19. 12. 2025
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This year, the IEM CAS celebrates a significant anniversary – 50 years since its founding. We commemorated this half-century of intensive scientific work, discoveries, and cooperation during the Institute’s Annual Conference, held in a festive and inspiring spirit.
One of the main points of the programme was a look back at the institute’s history with Josef Syka, its long-time director and a witness to key stages in its development. We reviewed the major milestones, key personalities, and values that have shaped the IEM CAS’s direction from its beginnings to the present day. The historical perspective was followed by a look at the present and the future, in which the chairman of the institution’s board, Jan Topinka, presented the key priorities and visions for further development. He highlighted the crucial role of the IEM CAS’s support units and departments, without whose professional and technical support it would not be possible to achieve cutting-edge research results, as well as the importance of popularising and communicating science and research.
The conference also featured presentations by extraordinary figures in Czech science. Among the speakers were the top female scientists in the Czech Republic, according to Forbes magazine – neuroscientist Pavla Jendelová, principal investigator of the EXREGMED project, the largest research project in the institute’s history focused on the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in the field of regenerative medicine, and geneticist Veronika Vymetálková, laureate of the L’Oréal – Women in Science Award and holder of the Minister of Health Award, who presented the latest findings in colorectal cancer research.
At the end of the professional program, Štěpán Kortus, head of the Microscopy Service Centre, presented the state-of-the-art technological equipment used at the IEM CAS. These cutting-edge technologies are available not only to internal research teams but also to other institutions within the Czech-BioImaging and Euro-BioImaging infrastructures.
The conference was followed by a Christmas-themed gala dinner, which offered a great opportunity for current and former employees to meet, engage in both informal and professional discussions, and celebrate 50 years of joint scientific work.