Thank you!

Jitka Čejková

(Education and Outreach Chair of The International Society for Artificial Life)

email: robot100.cz@gmail.com

On Friday, January 31, 2025, the Na Boršově Café hosted a musical-literary evening dedicated to Karel Čapek and his novel Krakatit. The event was organized and hosted by Hynek Žirovnický, with readings from Čapek’s work by Jitka Čejková (VŠCHT Prague, editor of #Robot100 and #Krakatit100), Zdeněk Vacek (director of the Karel Čapek Memorial in Stará Huť near Dobříš), and Vít Svoboda (VŠCHT Prague). The readings were interwoven with fascinating discussions about Čapek, the women in his life, and the era in which he created, especially from the perspective of the scientific and technological knowledge available to him at the time. The evening’s atmosphere was enriched by a swing quartet. 🎷🎶

A huge thank you to everyone who attended – and if you couldn’t make it, feel free to check out photos from the event! 📷👇See Facebook

On Sunday evening, Jitka appeared as a guest on the popular Czech Radio program Noční Mikroforum. She was invited by host Jana Rychterová, and during the one-hour live broadcast, they discussed a wide range of topics. Their conversation covered Jitka’s work in chemical engineering, the fascinating field of artificial life, as well as her hobbies, including puppy-raising for guide dogs and cold water immersion.

The show offered a unique insight into Jitka’s professional and personal life, providing inspiration to listeners who could appreciate her diverse interests and enthusiasm for life. If you missed the broadcast, you can listen to the recording on the Czech Radio website. 

On 18 December 2024, the best theses in materials science were awarded at the Crytur headquarters in Turnov. Nina Nováková, who prepared her diploma thesis entitled "Effect of salts and pH on the formation, growth, and morphological changes of myelin figures in the decanol - sodium decanoate system" under the supervision of Jitka Čejková, took home an honorable mention from the award ceremony. Congratulations!

The Aktion scholarships are intended for students in master's and doctoral programmes for the preparation of a thesis or dissertation. Eliška Paulíková received support from AKTION Österreich – Tschechische Republik, congratulations!
LIT Cyprus Physical Systems Laboratory of Johannes Kepler University Linz accepted Eliška Paulíková for a fellowship. The topic of the internship under the supervision of Univ. Prof. Dr. Alois Zoitl will be "Implementation and evaluation of architectural concepts for software according to IEC 61499".
The internship is currently planned for the period from 15 January 2025 to 14 April 2025.

Today, on November 28, 2024, the Student Scientific Conference SVK 2024 took place at UCT Prague, bringing our talented students into the spotlight. Eliška Paulíková demonstrated her excellence in the field of Applied Mathematics, Informatics, and Cybernetics, earning an impressive second place.

For more than 10 years, Jitka has been the faculty coordinator of this conference. More information about the event (in Czech) can be found on the Faculty of Chemical Engineering website.

The Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) in Bilbao, Spain, hosted a workshop entitled “Theoretical and Experimental Approaches to Goal-Directed Behavior” from October 16-18, 2024.

The VŠCHT  team once again participated in this year's European-wide event, Researchers' Night, which took place on September 27, 2024. As part of this year's theme, "Metamorphosis," we offered visitors a rich program filled with scientific demonstrations and interactive presentations.

Jitka hosted the SVVP station near the chimney, where she showcased the transformation of a puppy into a guide dog, offering a unique insight into the training process that fascinated animal lovers. Jitka also moved between this station and room B28, where she and Daniela demonstrated the fascinating chemical transformation of a salt seed into a beautiful "plant" in a chemical garden.

We thank all the visitors for their participation and look forward to next year's event, filled with more scientific transformations and discoveries!

A conference CURVOBIO 2024 was recently held as part of the COST program from August 28th to 30th, 2024, at the University of Warsaw, where our team made significant contributions. Jitka delivered an insightful lecture on "Mimicking Biological Structures through Synthetic Systems," and Nina presented a compelling poster titled "Investigating the Role of Curvature in the Formation and Stability of Myelin Figures." The event featured a wide array of fascinating presentations, covering diverse topics related to curvatures in biology, ranging from the nanoscale to the macroscale. We are pleased to announce that our team is actively engaged in all five working groups: Teaching and Outreach, Curvature of Cellular Membranes, Curvature and Single Cells, Curvature and the Collective Behaviour of Cells, and Curvature Across the Scales. Our involvement spans multiple dimensions of this interdisciplinary field, driving forward the research and understanding of biological curvatures.

