify two terms that people sometimes do not distinguish – water treatment and wastewater treatment. Water treatment is the process of turning raw water (surface water or groundwater) into potable water. This is done in water treatment plants. On the other hand, the treatment of wastewater from households, industry, and agriculture takes place in wastewater (or sewage) treatment plants. The treated water is then returned to the water cycle or can be reused – but is not fit for human consumption.
His research concentrated mainly on water treatment, but more recently also on wastewater treatment, is also linked to the Academic Award, or Praemium Academiae (bestowed by the CAS), which Pivokonský received in 2022. With his research team, he focuses on describing and monitoring the occurrence of the composition of contaminants found in water sources, such as natural organic substances and anthropogenic micropollutants, i.e., those originating from human activities. The researcher is also seeking to shed light on their physical and physical-chemical properties that play a role in their removal from water. He is interested in their interactions with each other and with chemical agents used in water purification and treatment.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Hydrochemist_Martin_Pivokonsky_on_how_to_improve_water_and_wastewater_treatment_In_2022_Martin_Pivokonsky_right_received_the_prestigious_Praemium_Academiae_701401dd3e.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences: In 2022, Martin Pivokonský (right) received the prestigious Praemium Academiae – Academic Award."/>
The research focus of the thirteen-member team is broad in scope. The team is also involved in developing new water treatment methods such as oxidation and photo-oxidation technologies, electrocoagulation, and secondary coagulation that precedes membrane filtration. “In addition, we’re also working on laboratory and pilot-scale testing of new methods and technologies for water treatment and wastewater treatment. In other words, we are interested in the occurrence of pollutants in water, their interactions, and toxicological effects, all with the aim of developing new effective methods for their removal,” Pivokonský specifies.
In order for researchers to be able to fully dedicate themselves to all these areas, they need good conditions for their work. “In the Czech Republic, it’s not so much a lack of equipment or insufficient infrastructure that troubles us. The problem lies in the long-term undervaluation of the financial remuneration for highly qualified workers,” the researcher explains, whose vision of how to make use of the generous financial bonus that comes with the Praemium Academiae is clear – invest in people. He plans to create a strong team of experts that will remain functional even after the financial resources from the awarded bonus have been depleted.
Logically, this leads to the fact that scientists are constantly writing projects in order to have enough money to run their institutions, and they have less and less time for their own science. &quot;Until institutional support is increased to at least eighty percent, there will be no stabilisation of Czech science,&quot; Pivokonský believes.
Just as clear-cut as his vision of a robust research team is his stance on supporting science in the Czech Republic. According to him, the fundamental shortcoming is the fact that institutional funding is lacking, greatly: “Lacking to such a degree, in fact, that without earmarked funding, we wouldn’t even have enough money for the day-to-day operation of our institutions, let alone any serious research.” Logically, this leads to scientists constantly submitting various grant projects just to obtain enough funds for operation, leaving them with less and less time for actual scientific work. “Until institutional support is increased to at least eighty percent, there can be no talk about stabilising Czech research and development,” Pivokonský believes.
<h4>The most valuable natural resource</h4>
Although water covers up to three-quarters of our planet, it is becoming increasingly scarce. It is reported that freshwater constitutes only two-and-a-half percent of the total volume of water. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is potable or usable for industry, agriculture, and other sectors of human activity. Around the world, water sources are contaminated by a variety of anthropogenic substances. These include various industrial chemicals, flame retardants, detergents, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs, pesticides and their metabolites, components of cosmetic and household products, artificial sweeteners and dyes, heavy metals, and organometallic compounds.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Hydrochemist_Martin_Pivokonsky_on_how_to_improve_water_and_wastewater_treatment_Water_around_the_world_is_contaminated_by_a_number_of_6273187945.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences: Water around the world is contaminated by a number of anthropogenic substances, including pharmaceuticals."/>
Unfortunately, they usually pose certain toxicological risks: often, these are substances with chronic health effects, even though they occur in water sources at concentrations in the order of “mere” nanograms per litre (ng/l), or micrograms per litre (μg/l). To illustrate, it’s as if we were trying to account for a one-hundred-crown bill in the state budget of the Czech Republic.
“If we take into account, in addition to anthropogenic pollutants, naturally occurring pollutants such as aluminosilicates, humic substances resulting from the decomposition of plant residues, and substances produced by cyanobacteria, water sources today are a mixture of heterogenous substances with complex mutual interactions and difficult-to-define treatment conditions. In this context, it is apt to speak of a ‘cocktail of substances,’” the hydrochemist explains.
Because in the past, water treatment primarily focused on the removal of common natural substances, it is them that current scientific knowledge and technological procedures are aimed at. However, the present-day cocktail of natural and anthropogenic pollutants requires new, focused research, not only to monitor their occurrence, but also to elucidate their hydrochemical role and develop new technological methods for their removal.
“There is an unimaginable amount of substances potentially contaminating our waters, and oftentimes, we don’t even know how much so, because we simply aren’t assessing them. What’s more, many times we don’t even know what these substances are,” Pivokonský explains, pointing out the fact that it is high time to reconsider whether we are assessing the quality of water today according to the right indicators. It is evident that while water sources show better quality in terms of “traditional” indicators than, for instance, at the beginning of the millennium, in terms of “new” pollutants, this may not be the case, or may show even worse results.
<h4>Where there’s danger lurking</h4>
Every day, we use an incredible amount of chemical substances that ultimately end up back in our environment. And because water is an ideal transport medium for many substances, they eventually make their way into water sources, too, even if their life cycle may not directly involve water. A typical example is the widely discussed perfluorinated organic compounds (PFAS). What are they, exactly?
“Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated organic compounds represent an extensive group of several thousand human-made organic compounds characterised by a very strong bond between fluorine atoms and carbon atoms rather than hydrogen atoms. While this gives them unique properties useful in industrial production, they are literally a disaster for the environment,” the researcher explains. The bond between carbon and fluorine does not occur naturally in the natural environment, so there are no natural mechanisms in place to break down these substances.
