04 Dec 2025
Annual FerrMion Workshop 2025
The workshop aims to present research results of collaboration between institutions of the project consortia (Institute of Thermomechanics, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Institute of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague) in the fields of advanced materials, phase transformations, modeling, and experimental methods. The program includes contributions on topics such as Li-ion batteries, ferroelastic materials, thermo-elastic coupling, Ti alloys, NiTi alloys, and FEM modeling.

20 Nov 2025
Open seminar of the functional materials department and the FerrMion project
The Department of Functional Materials of the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic is organizing a seminar on biodegradable metal materials as part of the Ferrrmion project on the occasion of the visit of colleagues from Poland and Slovakia. Scientists from other research institutions are invited to participate in the seminar.

09 Nov 2025
Article by Tomáš Grabec in Vesmír magazine
The November issue of Vesmír magazine published a popular article entitled New Alloys, Lasers and Mechanical Waves, authored by FerrMion member Tomáš Grabec. The article discusses testing the mechanical behavior of unique alloys for extreme conditions using laser techniques.

07 Nov 2025
Czech Society for Mechanics Award for the best contribution at the Computational Mechanics 2025 conference to Alexej Moskovka from the Institute of Thermomechanics CAS
Alexej Moskovka is one of the three winners of the Czech Society for Mechanics Award for young researchers under 35 for the best contribution presented at the Computational Mechanics 2025 conference. The conference, a traditional event organized by the Department of Mechanics of the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, took place from November 3 to 5, 2025, in Srní. Alexej presented a paper entitled “Finite element implementation of finite strain constitutive model formulated in the logarithmic strain space,” work conducted within the Fermion project. In the photo, he is receiving the award from the scientific chair of the conference, Prof. Ing. Jan Vimmr, Ph.D., and Prof. Ing. Vladislav Laš, CSc., representing the Czech Society for Mechanics.

09 Oct 2025
David Mareš Awarded for Best Poster at the International Congress on Ultrasonics
David Mareš from the Institute of Thermomechanics received the award for the best poster at the International Congress on Ultrasonics (ICU 2025), which took place from September 21–25, 2025, in Paderborn (Germany). ICU is a major international conference focused on the latest results and applications in the field of ultrasonic technologies.

15 Sep 2025
The theoretical group at the Faculty of nuclear physics and physical engineering of the Czech Technical University is organizing a seminar on advanced ab-initio methods on the occasion of the visit of Prof. Takao Kotani from Tottori University, Japan and Masao Obata from Kanazawa University, Japan, developers of the Quasi-particle self-consistent GW method. Scientists from other research institutions in Prague are invited to participate in the seminar.

26 Jun 2025
A popular-science anthology: “Physics of the Future”
Physics of the Future, edited Julie Nováková (FZU), is a unique Czech-language anthology that blends science fiction short stories with popular-science essays written also by researchers from the FerrMion project. The FerrMion project leader Hanuš Seiner contributes the speculative story Extrapolant, which offers a layered and thought-provoking take on the role of physicists, viewed through the lens of a possible future. The narrative explores themes of predictive modeling and long-term scientific foresight. The accompanying article by FerrMion member Pavel Baláž examines how real-world science models phenomena ranging from weather to pandemics—and the fundamental limits of such modeling. Extrapolant is a compelling example of how fiction can illuminate ethical dilemmas, scientific responsibility, and the power—and boundaries—of forecasting the future.

22 Jun 2025
Institute Researchers Co-Organize ICOMAT 2025
The upcoming international conference on Martensitic Transformations, ICOMAT 2025, which will take place from September 7 to 12, 2025, in Prague is organized by members of FerrMion project from Institute of Physics and Institute of Thermomechanics. Dr. Oleg Heczko serves as chairman of the konference and Prof. Hanuš Seiner and Dr. Petr Šittner as vice-chairmen. Many members of the Ferrmion team participate in the local organizing committee.

16 Jun 2025
Tomáš Grabec among 25 Otto Wichterle Award laureates
Tomáš Grabec, a key member of FerrMion team, received the prestigious Otto Wichterle Award on June 11, 2025, from the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prof. Radomír Pánek. This award is given annually to promising young scientists at the beginning of their careers. The award, named after the prominent Czech chemist and inventor of soft contact lenses, has been granted by the Czech Academy of Sciences since 2002.

08 Apr 2025
Sound in Crystals – A talk with Prof. Hanuš Seiner
We all know from experience how sound travels through air or water—or conversely, that it doesn’t travel at all in a vacuum. But how does sound behave in a medium made up of a regular atomic lattice—like in diamonds, salt crystals, or the superalloy blades of jet engine turbines? To ensure our machines don’t fail at the worst possible moment, we need to better understand how sound propagates through crystals. This lecture will reveal the paradoxes of acoustics inside crystals and introduce the experimental methods used at the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences to observe them using lasers.