From 22 to 26 July 2024, a conference on artificial life ALIFE 2024 was held at the IT University of Copenhagen. Jitka had a busy program there, presenting the COST action Dynalife, organizing the fourth workshop on chemistry and artificial life forms CHEMALIFORMS IV, giving a talk at the 2nd Workshop on Molecular Communication Approaches for Wetware Artificial Life, presenting an award to Stefano Nichele - the best young scientist in the field of alife, receiving the award for the best poster for her student Nina Nováková, collecting signatures of authors who contributed to her books. It was a great week and this video confirms it!

At the Artificial Life 2024 conference, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from July 22 to 26, 2024, Jitka had the honour of presenting the COST Action Dynalife in the plenary auditorium with a talk titled "Information, Coding, and Biological Function: the Dynamics of Life." This presentation, closely related to a recently published article in the Artificial Life journal, holds significant potential for various fields. Given the considerable overlap between the themes of the Artificial Life conference and the objectives of the Dynalife COST Action, this presentation proved to be an exceptional opportunity to raise awareness about Dynalife COST action within the scientific community. The conference, a key gathering of experts in artificial life, provided a fertile ground for connecting with researchers who share common interests and goals. By encouraging conference attendees to engage with Dynalife COST action, Jitka sought to foster new collaborations and partnerships, thereby expanding the reach and impact of collective efforts. One of the main objectives of attending this conference, besides involving researchers from other disciplines, was to attract young researchers and especially female researchers to participate. As the Science Communication Coordinator and leader of Working Group 4 within the Dynalife COST project, Jitka not only introduced our COST Action but also informed conference participants about how the COST program operates and how they can get involved as participants, proposers, or experts.

A huge congratulations to Nina Nováková! At the ALIFE 2024 conference in Copenhagen, her poster summarizing the results of her paper "Myelin Figures Formation from Oil Droplets in Surfactants: Insights for Wet Artificial Life"  in the MIT Press Artificial Life Conference Proceedings won the award for the best student poster at the conference. Well done, Nina, keep going!

Today, Jitka delivered an invited lecture at the 2nd Workshop on Molecular Communication Approaches for Wetware Artificial Life, part of the ALIFE 2024 conference in Copenhagen. The workshop was organized by Pasquale Stano and his team, and it aimed to bridge the gap between the fields of molecular communication and artificial life. Jitka's presentation, titled "Innovative Methods for Selective Silencing of Microbial Signals Using Micro-Scavengers in Artificial Life Systems," focused on groundbreaking methods to modulate microbial communication by selectively silencing specific signaling substances within microbial environments. In her presentation, Jitka demonstrated how to control the communication of starving Dictyostelium cells by adding cAMP to their environment, and how these experiments serve as a model for the experiments she will conduct as part of the Intermicro project.

Today, the fourth workshop on chemistry and artificial life forms CHEMALIFORMS IV, organized by Jitka, took place at the ALIFE 2024 conference in Copenhagen. The workshop featured three presentations and a panel discussion where leading experts Steen Rasmussen, Martin Hanczyc, Takashi Ikegami, and Richard Loffler delved into the future of wet artificial life.

The workshop focused on the creation of life-like forms in the laboratory using chemical and biochemical materials. Key topics included wet artificial life, synthetic biology, origin of life, protocells, droplets, chemobrionics, messy chemistry, and other related fields. The aim of the workshop was to bring together researchers from diverse disciplines interested in wet artificial life, including chemists, physicists, and biologists. Additionally,  computer scientists conducting mathematical simulations of life-like phenomena in chemical systems and experts in robotics, who build platforms for laboratory experiment automation, also participated.

We are proud to announce that Nina Nováková from our group received a special award for her presentation "Biomimetic Behavior in Chemical Systems: Formation of Myelin Figures" at the "Growing with Chemistry" conference. This recognition highlights the quality and impact of her work.

The second annual conference, "Growing with Chemistry," took place on June 27-28, 2024, at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague. This event was primarily aimed at young chemists under the age of 35 and is designed to foster connections, discussions, collaborations, and mutual motivation among participants, embodying our conference motto, "Growing with Chemistry." The two-day gathering of students benefited from the support of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, the Czech Chemical Society, and other sponsors and partners, ensuring a valuable experience for all attendees. The prize for the best presentation and poster was sponsored by Metrohm. Additionally, three honorary awards were given out. Award recipients received a one-year membership in the Czech Chemical Society and gifts from sponsors. We are proud that Nina Nováková received one of these awards. Well done, Nina!