These substances are therefore persistent (resistant to degradation) and bioaccumulative (accumulating in living organisms). Moreover, they are considered human carcinogens. They are likely the cause of kidney, ovarian, testicular, and prostate cancer. They are also highly reprotoxic (reducing fertility in women), they can increase the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy and cause pre-eclampsia (a placental disease) and lower birth weight in newborns.
Since PFASs have been manufactured since roughly the 1950s, they are now found everywhere in the world and in virtually all components of the environment, including water and food. “Their occurrence even in small quantities is, in my opinion, alarming. If we were to consider that the concentration of PFASs in water is, say, even just twenty nanograms per liter, and you drink and consume an average of four liters of water per day, your daily intake is eighty nanograms. This is a significant amount, and this is taking into consideration the intake from drinking water alone,” Pivokonský points out.
<h4>Beware of cosmetics</h4>
When the life cycle of the chemicals used is directly dependent on water, unlike PFASs, contamination of water sources can be significant, without us even realizing it. Pivokonský provides an example: “A recent study analysed the amount of chemicals released by dishwasher tablets. It found that more than three-and-a-half thousand different chemical substances are released from a single tablet.” These then enter wastewater and subsequently into water recipients, i.e., places where surface water and wastewater converge, such as ponds, reservoirs, lakes, and watercourses.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Hydrochemist_Martin_Pivokonsky_on_how_to_improve_water_and_wastewater_treatment_A_recent_study_showed_that_more_than_three_and_a_half_thousand_different_chemicals_26674119f6.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences: A recent study showed that more than three and a half thousand different chemicals are released from dishwasher tablets."/>
However, dishwasher tablets are not the only concern. While drugs and hormones are relatively well broken down by natural processes, due to their overall high daily consumption in society, we find them in practically every water source. According to Pivokonský, what gets somewhat overlooked in discussions are so-called personal care products. A typical representative of this group of substances is, for instance, triclosan, which has antibacterial and fungicidal effects. It gets added to soaps, deodorants, toothpaste, shaving cream, mouthwash, and cleaning agents. However, it is also found in kitchen utensils, toys, bed linen, and garbage bags. Its effects on human health are debated; nevertheless, it appears to be a substance that affects the endocrine system, specifically the thyroid gland.
Pivokonský emphasises that the problem is not so much the concentration of individual substances but rather their overall mix and synergistic effect on living organisms: “Sometimes I am truly astounded by the tired argument of certain technocrats that all the substances we analyse in water or other components of the environment have always been there and we just didn’t know it because we didn’t have the appropriate analytical capabilities. This is a complete fallacy! Anthropogenic substances can only have been present in water since we started producing them.”
According to the researcher, another dangerous misconception is the claim that water is devoid of these substances or that their concentrations are so low that they are not worth paying attention to. Today, we produce a huge amount of chemicals and use them so to such an extent that they are simply everywhere, including in the water. Hundreds, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of chemical substances enter the water. “But how many of them do we actually assess? Dozens realistically, occasionally in some study, hundreds. However, this may only represent a fraction of the actual situation,” Pivokonský says. There are countless substances polluting our water. If we were to mention them all, it would make for a lengthy publication.
Protecting water sources, protecting our air, protecting agricultural land, protecting our seas and oceans, protecting biodiversity... We are already protecting the entire planet, yet our environment continues to deteriorate. How is this possible? Pivokonský wonders, answering himself straight away: “It’s probably because the sentiment sounds good on paper, but in reality, we’re not actually protecting much. We should stop hiding behind the protection of everything and admit that what we really care about is the protection of ourselves and our own human existence here and now. Then perhaps we could finally start living and managing things sensibly, thereby actually protecting everything mentioned above.”
<h4>Opposites attract</h4>
Some people are said to be like fire and water. In Pivokonský, both elements intertwine in one person. His lifelong passion is water, but as a Sagittarius, he falls under the fire signs in the zodiac. Sagittarians are said to excel in their idealism and sincerity, they yearn for truth and knowledge, and their lives tend to be active and adventurous. Freedom is important to them, and they do a lot to pursue what they believe in and enjoy. They are honest, straightforward, and at times can be accused of lacking tact.
“Personally, I don’t believe in astrology. However, I must admit that this characterisation actually fits me. I am very honest and straightforward, to the point where I often put people in awkward situations. Sometimes it can even cause me a bit of trouble because I always consider it best to say what I think, which is a mindset not everyone understands,” Pivokonský says. He also adds that he cannot do things he doesn’t believe in – and on the contrary, devoting himself to what he believes in is very enjoyable for him.
He considers freedom, both personal and professional, the greatest gift. He views science as one of the freest activities there is: “I once said that science is an aristocratic calling in the best sense of the word, meaning that it gives us tremendous freedom to explore what we ourselves deem important, but on the other hand, it imposes enormous demands on us considering that it is a service to society. In other words, it is essential for us to have the freedom in deciding the direction of our research, but at the same time, it must be an absolute given for every scientist that their research is public, transparent, and serves humanity as a whole.”
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Universitas_Chemizace_zivotniho_prostredi_je_brutalni_Jedina_tableta_do_mycky_vypusti_tisice_ruznych_latek_15f44e1c1c/Universitas-Chemizace-zivotniho-prostredi-je-brutalni.-Jedina-tableta-do-mycky-vypusti-tisice-ruznych-latek..jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences: Martin Pivokonský (CC)"/>
<blockquote>
<h5>Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Martin Pivokonský, Ph.D.</h5>
Institute of Hydrodynamics at the Czech Academy of Sciences
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Pivokonský has been the director of the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the CAS since 2017. He studied Environmental Studies at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, and subsequently pursued the field of Applied and Landscape Ecology. As an educator, he lectures on hydrochemistry, water pollution and protection, and the treatment of groundwater and surface water. He is the author of several utility models, patents, and over sixty publications in academic journals, and he has co-authored several books, such as Coagulation in Water Treatment and Jar Tests for Water Treatment Optimisation: How to Perform Jar Tests – a handbook. As a researcher, his primary focus is hydrochemistry, water treatment and purification, water protection, and other environmental issues related to water pollution. In 2021, he received the President&#39;s Award from the Czech Science Foundation, and a year later, he was awarded the prestigious Praemium Academiae by the Czech Academy of Sciences.
</blockquote>

