Professor Ivan Hirsch, RNDr., CSc., passed away at the age of 79 (shortly before his 80th birthday). He was Emeritus Professor at the Department of Genetics and Microbiology and Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Professor Hirsch headed the Department of Genetics and Microbiology from 2013 to 2019. The final farewell for Prof. Hirsch will take place on December 30, 2025, at 12:00 PM in the New Ceremonial Hall at Olšany Cemetery, Prague. The ceremony is open to the public.

Venturing deep into the lowland forests of the Congo Basin, researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences (IVB), and the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, recently returned to the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA) in the Central African Republic. The expedition team, comprising Dr Michael Kotyk (IVB and Charles University), Dr Bethan Mason  (IVB) and Marek Valt (Charles University), focused on investigating entodiniomorphid ciliates in western lowland gorillas, a project funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, presented appointment decrees to 23 newly appointed professors from Charles University at a ceremonial event held in the Great Hall of the Carolinum. Among them were also representatives of our faculty: Prof. RNDr. Ruth Tachezy, Ph.D. from the Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Charles University; Prof. RNDr. Josef Cvačka, Ph.D. from the Department of Analytical Chemistry; Prof. RNDr. Jan Malínský, Ph.D. from the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences; and Prof. RNDr. Daniel Rösel, Ph.D. from the Department of Cell Biology. Congratulations!

Our oral cavity is the gateway for hundreds of different bacterial species. Among them is Kingella kingae, a common member of the oral microbiome of young children. Most of the time, it causes no problems at all – but under certain conditions, it can trigger serious infections. Researchers from the Faculty of Science at Charles University and the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, led by Ing. Radim Osička, Ph.D., have now shown that a key factor behind the bacterium’s behavior is the toxin RtxA—a molecule that can damage cells while simultaneously activating the body’s innate immune alarm system.

A team of our students — Adéla Kohoutová, Vlaďka Maděrová, Anna Ho and Adéla Vlašicová (study programmes Global Migration and Development Studies, and Political and Regional Geography) — won second place at the World Evaluation Case Competition (WECC). They succeeded in competition with 17 teams from 14 countries and 5 continents. Congratulations!

On the morning of December 9, 2025, students, academics, and enthusiasts of Alpine landscapes gathered in the foyer of the Map Collection at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. At 10 a.m., the opening of the international exhibition Belvedere Glacier: A Natural Laboratory of Landscape Change began, presenting the results of long-term research on one of the most dynamic glaciers in the Alps.