Many congratulations to Simona Staňová for successfully defending her bachelor thesis today. Well done, Simča! Thank you for your work and looking forward to the furter collaboration!

Jitka was invited to the King's Birthday Party at the gardens of the British Embassy in Prague and had the honour of personally presenting her two books as a gift to His Excellency, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Matt Field. She hopes he will enjoy them!

Today, we had the pleasure of hosting Tym Sokolskyi from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tym is part of David Baum's group, which conducts exciting research on artificial life, origins of life, and protocells. More information about Tym's work can be found on his website.

Tym gave a lecture titled "Evolutionary dynamics of prebiotic chemical systems." He discussed how life is defined as a self-sustaining chemical system capable of adaptive evolution, which is fundamental to the origins of life. He explored whether non-biological chemistries could evolve, using experimental frameworks to search for heritability and evolvability in systems composed of short-chain amphiphiles and small molecules. His results suggest that vesicles and certain chemical compositions show signs of heritability and potential for selection.

During his visit, Tym toured our labs and we had the opportunity to showcase our work. Nina demonstrated her project on myelin figures, and we discussed potential collaboration opportunities.

Thank you, Tym, for visiting us. We hope you enjoyed your time in Prague and at UCT Prague.

Tuesday June 11, 2024, 11:00 room B028 

Tym Sokolskyi: "Evolutionary dynamics of prebiotic chemical systems"

PhD Candidate in Astrobiology & Evolution, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Website: www.tymsokolskyi.com

Life is most often defined as a self-sustaining chemical system capable of adaptive evolution. The origin of adaptive evolution is, therefore, fundamental to origins of life, as any system capable of it can start rapidly increasing in complexity eventually leading to extant biology. So, could non-biological chemistries evolve? Theoretical research suggests the possibility of compositional inheritance in some chemical systems, which is based on the relative abundances of their component molecules. Using an experimental framework of recursive transfers-with-dilution I am searching for heritability and evolvability in two types of systems: particles composed of short-chain amphiphiles and small-molecule chemical systems. In the experiments with amphiphilic particles, we observe irregular changes in various properties, including fluorescence of Nile Red dye, with a tendency for parent and offspring samples to have correlated values, suggestive of heritability. This last result, combined with evidence of temporal autocorrelation across generations, suggests the possibility that vesicles could respond to selection. Additionally, in experiments using a mixture of several organic and inorganic compounds with pyrite mineral we also detect evidence of heritability of chemical composition, however only in a relatively small set of compounds. Overall, in this talk I will outline our approach to experimentally quantifying chemical evolution and will show that it can be applied to various systems.

Organized by Jitka Čejková and Sasha Zubov

We are thrilled to congratulate our students Nina Nováková and Jakub Vaculík on successfully completing their master's studies by passing their state final examinations today. We also extend our congratulations to Laura Bábanová, who achieved the title of engineer yesterday. Dear students, I am proud of you and delighted by your accomplishments!

On May 27-28, 2024, GreenHack 2024 was held at NEWTON University in Prague, bringing together innovators and experts to tackle pressing environmental challenges. Jitka, representing VŠCHT Praha, played a significant role as a member of the jury, providing valuable insights and expertise. She also had the honor of awarding the prize for second place, recognizing the exceptional work of the participants.

The event showcased a range of unique and thought-provoking projects, highlighting the potential for technological innovation to drive sustainable development. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all participants for their dedication and creativity.

This week, the 50th International Conference of SSCHE took place from May 20-24, 2024, at Hotel SOREA HUTNIK I in Tatranské Matliare, Slovakia. Thanks to everyone for the excellent representation of our group. Laura, Eliska, and Nina gave insightful presentations, while Simona and Jitka showcased their research with engaging posters.

Held in the scenic Tatra Mountains, the conference offered a perfect blend of academic and recreational activities. Attendees not only participated in lectures and poster sessions but also enjoyed hiking in the stunning mountain landscape. The conference party was another highlight, providing a fantastic opportunity for socializing, networking, and enjoying the vibrant atmosphere of the event. Overall, it was a memorable and productive week for all participants.

