Post-war history
After the reopening of universities following World War II, physics at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) at School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was divided into two institutes: the Institute of Physics for Mechanical Engineering, led by professor Zdeněk Horák, and the newly created independent Institute of Physics for Electrical Engineering, founded by then associate professor Josef Boleslav Slavík (pictured). The institute was housed in the premises of the former Electrotechnical Institute, where professor Slavík had worked before the war.
The initial equipment of the institute in 1945 was almost nonexistent, and laboratory instruction for 900 first-year students could only begin thanks to the help of some students who procured materials, assembled experiments, and even performed the duties of assistants at that time. By the end of the 1945/46 academic year, the Institute of Physics had three assistants, none of whom had completed their studies, as well as four auxiliary scientific staff and one custodian. Due to a lack of lecture halls, lectures were held in cinema theaters.
Despite all the initial difficulties, the institute not only successfully handled all its tasks but also contributed to the social life of the faculty. For example, from 1947 to 1949, an annual trip along the Vltava River on a hired boat was organized, combined with visits to various hydroelectric power stations along the Vltava. Building the institute still required considerable effort from its staff. For instance, they installed electrical wiring themselves. Purchases of instruments and equipment were funded through resources that the institute sought independently, often influenced by personal connections and interventions.
In 1949, parallel classes were introduced, and alongside prof. Slavík, prof. Josef Faus also lectured. Later, assistants took over lectures for the second parallel class. After the establishment of the separate Faculty of Electrical Engineering, these assistants also provided instruction for evening and distance learning students.
After liberation, there were two significant changes made to the curriculum: firstly, topics on electricity and magnetism were reintroduced into physics, which initially had been taught separately under the subject “Theoretical Foundations of Electrical Engineering,” handled by the Institute of Theoretical Electrical Engineering. Secondly, the subject “Theoretical Physics” was abolished, and its class hours were added to the basic physics course, thereby exceeding the scope of the first-year curriculum for the first time. The development of the curriculum shows that there were few periods where the curriculum remained unchanged for two or more years. This seriously hindered attempts to coordinate physics with other subjects, especially mathematics.
In 1949, the search for an optimal organizational structure at the Czech Technical University led to the idea of merging all physics institutes. This included the first institute, which provided education for the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the second institute serving the Faculty of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, and the newly established institute under prof. Slavík. The proposal was to unify them into a single Department of Physics under the leadership of prof. Valouch. Before this consolidation could occur, the first physics institute, which was staffed by three professors at the time, experienced a breakdown due to the departure of assoc. prof. Dr. Z. Matyáš (later a professor at the Charles University and a corresponding member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences), followed by the head, prof. Valouch. As a result, the planned merger never happened. Instead, prof. Horák’s institute continued to handle physics education for the Faculty of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, while prof. Slavík’s institute served the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the Faculty of Civil Engineering. After one year, this combined entity split into two physics departments. The establishment of the Institute of Chemical Technology Engineering then deprived prof. Horák’s department of its work for the second faculty. Meanwhile, within prof. Slavík’s department, a section for the Faculty of Civil Engineering was formed, initially led by assoc. prof. Dr. Z. Pachner and later by prof. Nussberger.
In 1955, when the Faculty of Electrical Engineering acquired a building on Ječná Street, additional spaces from the former Institute of Low-Voltage Electrical Engineering were assigned to the Department of Physics. This allocation significantly alleviated the space constraints previously faced by the department.
As head of the Department of Physics, prof. Slavík not only dedicatedly managed the department’s educational activities but also provided comprehensive support for the scientific work of his colleagues. Scientific research under his leadership flourished in two main areas: primarily in acoustics, with a focus on four specific sectors—noise acoustics, intelligibility of spoken language, research on acoustic properties of materials, and ultrasound. The second area of focus was vacuum technology and electrical discharges in gases.
Prof. Slavík intensively cared for the professional and scientific growth of his collaborators, many of whom achieved the title of Doctor of Technical Sciences under his guidance. It is certainly no coincidence that the first two aspirants (candidates for the newly introduced title of Candidate of Sciences) of prof. Slavík later became the head of the department (prof. Kracík) and the head of the detached workplace in Poděbrady (assoc. prof. Tobiáš). The current scientific focus of today’s department also evolved from the original fields established by prof. Slavík, and the expert groups can be divided into acoustic and plasma, where the study of discharges still plays a very significant role.