Hydrochemist Martin Pivokonský on how to improve water and wastewater treatment

“Fat can be extracted even from thousand-year-old pottery,” says V. Brychová

Soil biologist Gerrit Angst from the Biology Centre of the CAS received the prestigious Lumina quaeruntur Premium from the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This generous grant for promising young researchers will enable him to set up his research group focusing on soil biochemistry. According to Gerrit Angst, soil plays a key role in the fight against climate change and its importance is not yet fully appreciated.
Gerrit Angst is a soil biologist originally from Germany. He plans to establish a research group Soil Biochemistry at the Biology Centre of the CAS in České Budějovice, working between soil biology and chemistry. The study of the dynamics of soil organic matter, including the influence of soil fauna, is one of the fundamental issues in contemporary ecological research. It plays a key role for the adaptation of society to climate change or for the preservation of soil fertility.
&quot;Soil is a basic element in the fight against climate change because it can store huge amounts of carbon, not only in the topsoil but also in the subsoil. Yet the functions of soil and its importance are still underestimated,&quot; emphasises Gerrit Angst.
His research focuses on the role of earthworms and other soil fauna in the process of soil stabilisation and carbon storage. &quot;Soil fauna control the incorporation of organic matter into the soil, thereby influencing both the quantity and quality of organic substrates available to micro-organisms,&quot; explains the scientist, who will work with his team on analyses and experiments both in the laboratory and in the field. &quot;We will be investigating soil in various European countries, including Germany and Switzerland, in addition to the Czech Republic,&quot; he says.
Gerrit Angst studied geography, pedology and spatial planning at the University of Bonn. He holds a PhD from the Technical University of Munich. He worked at the University of Leipzig, but also had postdoctoral experience at the Biology Centre of the CAS.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/AV_CR_Gerrit_Angst_obdrzel_premii_Lumina_quaeruntur_Diky_ni_zalozi_vlastni_vyzkumny_tym_2_54853f187a.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences/Jana Plavec: Gerrit Angst receives the award from the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Eva Zažímalová, in the presence of the Director of the Biology Centre of the CAS, Libor Grubhoffer."/>
The Lumina quaeruntur Premium targets promising scientists of the younger and middle generation. The programme, with support of up to four million crowns per calendar year for a maximum of five years, will enable them to set up their own research team.
&quot;These young scientists with a great passion for their field are the future of the Czech Academy of Sciences. I am glad that we can support them in their take-off, also because the financial support at the state level for keeping young scientists - or for their return from abroad - is not really very significant,&quot; says Eva Zažímalová, President of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The Lumina quaeruntur award was given to five researchers this year. It was first awarded in 2018, and a total of 31 scientists have received it so far.