Jitka Čejková and Carlos Gershenson contributed by a chapter "4.4. Artificial life: sustainable self-replicating systems" to a new open access ebook from the European Physical Society "Physics for the Society in the Horizon 2050". This book focuses on the biggest challenges in physics and how this might affect society in the coming decades are captured in a new open access ebook from the European Physical Society.  The book, Physics for Society in the Horizon 2050, explores some of the most pressing and promising aspects of modern science in support of better living standards: from the smallest objects we observe such as particles, atoms, and cells, to the large scientific enquiries on stars, galaxies, and the mysteries of the universe. The encyclopaedia-like work is part of the European Physical Society’s project ‘Grand Challenges: Physics for Society in the Horizon 2050’. The project explores our ability to imagine and shape the future by assessing how physics can help us understand nature and how physics can help tackle major issues affecting the lives of citizens by 2050 making recommendations of actions to policy makers.  Carlos Hidalgo, editor of Physics for Society in the Horizon 2050, says: “This book explores some of the most pressing questions in physics and supports EPS’s Horizon strategy. The interesting thing about the perspective of this work is the human ability to imagine and shape the future by making use of the scientific method and how interdisciplinarity enables connections to be established across various fields of knowledge to address some of the grand scientific and societal challenges that lie ahead us.”  The book is available in full for anyone to read on the IOPscience platform and is aimed at professionals involved in advancing the scientific method, and those with an interest in how science can shape society. 

The Contipro company organizes FYBICH seminar Saturdays for high school students eight times a year in two formats – online and face-to-face. There are always two lectures led by leading Czech experts on various topics in the natural sciences. Online lectures can be used by students from all corners of the Czech Republic. On-site Saturdays are enriched with the opportunity to participate in interesting workshops in Contipro laboratories. It is necessary to register for the seminar Saturday in advance.

This year's FYBICH seminars were kicked off in person by Jitka Čejková with a lecture on "Artifical life as a research field and as science fiction in the work of Karel Čapek".

On Thursday, November 23rd, an unforgettable event unfolded - the Student Scientific Conference SVK 2023 at our university, placing our talented students squarely in the spotlight. Eliška Paulíková showcased her prowess in the field of Applied Mathematics, Informatics, and Cybernetics, securing an impressive second place. Additionally, Laura Bábanová demonstrated her excellence, securing the 4th position in the Chemical Engineering section. The quality of their work was outstanding, and we extend our heartfelt congratulations to them.The presentations were not only a testament to their hard work but also highlighted the depth of their knowledge and innovative thinking. The competition was fierce, and Eliška and Laura rose to the occasion, distinguishing themselves among their peers. As we congratulate them on their well-deserved success, we also express our best wishes for their future endeavors. May this achievement be just the beginning of a journey filled with continuous accomplishments. We are immensely proud of Eliška and Laura and look forward to witnessing their continued success in their academic and professional pursuits. Congratulations once again, and may the future hold even greater accomplishments for both of you!

From November 6 to 9, 2023, the traditional CHISA chemical-engineering conference took place in the Conference Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic at the castle in Třešť. The program offered interesting plenary and student lectures and poster presentations. In the competition for the best student contribution, third place went to Laura Bábanová from our faculty, who developed her work as part of an Erasmus stay at the Istituto per la Tecnologia delle Membrane (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) in Italy. She is a student at the Department of Chemical Engineering and is now working on her diploma thesis under the supervision of doc. Jitka Čejková and Prof. Karel Friess. Her work dealt with functionalized polymer membranes for pesticide degradation. Congratulations and thank you for representing our university at this year's prestigious CHISA 2023 conference.

Prague Science Film Fest

At UCT Prague, the 2023 Night of Scientists event invited visitors to be enchanted by science under the theme "SECRETS." The event took place on October 6, 2023, from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM, offering a variety of engaging activities in the university’s facilities.

Our group uncovered the secrets of the visually impaired. We introduced visitors to future guide dogs—Kelvin impressed everyone with his excellent demonstrations. Additionally, we showed how Braille writing works and how blind people read using their fingertips. To make the experience even more interactive, we used a 3D printer to create custom stamps, allowing visitors to "write" something on paper in Braille.

We were honored to host these two skilled foreign students in our laboratory this summer, Aygun Gasimova from Azerbaijan and Dorota Marie Walecka from Poland.

