On January 13, 2011, the new publication Bohemia Jesuitica 1556-2006 was introduced at an event that took place in the ceremonial halls of the Karolinum building. The aim of the book is not only to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the Society of Jesus (or Jesuits) in Bohemia.

“And how will I recognize you?” I asked Kateřina Schlöglová, a geology student at the Charles University Faculty of Science and the main organizer of the Mineral Resources for the Society conference that I was planning to visit. “You definitely won’t miss a female geologist in high heels. They look kind of out of place and dainty compared to her usual footwear – hiking boots.”

Museums and art galleries usually display outstanding works of art. In the case of the Culture Collection of Fungi (CCF) of the Department of Botany of the Charles University Faculty of Science, the unique exhibits on display are mushrooms. And it is not totally off the point to compare mushrooms to works of art.

More than 200 pre-school children and almost 250 elementary school pupils from the second district of Prague, which is also the home of the Faculty of Science, participated in the faculty’s special children’s day on September 13. In the faculty’s Botanical Garden, kids were exploring where gold comes from and what an engorged tick looks like under the microscope. The patient ones could even count how many flies a carnivorous plant can catch in an hour.

“Educating doctoral students is one of the main priorities of the Faculty of Science”, says Doc. RNDr. Vojtěch Ettler, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for doctoral programmes at the faculty. This priority gave birth do the STARS programme.

Are gardening colonies a relic of the past or are they still an important part of today’s urban society? What makes people travel to the garden areas? Will city gardens still exist in the future? Answers to these questions are being sought by a research team headed by Mgr. et Mgr. Arnošt Novák from the department of social and cultural ecology at the Charles University Faculty of Humanities.

David Storch’s work at the Center for Theoretical Study focuses on macroecology and evolutionary ecology. He is currently involved in two projects investigating the processes that determine natural diversity.

The majority of Charles University students have no idea that water-pipe smoking is more harmful than cigarette smoking – according to a poll carried out by fourth-year students from the Charles University First Faculty of Medicine. Two thirds of almost 700 respondents displayed alarming ignorance as they believed that the hubble-bubble was safer than or equally harmful as cigarette smoking.

Ninth World Shakespeare Congress will take place in Prague from 17 to 22 July 2011. The general theme is “Renaissance Shakespeare: Shakespeare Renaissances and the organisers are the International Shakespeare Association, Charles University and the National Theatre. The principal partners are the City of Prague and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The Congress will be attended by approximately 600 Shakespeare scholars, Elizabethan literature and theatre specialists from all continents.

Pyšek on April 7, 2010 in the Great Hall of Karolinum. Professor Pyšek has spent two decades studying plant invasions, a topic he is also working on with his doctoral students at the Charles University Faculty of Science. Last year, 17 papers that he wrote or co-wrote were published in impact journals.