Gerrit Angst awarded the Lumina quaeruntur premium. He will start a new research team

Proteins do not usually form from junk DNA – but if they do and they take hold, they become part of the cell’s protein make-up. They are called de novo proteins because they are practically created out of nothing, anew, and not much is known about them. In a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02010-2">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>, researchers from <a href="https://www.biocev.eu/en">BIOCEV</a> and their German colleagues described a large set of these proteins, helping unravel the otherwise hard-to-decipher properties of the mystery proteins.
The human genome is a tangle of DNA strands containing intersecting gene sequences: those that code for functional proteins and those that do not – i.e., non-coding or junk DNA, whose function is still understudied, even though it makes up most of the genome. The advent of modern methods has revealed that even non-coding DNA can carry information needed for the synthesis of proteins, the basic building blocks of the cells of living organisms. A synthesis that was initially unstable, without a specific aim, and purely experimental.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Brennen_Heames_and_Filip_Buchel_The_mystery_of_de_novo_proteins_revealed_by_Czech_and_German_researchers_1_df94e4513a.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences/Brennen Heames and Filip Buchel: The mystery of de novo proteins revealed by Czech and German researchers."/>
If junk DNA does yield a protein, either of use to the cell or as a harmless experiment, the product takes hold and the so-called de novo protein becomes a permanent part of the cell’s protein make-up. While conventional evolutionary mechanisms work with pre-existing genetic material, these de novo sequences emerge “from scratch” and may not initially have a specific function. The mechanisms of their origin still constitute a great unknown, despite many of these proteins being related to essential life functions and pathological processes.
What are de novo proteins and how are they formed?
A team of researchers from the Faculty of Science at Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences, working at the BIOCEV Centre in Vestec near Prague and led by biochemist Klára Hlouchová, joined forces with the group of bioinformatician Erich Bornberg-Bauer from the University of Münster in Germany. The researchers compared 1,800 putative de novo proteins identified in human and fly genomes with 1,800 completely randomly generated protein sequences. The comparison of such sequences may reveal which properties are decisive in the emergence of de novo genes. The study appears in the current issue of the prestigious journal Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Brennen_Heames_and_Filip_Buchel_The_mystery_of_de_novo_proteins_revealed_by_Czech_and_German_researchers_2_ee3636c96e.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences/Brennen Heames and Filip Buchel: The mystery of de novo proteins revealed by Czech and German researchers."/>
While bioinformatic predictions of biophysical properties do not significantly distinguish between de novo protein sequences and their random counterparts, their experimental characterisation reveals noticeable differences.
De novo proteins exhibit higher solubility, which seems to allow them to integrate better into the cellular environment. “However, this means that sequences with higher structural disorder are preferentially selected during the emergence of de novo proteins,” notes study co-author Filip Buchel, a PhD student at the Faculty of Science of Charles University. “Higher structural content in proteins with no evolutionary history often goes hand in hand with a tendency to form insoluble aggregates that are toxic for cells.”
“All of this suggests that significant selection based on biophysical properties occurs at an early stage of de novo protein evolution,” adds Vyacheslav Tretyachenko, a former PhD student at the Faculty of Science of Charles University (now on a postdoctoral fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel).
The selection of new proteins based on their biophysical properties echoes the selection processes from the dawn of life on Earth that defined the basic properties of early proteins, as the team led by Klára Hlouchová recently published in <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jacs.2c12987">J. Am. Chem. Soc.</a>
The large set of proteins required special methods
In this study, the researchers had to adapt traditional biochemical and biophysical characterisation methods to working with the entire set of proteins in order to compare a large number of sequences in parallel. One of the key methods comprised mass spectroscopy, which made it possible to detect individual sequences in the analysed samples. “Working on this project was very exciting because it allowed us to identify proteins that essentially do not exist. It was a proteomic conundrum of sorts,” adds Petr Novák from the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS. The study constitutes the first characterisation of a large set of de novo proteins that has gone beyond purely theoretical research, helping unravel the proteins’ otherwise hard-to-decipher properties.
On the Czech side, the study was supported by the Primus and GAUK grants from Charles University.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Brennen_Heames_and_Filip_Buchel_The_mystery_of_de_novo_proteins_revealed_by_Czech_and_German_researchers_3_5d2ca0b9ec.jpg" alt="The Czech Academy of Sciences/Brennen Heames and Filip Buchel: The mystery of de novo proteins revealed by Czech and German researchers."/>