In the days of July 24th to 28th, the annual Conference on Artificial Life ALIFE 2023 took place in Sapporo, Japan. Jitka Cejkova, after four years, had the opportunity to meet her "ALIFE family" and colleagues from the community in person, as the previous three conferences were held virtually (with Jitka organizing the ALIFE 2021 conference "in Prague").

This year's conference was as captivating as ever, featuring intriguing lectures, workshops, and discussions. Jitka, alongside Olaf Witkowski and Alyssa Adams, conducted ISAL Summer School on Artificial Life. During the Monday sessions, videos were published in which leading scientists in the field summarized their research and explained their dedication to artificial life, all within ten minutes. Friday's segment consisted of engaging discussions and Q&A sessions.

Moreover, Jitka hosted “CHEMALIFORMS III - the Third Workshop on Chemistry and Artificial Life Forms”  where she gave a lecture on the topic of R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life.

A significant highlight of the conference was the promotion of the book "R.U.R. and the Vision of Artificial Life " set to be published by MIT Press on 2nd January 2024. More than half of the contributors to this book were present at the conference. Additionally, among the 100 authors who contributed to the Czech book "ROBOT 100," published by the VSCHT Prague publishing house in November 2020, there were 18 authors who attended the event (see photo).

All Alifers are eagerly looking forward to ALIFE 2024, which is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen. Following that, there is even more excitement building up for ALIFE 2025, which will be held in Kyoto. These conferences will undoubtedly provide unique opportunities for researchers, scientists, and enthusiasts to come together, exchange ideas, present their latest findings, and further advance the fascinating field of artificial life research. As the ALIFE community continues to grow and evolve, these upcoming conferences promise to be memorable and enriching experiences for all attendees.

Many congratulations to Adriana Augustínová and Eliška Paulíková for successfully defending their bachelor theses today. Well done, girls! Thank you for your work and looking forward to the furter collaboration!

The controlled growth of chemical gardens from mixed liquid and solid seeds

Adriana Augustínová

Chemical gardens, intriguing and visually captivating structures formed through the self-assembly of inorganic compounds in water glass, have long fascinated scientists and sparked interest in control of their unique growth formation. This work aims to explore the use of different seeds for chemical garden growth, utilizing a novel and innovative approach involving solidified marbles, tablets, and mixed seeds. Previous research has mainly focused on controlling and studying the composition of seeds from one type of salt. This approach introduces solidified marbles as seed materials, a method not explored previously. In this study, mixed seeds were prepared and characterized to identify suitable experimental arrangements and compositions that yield self-growing structures with desired properties. Investigating mixed seeds introduces a novel aspect to the field, combining different seed types containing chlorides and sulphates with various cations. This research demonstrates the utilization of prepared seeds for achieving controlled growth of chemical gardens. This advancement enables in the future the design of intricate structures, which may revolutionize fields such as chemical 3D printing and materials engineering through the innovative use of solidified marbles and mixed seeds.

Study of translational and rotational motions of self-propelled chemical objects

Eliška Paulíková

This thesis is concerned with the study of translational and rotational motions of liquid robots, which in
this work were droplets of decanol in sodium decanoate solution. A parametric study was carried out where the movements of the liquid robots were examined as a function of their volumes and the lengths of the objects placed on them. The code was written and tested in Matlab for image analysis, which was also used to evaluate the motion of liquid robots. Trajectories of the liquid robots, but also of the objects placed on them, and the dependence of velocity, respectively angular frequency over time were plotted from the acquired data. A hypothesis for the motion mechanism of the liquid robots was proposed and subsequently confirmed experimentally

We are proud to announce that Eliška Paulíková represented our group exceptionally well at the SSCHE 2023 conference held from May 15th to 18th, 2023, in the beautiful surroundings of the High Tatras and received an award in the poster competition for her work titled "Study of Translational and Rotational Motions of Self-Propelled Liquid Robots." Congratulations, Eliška! Well done!

In the fall of 2022, a new COST action titled DYNALIFE (Information, Coding, and Biological Function: the Dynamics of Life) was launched, and Jitka Čejková was elected as the Working Group 4 leader and science communication coordinator. This week, the first major conference took place in Venice, and Jitka would like to share her summary of the entire event.

