22–26 May 2017
Practical course in proteomics
Training in basic methods for sample preparation, separation protein samples and MS data procesing (focused on master and PhD students).
Events
CIISB Events Calendar
Important and interesting events in the domain of large research infrastructures
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Long Live Research Data: The National EOSC CZ 2025 Conference Brought the Latest Topics in Research Data Management and Sharing to Ostrava
Ostrava, 2–3 December 2025 – The city of Ostrava hosted another edition of the National EOSC CZ Conference under the title Long Live Research Data. The two-day event brought together more than 100 experts from universities, research organizations, data centers, libraries, funding agencies, and public institutions. The program offered plenary sessions, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops focused on current challenges in research data management, sharing, and reuse. Tomáš Kozubek opened the conference from IT4Innovations at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, who welcomed participants and introduced new services and infrastructure of the national supercomputing center. From Data Management to Skills Development The first day of the conference focused on three main thematic tracks: Tools for Data Management, Stories of Data (Re-)Use, and Advancing Data Skills. The opening presentation, Research Data in the Czech Republic, was delivered by Matej Antol, Executive Manager of the IPs EOSC-CZ, who summarized the current state and future directions of research data management in the Czech Republic. Tools for Data Management The keynote lecture was given by Petr Knoth (The Open University, UK), who emphasized the role of institutions in managing research outputs: “Institutions should take responsibility for managing and preserving the research outputs produced by their academics. They should also make at least the metadata of these outputs openly available to the wider world in a machine- readable format through their repository systems. This will help ensure the long-term openness and FAIRness of their research outputs, and keep the open scholarly ecosystem decentralised, and therefore resilient against third-party monopolies.” Knoth stated. Subsequent presentations showcased practical examples from Czech research organizations. Petra Černohlávková (National Library of Technology) highlighted the crucial importance of persistent identifiers (PIDs): “Without PIDs and associated metadata, research loses its findability and visibility. It’s a small but crucial step toward fair and efficient sharing of research data,” she explained. Jan Fousek (CEITEC Masaryk University) presented the development of multimodal repositories for imaging and physiological data, Antonín Fejfar (Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences) discussed the OneData platform, and Illyria Brejchová (Institute of Computer Science, Masaryk University) shared experiences integrating repositories into user- oriented systems. Stories of Data (Re-)Use In the second thematic block, Martin Komenda (Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic) focused on data stories from the National Health Information System, the formats used for their sharing, and their broader social impact: “Data are stories about the health of a society. Their responsible sharing and correct interpretation help us better understand public health, improve navigation within the entire healthcare system, and strengthen trust in science and research,” said Komenda. The panel then presented examples of data reuse across disciplines – from biomedicine to informatics. Jaroslav Oľha (Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University) demonstrated the reuse of RNA sequencing data, Monika Čechová (Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University) shared insights from computer science, and Marek Cebecauer (J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences) introduced automation tools that accelerate data sharing. Advancing Data Skills The final keynote was delivered by Ladislav Krištoufek, Vice-Rector for Research at Charles University, who spoke about the changing research environment and the need for new competencies in his lecture Data Matters – and Data Matter: “Today’s research requires not only data, but also the ability to work with them — in teams, across disciplines, and in line with the principles of reproducibility. Not everyone needs to master everything, but everyone must understand that research is a team effort,” emphasized Krištoufek. The following presentations shared experiences with the training and certification of data stewards from universities in Vienna and Prague. Michael Feichtinger (University of Vienna) and Jan Dvořák (Faculty of Arts, Charles University) introduced new educational programs focused on developing competencies in research data management. Jan Vališ (National Library of Technology) demonstrated how skills in research data and open science can be systematically strengthened. Georgia Koutentaki (Faculty of Information Technology, Czech Technical University in Prague) highlighted the role of data stewards in academic education. Discussion on Skills and Research Generations In a panel discussion moderated by Matej Antol, participants agreed that successful research data management requires not only new tools, but also a change in researchers’ mindset. “Many problems in working with data arise because researchers often don’t even fully understand what data they are working with. The key is to learn how to interpret and describe data properly,” was one of the reflections shared during the discussion. The panelists also emphasized that technical tools alone are not enough. The future of research, they agreed, depends on systematic thinking, precise documentation, and open communication. Data stewards, they noted, demonstrate that success in this field is not only about technical expertise, but also about soft skills – the ability to communicate, empathize, and listen. The session concluded with a call for stronger institutional support. “Data stewards can offer assistance, but if the institution itself does not make a commitment and create a supportive environment, their efforts will remain ineffective,” summarized Georgia Koutentaki. Practical Workshops and Poster Session The second day of the conference was dedicated to practical workshops. Participants in the Young Researchers track focused on FAIR principles, metadata management, and the use of services within the national data infrastructure. In parallel, the Repo Builders track addressed repository development, legal and licensing issues, and the use of tools such as Dataspecer and Persistent Identifiers (PIDs). During the Poster Session, the expert jury selected the three best projects. The Best Poster Award went to poster no. 8 by Radovan Tomášik, Ivan Mahút, and Simona Menšíková, titled “Privacy-Preserving Data Quality Assessment for Federated Health Data Networks.” The winning contribution impressed the jury with its innovative approach to assessing the quality of health data in decentralized networks while maintaining data privacy. Conclusion The National EOSC CZ 2025 Conference reaffirmed the growing importance of open science and the emphasis on high-quality research data management in the Czech research environment. “Data management and sharing are no longer peripheral issues; they are the foundation of credible and effective research,” concluded the closing session. The event was organized by the EOSC CZ team, comprising representatives from Masaryk University, IT4Innovations (VŠB–Technical University of Ostrava), and CESNET. The full program, speaker presentations, and video recording of the conference will be available on the conference website. Source: Press release EOSC-CZ