The mystery of de novo proteins revealed by Czech and German researchers

The beauty of the unseen: the inner world of crystal atoms and molecules

Plants contain an incredible wealth of chemicals, Tomáš Pluskal says

Multiscale materials could find practical applications in electrical engineering, medicine, and environmental technologies. Their research and development is being carried out by researchers as part of the AMULET project led by the <a href="https://www.jh-inst.cas.cz/press-release/material-genetics-will-be-pursued-amulet-project-which-succeeded-excellent-research">J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS</a>. The consortium of eight partners from academia and research has received funding in the amount of nearly half a billion crowns in the ‘Excellence in Research’ call from the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
The aim of the AMULET (Advanced MUltiscaLe materials for key Enabling Technologies) project is clearly defined – to develop advanced materials with a wide range of applications. By combining zero-dimensional (quantum dots), one-dimensional (e.g., nanotubes), and two-dimensional (e.g., graphene) materials, experts are developing multiscale materials to give them new and unusual properties. Smart materials with unique functionalities and surprising applications in many different fields can thus be obtained by combining these nanomaterials.
Which unusual properties are these in particular? According to the project’s coordinator, Martin Kalbáč from the <a href="https://www.jh-inst.cas.cz/">J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS</a>, there is an entire range of them and it is not exactly an easy feat to define them in general terms.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Jana_Plavec_AMULET_project_to_focus_on_multiscale_materials_development_50f068e15d.jpg" alt="CAS/Jana Plavec: AMULET project to focus on multiscale materials development."/>
“I’ll give the example of graphene, which is probably the most well-known two-dimensional material. It exhibits both optical transparency and electrically conductive properties, which can be utilised for things like touchscreens. It is also interesting that charge carriers in graphene, such as electrons, can move over a large distance without scattering occurring. In practice, this can be utilised for the design of electronic components,” Kalbáč explains.
However, graphene is a semimetal and, in this form, cannot be used for applications in conventional transistors, which require a semiconductor material. “However, if we correctly combine two graphene layers, the resulting material, under certain conditions, can exhibit semiconducting properties. In the context of macroscopic objects, such changes in fundamental physical properties are hard to imagine,” the researcher adds.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Jana_Plavec_AMULET_project_to_focus_on_multiscale_materials_development_Martin_Kalbac_J_Heyrovsky_Institute_of_Physical_Chemistry_the_AMULET_project_coordinator_51c2303a3d.jpg" alt="CAS/Jana Plavec: Martin Kalbáč (J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry), the AMULET project coordinator."/>
<h4>Modern materials science</h4>
Current trends in materials science draw inspiration from nature. Beyond naturally occurring elements and compounds, nature enables so-called material genetics, i.e., the targeted folding and “cross-breeding” of material components in 3D space. “Research of one- and two-dimensional materials has become very popular recently. One of the main ideas of the project is to combine these materials in a targeted way,” says Kalbáč, adding that the project will integrate a number of trends in the field of nanomaterials research, which may lead to unexpected discoveries of unique functionalities.
Experts will be investigating how multiscale materials interact with biological environments and whether they can be used for electrochemical or optical sensors and in electro-photochemical catalysis to remove harmful substances from air and water. They will also test new nano/micro-devices that can be used for energy conversion, production, and storage.
A large part of Kalbač’s home institute is involved in the AMULET project. “To name several significant points of interest we’re focusing on, I would mention the preparation and use of atomic clusters, the development of super-resolution optical microscopy, and the use of multiscale materials for special sensors and detectors, on which we will be working closely with the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University,” the researcher adds.
As part of the international scientific board of the AMULET project, the progress and direction of the research will be overseen by Konstantin Novoselov, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of graphene. “As the discoverer of graphene, Professor Novoselov is an icon in the field of 2D materials research. I am delighted that he has been able to join the project’s scientific board. I would like to thank my colleague Matěj Velický, who has been instrumental in helping make this happen,” Kalbáč adds.
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_Jana_Plavec_AMULET_project_to_focus_on_multiscale_materials_development_1_3c36e236aa.jpg" alt="CAS/Jana Plavec: AMULET project to focus on multiscale materials development."/>
<h4>Half a billion crowns in funding</h4>
AMULET succeeded in competition with 66 projects submitted to the Excellence in Research Call in the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme administered by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The call is aimed at supporting research with the potential for excellent results applicable in practice. The money is earmarked for excellent research teams that will help Czech scientific institutions deepen their relations with international partners and also strengthen the competitiveness of the Czech Republic in the long run.
The project, coordinated by the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS, will receive almost half a billion crowns from the programme. “Approximately one third of this amount will go to my home institute. I am very happy that our project succeeded, as it will help us retain experts that we would otherwise probably lose due to lack of funding,” Kalbáč adds.
The consortium consists of eight partners – five institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences and three Czech universities. “Coordinating such a large project is quite the challenge. On the other hand, I will be assisted by an administrative team from our institute. The partner institutions are represented by my colleagues with whom I have always had a good experience working together, so I believe that we will successfully be able to build on this cooperation,” Kalbáč concludes.
The following CAS institutes are involved in the project:
<ul>
<li>J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS (Martin Kalbáč, the main coordinator of the project)</li>
<li>Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the CAS (Jiří Homola)</li>
<li>Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS (Petr Cígler)</li>
<li>Institute of Physics of the CAS (Jiří Červenka)</li>
<li>Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS (Anna Macková)</li>
<li>Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics (Jana Kalbáčová Vejpravová)</li>
<li>University of Chemical Technology, Prague (Zdeněk Sofer)</li>
<li>Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Faculty of Science (Zdeňka Kolská)</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/Akademie_ved_Ceske_republiky_AMULET_project_to_focus_on_multiscale_materials_development_collaborators_c3879abe9d.jpg" alt="CAS: AMULET project to focus on multiscale materials development - the project partners."/>