03 Apr 2025
Metal Illusionists and Ultrasonic Thunder: Why Is the Czech Republic the World Leader in Shape Memory Alloy Research?
Shape memory materials are used across many fields, and different applications require alloys with varying properties. Testing these materials is the focus of Hanuš Seiner, who explains that his department essentially studies the elasticity of metals using ultrasound. His colleague Pavla Stoklasová, head of the Opto-Acoustic Laboratory, adds how lasers are used in this globally unique research on metals.

20 Mar 2025
Research on the elastic properties of metals featured in the “A” Magazine
Issue 1/2025 of the A Magazine, published by the Czech Academy of Sciences, includes an article titled “Metal Illusionists and Ultrasonic Thunder”, which explains in an accessible way the research carried out by the Department of Ultrasonic Methods at the Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS. In the article, Prof. Hanuš Seiner, head of the department, describes how shape memory materials work and how their elastic properties can be examined without contact using lasers and ultrasound. Pavla Stoklasová, head of the Laboratory of Opto-Acoustic Methods, hints at future developments in these techniques. The article also discusses the planned purchase of a unique instrument—a 3D atom probe tomograph worth CZK 150 million—that will enable highly detailed studies of the crystal lattice structure of metals.

03 Mar 2025
Scientists from the Institute of Thermomechanics contributed to the development of a new alloy for space applications
A new Ti-Al-Cr-based alloy was developed by a team from the laboratory of Prof. Ryosuke Kainuma at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. The alloy is unique in that it exhibits so-called superelasticity—a high deformability caused by phase transformation—over a very wide temperature range. Specifically, its functional properties can be utilized from temperatures near that of liquid helium (−269 °C) up to above the boiling point of water (127 °C). Unlike conventional shape memory alloys, where superelasticity is only observed within a narrow temperature range, the new Ti-Al-Cr alloy is thus a strong candidate for micromechanical applications in space programs. The research, published last week in the prestigious journal Nature, also involved Pavla Stoklasová and Tomáš Grabec from Department D5 – Ultrasonic Methods, who measured the elastic constants of the newly developed material at low temperatures using an ultra-transitional grating spectroscopy method developed at the Institute of Thermomechanics.

24 Feb 2025
An alloy like a row of dominoes. Experiments combining laser beams and ultrasound help uncover the phenomenon of supermobility
An international team led by Prof. Hanuš Seiner from the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences discovered that in certain directions, an alloy of nickel, manganese, and gallium can transmit elastic waves faster than steel, while in other directions, the pulses propagate more slowly than they do in air. This property points to an unusual atomic-level structure in the alloy, which gives rise to the unique and technologically significant phenomenon known as supermobility. The resulting study was published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials.

28–29 Nov 2024
FerrMion Annual Conference
Members of the teams involved in the FerrMion project presented interesting results achieved during the project’s first year, with the participation of the international advisory board.

15 Nov 2024
Deformation by magnetic force. Unique spectroscopy reveals alloy properties
Like Jekyll and Hyde – that’s how some materials behave. An international team led by Prof. Hanuš Seiner from the Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS has found that in some directions an alloy of nickel, manganese and gallium is able to transmit elastic waves faster than steel, but in other directions the pulses propagate more slowly than in air. To describe the alloy’s behaviour, scientists had to decipher it, atom by atom. The study was published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials.

07 Nov 2024
Open Day – Popular science lecture “Sound in crystals” by Prof. Hanuš Seiner
We all know from personal experience how sound travels through air or water. Or conversely, that it doesn’t travel at all in a vacuum. But how does sound behave in a medium made up of a regular lattice of atoms—such as in diamonds, salt crystals, or the superalloy blades of jet engine turbines? In this lecture, we will explore the paradoxes of acoustics inside crystals and present experimental methods used at the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences to observe them using lasers.

10 Oct 2024
Prize of the President of the Czech Science Foundation awarded to Prof. Hanuš Seiner
Petr Baldrian, President of the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR), awarded the five best scientific projects at Strahov Monastery on 8 October 2024. The President’s Prize is awarded annually to projects which achieved outstanding results in the previous year.

05 Apr 2024
The Institute of Thermomechanics becomes recipient of OP JAK project for top-level research
Between 2024 and 2028, the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences will lead a scientific project titled “Ferroic Multifunctionalities” (FerrMion) no. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004591. The project is funded by the Jan Amos Komensky Operational Programme (OP JAK) under the “Top-Level Research” call.