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Doctoral Summer School 2023

We are happy to inform you that the registration for the second Doctoral Summer School 2023 in Prague is now open for Early-Career Researchers in the Czech Republic. This summer school will take place in Prague on 15-16 September 2023. The aim of the PhD summer school is to improve the skills of early career researchers in three important areas. Each participant will receive a certificate and the official language of the event is English. More information can be found in this newsletter.

Don't miss the second round of "UZH Global Strategy and Partnerships Funding"

The University of Zurich announces the second round of the "UZH Global Strategy and Partnerships Funding" call for its partner universities. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 15 October 2023.

How much do cities affect bird lives?

You have probably already noticed the decline of insects in nature, either through the media or even from your own experience. Now, an international European research group has investigated how disappearing insects can affect bird populations. Professor Jiří Reif, from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, was involved in this research too, particularly in the planning of the project. According to the authors, insectivorous birds could be negatively affected by the depletion of insect communities.

Sensory evolution: Fish smelling well in the water and in the air

Some fish do come ashore at night have an unusually high number of olfactory receptor genes that might allow them to smell in the air. Analysis of two hundred fishes, including some that are able to move overland, suggests that the sense of smell in some amphibious fishes has adapted to their new way of life. Zuzana Musilová, Demian Burguera and from the Fish Evolution Biology group and Pavel Němec, Francesco Dionigi, Kristina Kverková and Yicheng Zhang from the Sensory and Evolutionary Neurobiology group at the Faculty of Science of Charles University present a new study published in BMC Biology addressing this topic.

Workshop Image Analysis and Data Processing (not only) in Super- Resolution Microscopy

For the fourth year, the Viničná Microscopy Core Facility, a cutting-edge facility of the UK Physics Department, is hosting a unique workshop on Image Analysis and Data Processing (not only) in Super-Resolution Microscopy, bringing together top scientists and speakers to impart their knowledge to the participants. This year, the workshop will take place from 21 to 25 August. Lectures will be in a hybrid format. All information, registration and an interesting talk can be found below.

Peculiarities of the germline-restricted chromosome of songbird

In multicellular organisms, all cells of an individual normally contain the same genetic information and cell differentiation is achieved through regulation of gene expression. There are exceptions, however, where, instead of silencing, certain sequences are permanently deleted from the genome. An interesting example of this programmed DNA elimination has been described in songbirds, where a whole chromosome is lost from somatic cells early on in embryo development and is maintained only in the germ cells. In a paper, which has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, the team of Radka Reifová from the Department of Zoology, with Stephen Schlebusch as the first author, together with other researchers sequenced this chromosome in two closely related songbird species, providing one of the first insights into the importance and evolutionary dynamics of this peculiar chromosome.

Whole genome multiplication triggers production of evolutionary novel traits

Plants have taken an interesting path in their evolutionary journey. Increasingly, it appears that they can very effectively use the multiplication of chromosome sets and their eventual subsequent reduction to their advantage. How exactly do they do this, and what reproductive, ecological or evolutionary advantages do they derive from it? Patrik Mráz from the Faculty of Science at Charles University is one of the co-authors of a new study that reveals new insights into reproductive strategies in whole genome-multiplying plants.

Fresh graduate Daniel Palouš co-authored an article in the journal Science

Daniel Palouš who recently completed his Master's studies, accomplished a research stay in the Global Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory led by prof. Dr. Tom Crowther at ETH Zurich with the support of several foundations and the Laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology under the guidance of prof. Jana Albrechtová, Faculty of Science, Charles University. As a result of his stay, he co-authored a study recently published in the journal Science. We sincerely congratulate Daniel and the entire Plant Ecophysiology Laboratory on this achievement!

34th International Biology Olympiad - the Silver and Bronze Ages continue

In Al Ain, on the border with Oman, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this year's edition of the Biology Olympiad was extraordinary in many ways. It was originally scheduled to take place in Russia, but given the circumstances, it was already clear last year, in Yerevan, Armenia, that this would not be the case. At the last minute, with the great efforts of Lenka Libusova (Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, Charles University), the chair of the International Biology Olympiad, a new host country was obtained.

How high is the ambient ozone?

Ambient ozone is one of the major pollutants in the air. Its presence is highly undesirable as it is toxic to living organisms and causes damage to forest stands. Monitoring ambient ozone is therefore very important. But how does it behave at different levels close to the surface in an area with relatively clean air? This question has not yet been answered. A team of experts led by Iva Hůnová from the Institute for Environmental Studies at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, together with Marek Brabec and Marek Malý from the Czech Academy of Sciences, set out to find out the results.