AMULET project to focus on multiscale materials development

Kristýna Boušová: Engineering new proteins

As a child, Tomáš Čermák couldn’t look people in the eye or easily form relationships. He spent nearly three years in the hospital. But the eighteen-year-old has come a long way since then. Now a graduating high school senior, he is working with the Czech Academy of Sciences, preparing to go study abroad, and racking up one award after another. Most recently, Čermák and nineteen-year-old Anna Podmanická were named European winners of The Earth Prize 2025 for their project PURA, the innovative technology they developed for water purification. On this occasion, we’re showcasing our interview with Tomáš Čermák, first published (in Czech) in the autumn 2024 issue of the popular science magazine of the CAS, A / Easy.<h4>You’ve got your high school exit exam coming up at the end of the school year… but you don’t spend time in class with your classmates.</h4>I haven’t actually been attending school for quite a while now – I have an individual study plan. Not primarily because of my scientific work, but originally mainly for health reasons. I’m a diagnosed autistic person, and when I started to study at a selective high school, my health completely collapsed. What followed was basically three years spent in the hospital.<h4>That sounds like a really rough start to your studies.</h4>At eleven, I ended up on IV drips, and I have a complete blackout regarding about six months of my life. Still, I think this extreme experience ended up giving me a lot. It helped me sort out my values in life – and today, I think I have a better sense of what really counts as a problem. And I’ve been working on myself.<h4>So you never went back to school. How do you keep up your education?</h4>I learn independently, on my own. I study subjects in blocks – one week I focus on chemistry, the next on history, and so on. I put together detailed summaries from the studied material and upload them to the website Výpisky.com, which I founded and made freely accessible. I go to school regularly for assessments and exams.<h4>You openly talk about autism – you consider it important for people to know more about it. Can you describe how it affects you?</h4>It changes over time. These days I have no problem looking people in the eye. Six years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Autistic people do feel emotions, but we might not really understand them at first – our brains work a little differently. For a long time, I found the world incomprehensible, as if I’d fallen to Earth from Planet Autistan.<h4>And yet here I am, talking to a smiling, communicative young man.</h4>That transformation took years of therapy. And also years of watching people – how they behave, the expressions they make when they talk. To me it felt unnatural to look people in the eye or shake their hands. But I realized it was going to be a necessary part of communication.<h4>So you tried to imitate others?</h4>I used the trial-and-error method. Of course, I don’t want to speak for all autistic people, but some of us are a bit like artificial intelligence. We’re very quick learners, soaking up everything around us like sponges. As a child I had serious issues, and at one point, no one would have probably guessed I’d ever function normally. I think it’s incredibly important to say this: No child is a lost cause!<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/AVCR_I_stredoskolak_muze_pusobit_v_Akademii_ved_CR_Jednou_z_moznosti_jsou_staze_Otevrene_vedy_Tomas_se_ale_na_Ustav_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_dostal_vlastni_cestou_proste_oslovil_tamni_vedce_592fd1172a.jpg" alt="AVČR: Even a high school student can work at the Czech Academy of Sciences. One way is through the Open Science internship program, but Tomáš forged his own path to the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS – he simply reached out to the researchers there." srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/thumbnail_AVCR_I_stredoskolak_muze_pusobit_v_Akademii_ved_CR_Jednou_z_moznosti_jsou_staze_Otevrene_vedy_Tomas_se_ale_na_Ustav_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_dostal_vlastni_cestou_proste_oslovil_tamni_vedce_592fd1172a.jpg 235w," sizes="100vw" width="460" height="306"><h4>You’re living proof of that. You haven’t even graduated high school yet, and you’re already involved in the scientific community and have experience working with two research institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), no less: the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS and the Institute of Physics of the CAS. What drew you to physics in particular?</h4>It provides answers about how the world around us works. But I’ll be totally honest: if my first encounter with physics had only been through a school textbook, I might never have gotten into it. I completely get anyone who doesn’t like physics in school. I get that having to memorize “formulas out of nowhere” can turn a lot of people off the subject.<h4>Where did your interest in science come from?</h4>I’ve always had a curious mind and a passion for discovering new things. But what really sparked my interest was a university-level Advanced Placement (AP) course offered in the Czech Republic by the Center for Talented Minds. The course is taught online in English. I’ve taken four AP exams in total – two in physics, one in economics, and another in calculus.<h4>So how did you go from online courses to doing research at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS?</h4>At the start of the COVID pandemic, there was a huge problem with an initial shortage of respirators. I started looking into whether there were any ways to sterilize them, and I found out that cold plasma could potentially be used for that. It inspired me, and I began assembling a small device intended for this purpose at home. But at a certain point, I hit a wall – I didn’t know how to continue, so I set the project aside. Then I picked it up again, only to set it aside again...<h4>But the idea didn’t stay on ice forever.