The development of the current Department of Physics was also influenced by the establishment of the Faculty of Radiotechnology in Poděbrady, which was founded in 1953, where a physics workplace was also established. Its head at that time was prof. RNDr. Jindřich Forejt, CSc. In these early years, adaptations of the old castle building were carried out under very difficult conditions, allowing for laboratory exercises and other necessary pedagogical work. Prof. Forejt, who was the dean of the Poděbrady faculty at that time, was mainly interested in radiotechnology, so after a relatively short period, he left the physics workplace. After two years of provisional arrangements, prof. Jiří Kracík was appointed head of the Department of Physics in 1957. At the same time, the Faculty of Radiotechnology was being merged with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Prague, and the physics workplace in Poděbrady was organizationally incorporated as a detached Department of Physics within the Faculty of Electrical Engineering’s Department of Physics. Under prof. Kracík’s leadership, a good team was quickly formed, capable of fulfilling both pedagogical and professional tasks. The entire team focused on issues of gas discharge physics. Significant progress was also made pedagogically, especially in the development of student experimental laboratories. Under prof. Kracík’s leadership, numerous publications were produced at the workplace, including textbooks, scientific publications, research reports, and candidate and habilitation theses. The Poděbrady workplace became well-known to the broader physics community, particularly in the field of plasma physics.
In 1964, prof. Kracík moved to the Prague Department of Physics. Assoc. prof. Jaromír Tobiáš then became the head of the detached department in Poděbrady. The team at this workplace continued to focus on certain issues in plasma physics. After 1964, significant organizational changes occurred at the local workplace of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, resulting in a multiple increase in the tasks of the detached department. During this period, part of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Poděbrady was primarily focused on teaching students in the first two years, necessitating a significant increase in the capacities of the department’s student laboratories. After teaching in Poděbrady was discontinued in 1984, the workplace was moved to Prague and merged with the Prague department.
The period of leadership of the department by prof. Kracík
The overall development of the entire Department of Physics and plasma research in Czechoslovakia was significantly linked to the activities of prof. Ing. Jiří Kracík, DrSc., who took over the leadership of the Department of Physics in 1964 after the death of prof. Slavík and for a long time represented the leading figure in plasma physics research in the CSSR, having established an entire school. It should be noted that in 1964 the department was divided into two parts – the low-voltage section led by assoc. prof. Tobiáš, and later by prof. Taraba, and the high-voltage section led by prof. Kracík. The low-voltage department consisted of acoustic groups, and the high-voltage department comprised plasma groups. This division more or less indicated the division of interest groups within the department after the death of its founder and was dissolved as part of normalization after 1970.
In 1964, prof. Kracík established a specialized plasma physics group, whose creation is linked to the development of plasma physics research and controlled thermonuclear fusion in then-Czechoslovakia. The members of this group primarily focused on the research of plasma clumps acceleration and shock plasma waves in linear, coaxial, and circular accelerators. Additionally, the group addressed issues related to the propagation of acoustic waves in weakly ionized plasma and some questions concerning the behavior of plasma at very low temperatures. This research was carried out within the framework of several state research projects.
Since 1960, the Department of Physics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, has also included a specialized semiconductor group. This group focused on studying issues related to polycrystalline semiconductors based on selenium and closely collaborated with industry in developing new components. Since 1970, this specialized group shifted its focus to the study of hot electrons in semiconductors. Additionally, an experimental facility was established for the study of high-resistance semiconductor thin films. This group, led by assoc. prof. Kodeš, was transferred to the Department of Microelectronics (then the Department of Fundamentals of Microelectronics) during the faculty’s reorganization in 1977.
After 1964, acoustics was divided into two groups: the acoustic group, which continued research on room acoustics, noise control, and impulse measurements initially led by assoc. prof. Tichý, and the group focused on ultrasound and diagnostics led by prof. Taraba. After assoc. prof. Tichý left for the United States at the end of 1968, these groups were merged and divided according to the political situation. The most notable research of the acoustic group was primarily in the area of transient sound fields, and their efforts in standardizing acoustic measurement methods should not be overlooked. In the second half of the 1970s, members of this group, led by assoc. prof. Chalupová, also established a group focused on environmental issues, particularly its education. The focus of the ultrasound group gradually shifted from power ultrasound to diagnostic methods and acoustic emission. By the late 1980s, both groups were united by a project on acoustic diagnostics of nuclear power plants, which primarily targeted leaks in the primary circuit. Tests were mainly conducted at the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant and at Škoda Plzeň in Bolevec.
The Department of Physics within the Faculty of Electrical Engineering had accreditation for habilitation and appointment procedures in the field of applied physics, as well as accreditation for granting scientific degrees (CSc.) in the fields of plasma physics, condensed matter physics, and acoustics.