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ELI’s L4 ATON Laser Achieves 5 Petawatt
The L4 ATON Kilojoule laser at the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) – ELI Beamlines Facility achieved a peak power exceeding 5 petawatts (PW = 10¹⁵ W, or one million billion watts). This confirmed that the L4 can be operated safely and reliably at this energy level which is key for scaling up to higher power and preparing for scientific experiments. During a test campaign in September, the flagship L4 ATON system demonstrated a laser performance of 786 J energy compressed to 154 fs, corresponding to a peak power of 5.1 PW. This currently represents the highest pulse energy achieved worldwide at the multi-petawatt power level. “This accomplishment is about more than figures,” said Allen Weeks, Director General of ELI ERIC. “It demonstrates the maturity of ELI’s technology and establishing ELI as a world-leading facility that enables scientists to carry out groundbreaking experiments in high-intensity laser research.” High-Power Laser Technology Development The L4 ATON laser system was developed by a consortium of international partners made up of National Energetics (USA) and EKSPLA (Lithuania) and the ELI Beamlines Facility team. L4 ATON combines optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) with a kilojoule-class, liquid-cooled glass amplifier, allowing operation at a repetition rate of one shot per minute, an order of magnitude higher than other lasers of comparable energy. Installed in the autumn of 2018, a series of upgrades led by ELI Beamlines’ laser and engineering teams, introduced innovations in amplifier cooling, laser diagnostics, control systems, and adaptive optics, significantly improving beam quality, stability, and reliability which have gradually built unique in-house expertise in the design, alignment, and operation of high-energy, high-repetition-rate laser systems. The imposing 18 metres long vacuum compressor system was constructed for the final femtosecond pulse compression. Working in cooperation with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), new multilayer dielectric (MLD) diffraction gratings were developed which are a key innovation enabling operation at extremely high energy densities on optical components. “The successful campaign confirmed that we can operate safely and stably at this exceptional energy level,” said Roman Hvězda, Director of the ELI Beamlines Facility. “It is the result of years of work by our experts, who have built unique competences in the construction and operation of petawatt-class lasers. This achievement is not only a technical milestone, but also proof of the strength and professionalism of the ELI Beamlines team.” Advancing high-power laser science and access for the user community Since 2021, the L4 ATON laser has been serving scientific experiments within the Plasma Physics Platform (P3). A commissioning campaign in December 2025 will integrate the system with new experimental setups, paving the way for external user experiments beginning in 2027 under the ELI User Programme. With its high stability and ability to repeat experiments at one-minute intervals, L4 ATON opens new possibilities for studies in laser-driven particle acceleration, extreme-state physics, and strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED), as well as for further progress in laser-driven fusion research. The ELI team is analysing performance data to increase power toward 10 PW in 2026. This next step will expand the facility’s experimental reach even further, solidifying ELI’s position among the world’s leading research facilities for high-intensity laser science. Source: https://www.eli-beams.eu/
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European Research Consortium eLTER ERIC One Step Closer to Its Establishment
On 24 July 2025, Germany, as the designated host country of the future eLTER ERIC consortium (Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, Critical Zone and Socio-Ecological System Research Infrastructure), submitted a first-stage application (so-called Step 1 application) to the European Commission for the establishment of eLTER ERIC. The European Commission will subsequently review the application, the proposed statutes, and the technical-scientific description of the consortium. Within the next three months, a decision can be expected, along with possible recommendations and requests to adjust the parameters of the future eLTER ERIC consortium. The Czech Republic, together with Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland, is among the potential founding members of the consortium. European Research Infrastructure eLTER RI One Step Closer to the Establishment of the Consortium (eLTER – a European Research Infrastructure – Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research) European Research Infrastructure eLTER eLTER RI is a distributed research infrastructure that supports cutting-edge research and brings new insights into the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, pollution, and unsustainable resource use on various European socio-ecological systems. eLTER RI aims to develop scientific capacity to better understand the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. By integrating a socio-ecological approach to studying human–nature systems and engaging the knowledge of key stakeholders, it provides a solid basis for evidence-based policy-making that seeks sustainable solutions to current and future challenges. The consortium’s management functions will be ensured by the central office, which will be part of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung) in Leipzig. Other important parts of the consortium will include, for example, the Data Management Centre (“Data Centre”), responsible for data administration, and the Analytical Centre. CzeCOS – Domanínek Experimental Site (Experimentální pracoviště ekofyziologie rostlin Domanínek – Ústav výzkumu globálni změny, AV ČR v. v. i.) Czech participation in the future eLTER ERIC consortium Czech partners involved in the establishment and operation of the future European research infrastructure eLTER include the large research infrastructure CzeCOS, coordinated by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice through the large research infrastructure CENAKVA. The Czech Republic has long acted as a significant partner for eLTER RI and as a potential host country for one of the components of the future consortium, namely the Data Centre. The research organisation responsible for the Data Centre within eLTER RI is Masaryk University in Brno, specifically the Centre for Education, Research and Innovation in ICT (CERIT), focused on building a resilient digital society.