</h4>About a year and a half ago, I realized I wanted to revisit the topic. I started digging into the available academic research literature and decided to reach out to associate professors working in plasma physics here in the Czech Republic. That’s how I got in touch with Tomáš Homola from the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS.<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/AVCR_Student_Tomas_Cermak_v_laboratori_Ustavu_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_podzim_2024_9074a1fa06.jpg" alt="AVČR: Student Tomáš Čermák in the lab at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS (autumn 2024)." srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/thumbnail_AVCR_Student_Tomas_Cermak_v_laboratori_Ustavu_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_podzim_2024_9074a1fa06.jpg 235w," sizes="100vw" width="460" height="306"><h4>Respirator disinfection could probably be done in other ways too – so why plasma?</h4>Respirators are made of very sensitive materials that are tricky to sterilize. Most chemical methods, for instance, can damage the nanofibers, while UV light can’t reach the tiniest gaps in the material, so it only disinfects the surface... That means we need a method that doesn’t generate high heat or pressure, so it doesn’t degrade the material. And cold plasma fits the bill.<h4>What exactly is it? Is there such a thing as hot plasma too?</h4>There are two basic types of plasma. The first is called equilibrium plasma, because the activated particles in it are in thermal equilibrium with their surroundings – this is hot plasma, and stars are an example of that. Then there’s non-equilibrium (or nonthermal) plasma, where the particles aren’t in balance, and this type of plasma can easily be at room temperature. That’s called cold plasma.<h4>For your device, you used a type of plasma discharge called a corona discharge. What should we picture here?</h4>It’s a type of electrical discharge in gases that forms at highly curved regions of electrodes. In the reactor I built, I use the tips of medical needles to generate a corona discharge. The corona is visible to the naked eye – it looks like a faint glow around the needle tips. If you’re lucky, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of a corona discharge on high-voltage power lines during thunderstorms.<h4>Your original goal was to create a device for disinfecting respirators. Did it work out?</h4>For this project, I set four goals. The first was to construct the device itself, the second was to characterize the physics of the corona discharge, the third focused on bacteria, and the fourth on wastewater. In the research phase, I defined certain phenomena associated with corona discharges in alternating current – for instance, why its performance drops in the presence of water, or why it increases when the amount of gas rises.<h4>What did you find out about the bacteria?</h4>It turns out the device really can be effective at killing bacteria. It’s capable of destroying about ninety-eight percent of bacteria in three minutes! I also identified how the corona affects bacteria – twenty-five percent of the effect is from UV radiation. The output gases in the corona have a negligible effect – less than five percent.<h4>And what about its potential for treating wastewater?</h4>We tested the device on over a hundred substances – things like analgesics, antibiotics, and antidepressants. For some of them, the results were quite impressive. After ninety seconds of plasma treatment, the water sample contained seventy-five percent less sulfonamide antibiotics, sixty percent less of the anesthetic ketamine, and seventy percent less sertraline, which is used to treat depression. (Note: This is the core of Čermák’s award-winning PURA project – it involves purifying water of pharmaceuticals and pollutants using a combination of plasma and photocatalysis).<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/AVCR_Prototyp_pristroje_ktery_Tomas_vyvinul_a_testoval_v_Ustavu_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_078c67b014.jpg" alt="AVČR: Prototype of the device that Tomáš Čermák developed and tested at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS." srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/thumbnail_AVCR_Prototyp_pristroje_ktery_Tomas_vyvinul_a_testoval_v_Ustavu_fyziky_plazmatu_AV_CR_078c67b014.jpg 235w," sizes="100vw" width="460" height="306"><h4>So would your invention actually be able to clean the respirators that started off this whole journey?</h4>So far, all our experiments have been done using aqueous solutions with bacteria and other substances in Petri dishes. It would be possible to place the respirator itself into the device, but it’s not something we’ve tried in this phase of the research yet. We have to design an experiment in a way that will yield measurable results. We need to be able to reliably measure what the device does to both the respirator and the microorganisms it contains.<h4>You started building the first version of the device at home, but the final prototype was developed in the lab at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS. How much work went into it?</h4>I was constructing the reactor last summer [2024], alternating between home and the lab. In autumn, I dove into determining the physical characteristics of the corona, running experiments, taking measurements, and so on. From September to December, I spent an estimated two hundred hours in the lab. I got a lot of help during the experimental part from Jiří Fujera, a PhD student working with Tomáš Homola.<h4>Do you think other students have a shot at getting involved with top research institutions at such a young age?</h4>In theory, yes. The opportunity is there for anyone, but it takes enormous stamina, discipline, and the courage to risk rejection. Someone once told me it was rude to reach out to associate professors directly, but I stand by my approach – because honestly, I doubt they would’ve contacted me. (laughter)<h4>High school students can also get involved in research thanks to the Otevřená věda (Open Science) student internship program run by the Czech Academy of Sciences. You took part in that too.