We are pleased to share with you the successful outcome of the "80, 70, 20 Conference: Towards Excellence and Convergence Research in Theoretical Biology," which took place from May 2nd to May 4th in Venice, Italy. The conference celebrated three important anniversaries in the history of theoretical biology, including the 80th anniversary of Erwin Schrödinger's book "What is Life?" and the definition of the new field of "Epigenetics" by Conrad Waddington in 1943, the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953, and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first complete sequencing of the human genome in 2003.

The conference featured four keynote speakers, including Achille Giacometti, Director of the European Center for Living Technology (Venice, Italy), Paul Davies, Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science (USA), Alberto Credi, pioneer on molecular motors and Pro-Rector of the University of Bologna, and Michael Russell, pioneer of the theory of the origin of life in marine hydrothermal vents. The event also included short and long lectures, as well as a poster section.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the organizers for their hard work in making this conference a success. We hope that this first conference has kickstarted four years of fruitful collaboration within our COST action. Please feel free to visit our website to stay up to date with our progress and upcoming events. You can also find a photo gallery from the conference on our website, along with all the essential information regarding our COST action.

Thank you to all who participated and contributed to the success of the conference. We look forward to continuing our work together and achieving further excellence and convergence research in theoretical biology.

Jitka is a puppywalker - a volunteer who trains future guide dogs. First we had a yellow labrador Gin, then a black Ingo in our group. And now Ingo was replaced by his paternal half-brother - named after one of the basic SI units: Kelvin.

The annual Student scientific conference (SVK) took place at UCT Prague today and Eliška Paulíková won in the Applied informatics and cybernetics session! Congratulations! Áďa Augustínová, Vojta Blahušek and Nina Nováková also represented our group in an exemplary manner. Thank you all! Keep up your hard work and enthusiasm for science!

On October 5 - 8, 2022, the teambuilding event "Běstvina 2022" took place for students of the 1st year of the Master's degree in Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering. The event was attended by 32 students who stayed for three nights at the UCT Prague camp base in Běstvina and traveled by bus on the excursion every day. The program included a total of 6 industrial excursions (Škoda Auto, Synthesia, Kemwater ProChemie, Pardubice Brewery, wastewater treatment plant in Kutna Hora) and a block of presentations by representatives of the research groups of our department. The event was organized by Jitka Čejková.

The University of chemistry and technology Prague was also participating in the European Researchers Night this year . On 30 September 2022 from 5:00 p.m. the doors of scientific workplaces, universities, museums and other participating institutions were opened and visitors were allowed to see research presentations on the subject of All the Senses. This year, however, instead of showing her laboratory, Jitka presented "her" dog Ingo to the participants. The theme was "All the senses" and so she and the representatives of SVVP dog centre Jinonice showed how the guide dogs help the blind when they lack one sense. Jitka is training future guide dogs since 2021.

The University of Chemistry and Technology Prague celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. On this occasion, a paper (in Czech) by Jitka Čejková devoted to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering was prepared. First, the history of the faculty and the development of its departments is summarized. The faculty was established as the Faculty of Chemical Production, Automation and Economics in 1960 and it was renamed to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering in 1969. Further, the key scientists, teachers and deans are introduced and their contribution to the advancement of the faculty highlighted. The current offer of study programs (bachelor, master and doctoral) in both Czech and English is also listed.

Today, we had a kick-off meeting of a new COST Action titled "Information, Coding, and Biological Function: the Dynamics of Life" in Brussels. Jitka Čejková was elected as the Work Group 4 leader and Science communication coordinator.

On September 12-13, Jitka was invited to attended an exploratory workshop which was hosted at the  European Centre for LivingTechnology (ECLT) in Venice. The focus areas were: The creation and exploration of living and life-like materials  and The dynamics of systems for generalized health.

COST Action Chemobrionics Pisa Meeting 2022 started today. Jitka and four students (Adriana Augustínová, Vojta Blahušek, Nina Nováková, Eliška Paulíková) attend this 3-day event full of interesting talks and discussions.

Many congratulations to Nina Nováková for successfully defending her bachelor thesis titled “Experimental study of the myelin figures growth”. Thank you, Nina, for your work and looking forward to the furter collaboration!

Myelin figures are long, thin cylindrical structures that usually grow as a dense tangle when water is added to the concentrated lamellar phase of certain surfactants. In our laboratory, we observed the growth of these figures, on the contrary, when the water evaporates from the system. The aim of this bachelor thesis was to experimentally study myelin figures growing from a decanol droplet in the presence of an aqueous solution of sodium decanoate depending on the presence of different types of salts.