</h4>It’s a great program for students who are interested in science but don’t know where to start. You just have to keep in mind that you might not get an internship on your first try – it’s better to apply to several research institutes at once.<blockquote>Try Open Science!Are you a high school student and want to do an internship at one of the institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences? Try Otevřená věda (Open Science)! You can choose from topics across a range of research fields. Applications open every year in November. The well-established program has been running for twenty years, and some of its earliest interns are now full-fledged scientists and even Open Science mentors. Learn more (in Czech) here: https://www.otevrenaveda.cz/cs/staze-pro-studenty/</blockquote><h4>You ended up doing an internship at the Institute of Physics of the CAS. But the topic you’re working on there seems quite distant from plasma and respirator sterilization, right?</h4>It is different, but I’m really excited about it, and the work is incredibly fulfilling. We’re exploring the use of artificial intelligence in physics and designing neural networks that function similarly to the human brain. We’re developing a program that will be capable of detecting ECG anomalies in real time and diagnosing heart disorders. (Note: The Open Science internships always run from January to December, so Tomáš’s internship ended at the close of 2024. The team really did manage to develop a program capable of diagnosing cardiac anomalies.)<h4>Would you be interested in a future at the Czech Academy of Sciences, or are you more drawn to studying and doing research abroad?</h4>I think we’re incredibly lucky to have an institution like the Czech Academy of Sciences here in the Czech Republic. It has a strong tradition, great results, and brings together amazing minds. I see a lot of potential in it for connecting research with industry, and I’d be very interested in working there. Right now, though, I’m applying to universities abroad – including Cambridge, MIT, Harvard – so we’ll see what happens. (Note: Tomáš has been accepted to Imperial College London.)<h4>Given your earlier health issues which meant you couldn’t attend classes at school, how did you actually end up learning English?</h4>At first, my English wasn’t that great, but I read books in English and watched YouTube in English. Things really took off when I started watching videos in the original English with English subtitles – after that, I picked up the language super fast.<h4>Is there a school subject that just doesn’t click with you, or one you struggle with? What about history, for example?</h4>Honestly, I enjoy pretty much everything in some way. Even history. I try to see high school as a great opportunity to get a taste of every field. It’s true I had a bit of trouble with music class, but even there you can find something valuable – like the historical context.<h4>Okay, but is there anything you really can’t stand?</h4>Sports! (laughter) I consider myself a total sports anti-talent. I just don’t find playing sports relaxing – so I found a different way to unwind and clear my mind. Last year, when everything got a bit too much, I started to make friendship bracelets, then learned to crochet, make bobbin lace, and embroider. I even crocheted a research mascot – a giant E. coli bacterium. I find crafting incredibly relaxing. I can just sit there crocheting and it calms me right down. (smiling)<blockquote>Tomáš ČermákHe studies remotely at the Biskupské gymnázium (high school) in Hradec Králové. In his free time, he constructed a device capable of inactivating microorganisms and purifying water pollutants using cold plasma. He worked on its construction in the lab of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS and received The Learned Society of the Czech Republic Award for Research (for secondary school students) in May 2024. In 2024, he completed an internship with the Open Science program at the Institute of Physics of the CAS, where he contributed to the development of a neural network that can diagnose heart disorders from ECG data in real time. He won first place in the 2023 Energy Olympics with a project on using green algae to capture CO2 and convert it into electricity and received the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award for a scientific expedition to the Žďárské vrchy (Žďár Hills) Protected Landscape Area, where he measured soil radiation with a gamma spectrometer he built himself. In 2024, he stood out in the Czech High Schooler of the Year competition with his project Výpisky.com and was named TECH Talent of the Year. In early April 2025, he was honored by the National Institute for Autism (NAUTIS) for helping improve public understanding of autism. He co-founded the STEM_HUB association, which now connects over 250 students with an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In April 2025, Tomáš Čermák and Anna Podmanická were named the European winners of The Earth Prize for their water purification project. They became the first-ever recipients of this award from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, earning a grant of 12,000 EUR to advance their project. From 13 April 2025, the public will be able to vote and determine the global Earth Prize winner out of the regional finalists.<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/AVCR_Tomas_Cermak_278691ddcf.jpg" alt="AVČR: Tomáš Čermák" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/labrulez-bucket-strapi-h3hsga3/thumbnail_AVCR_Tomas_Cermak_278691ddcf.jpg 235w," sizes="100vw" width="460" height="306"></blockquote>

Teen scientist breaks barriers: No child is a lost cause

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The Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) was established by Act No. 283/1992 Coll. as the Czech successor of the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. It is set up as a complex of 54 public research institutions.

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