It was our pleasure to host  Ecaterina Laura Cioban - Erasmus student from Romania. She spent several weeks in our laboratory working on liquid marbles. And now George Loustas - an IAESTE student from Greece - will continue his experiments with liquid marbles. 

Master's graduations took place on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. At the same time, the Betlemská Chapel hosted a ceremonial award with the medals of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of three outstanding personalities who, with their scientific, pedagogical or organizational activities, contributed to the development of our faculty. Dean of the faculty prof. Michal Přibyl handed over the medal personally to doc. Pavel Chuchvalec from the Department of Physical Chemistry, doc. Jitka Čejková from the Department of Chemical Engineering and doc. Vladimír Scholtz from the Department of Physics and Measurement Technology.

Many congratulations to Vojta Blahušek for successfully defending his bachelor thesis titled “Experimental study of mechanical properties of liquid marbles”. Thank you Vojta for your work and all the best for your future!

Congratulations to Mathis Leeman, Nina Nováková and Vojta Blahušek for their great presentations at Student Scientific Conference SVK 2021. Today Mathis presented his results on chemical gardens, Nina on myelin figures and Vojta on liquid marbles. Well done, keep going!

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need

Our interanational student Mathis Leemann from Switzerland made a short film titled "Chemobrionics". This film had a world premiere today at the 25th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the section Fascinations: Exprmntl.cz.

The title of this 5-min length audio-visual chemobrionics related project is a quotation by Cicero and it was chosen with the aim to show, that in the same way as Roman garden was designed for thinking, philosophizing and discourse, the chemical gardens can also open the door to philosophical questions such as what life is and how it originated, how we distinguish the biological systems from their chemical counterparts. Our video focuses on showing the beauty of silicate chemical gardens composed of plant-like tubular structures made of metal salts placed in a water glass. The viewer is be puzzled by the hypnotic slow growth of the structures and the manifold of colors they can produce. Tiny aerial air bubbles, flowing inner solutions, thick and alien-like structures changing colors let the audience perplexed, dreamy, wondering why nature is presenting such delightful sight. Furthermore, extracts of Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann, The Origin of Life by John Desmond Bernal and Mechanism of life by Stéphane Leduc are added to deepen the experience. The inspiration for this audio background was taken from Julyan Cartwright’s works focused on the chemical gardens, their history and mentions in the literature.

• Director and producer: Jitka Čejková
• Editor: Mathis Leemann
• Camera operator: Mathis Leemann, Jan Havlík
• Experiments: Mathis Leemann, Jan Havlík, Saniya Ustunn
• Voice: Declan Garvey
• Music: Chopin - Raindrop Prelude (Op. 28 No. 15), performed by Petr Mazúr

This  film is based upon work from COST Action CA17120, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). COST is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives  across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.

Jan Spitzer, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Queen Elizabeth College at the University of London, has had a long career in chemistry and polymer science, as Associate Professor, and Research and Development Manager in synthetic latex industry. He is the author or coauthor of numerous peer-reviewed papers, technical articles, and book chapters. He studied University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and he visited after many years  his alma mater today. It was our honour to be his guide and get his recent book How Molecular Forces and Rotating Planets Create Life  - The Emergence and Evolution of Prokaryotic Cells.

The International Society for Artificial Life announced the winners of the 2021 ISAL Awards. The awards were presented to recipients during the online 2021 Conference on Artificial Life organised in Prague. I am very honoured that one of the awards went to also to me!

Distinguished Early-Career Investigator Award - to recognize an individual who is early in their career, but has already made important contributions to the field of Artificial Life.

Alan Dorin said during the ceremony: "Jitka is a strong contributor to the ALife domain, both technically, and to the ALife community. This year, as you can see, she has done a fantastic job of organising a specially themed ALife conference, building on the 100th anniversary of the word "robot". She put together a fabulous book, soon to be released, of essays by a wide range of scientists, on the play RUR, and she is working hard behind the scenes to build links and bridges across the ALife community. On the technical side, she is prominent in chemical robotics, with exciting ways to apply to ALife. She applies minimal cognition principles to chemical robotics Her work has led to some creative droplet experiments, which have re-vitalized the "wet" ALife tradition."