Polish Ceramic Society Award to Miroslav Hnatko – the Director of CEMEA SAS, v.v.i.
On 21–23 October 2026, the traditional international scientific seminar PROCESSING AND PROPERTIES OF ADVANCED CERAMICS AND GLASS, together with the joint annual meeting of the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society, was held in Habovka.
This year, the event was organized by the Department of Inorganic Materials of the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in cooperation with the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society. The seminar focused on current topics in the field of advanced ceramic and glass materials, with the main theme of this year’s edition being additive manufacturing of ceramic, glass and composite materials. Other areas included the development of advanced ceramics and composites, functional ceramics and glasses, UHTC and HEC materials, porous ceramics and bioceramics, ceramic and glass coatings, characterisation and testing of materials, as well as surface modification techniques.
Within the seminar programme, the President of the Polish Silicate Society, Prof. dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Pędzich, presented the Polish Ceramic Society Award to Assoc. Prof. Ing. Miroslav Hnatko, PhD, a member of the Department of Ceramics at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SAS. He awarded him the distinction for his significant contribution to the development of advanced ceramic materials, research on ceramic composites (especially based on Si₃N₄/SiC), and for his long-term contribution to materials science and the building of the Department of Ceramics at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SAS. Assoc. Prof. Miroslav Hnatko is also the Director of the Centre for Advanced Materials Application of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (CEMEA SAS, v.v.i.), where he continues to focus on research into the application of ceramic materials in biomedicine and energy.
he second awardee was Ing. Alexandra Kovalčíková, PhD, who serves as Scientific Secretary and Chair of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Materials Research SAS, v.v.i. Her professional focus includes, among other areas, advanced ceramic materials and carbide systems intended for extreme-temperature applications.
Prof. RNDr. Pavol Šajgalík, DrSc. works at the Slovak Academy of Sciences at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, specifically in the Department of Ceramics. He is an expert in ceramics and materials science focusing on oxide and non-oxide high-performance ceramics and the relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties of these materials. In the years 2015–2025 he served three consecutive terms as President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; since 2025 he has been Vice-Chair of its Scientific Board. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society (its President in 2015–2018), a member of the Ceramic Society of Japan, an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics and of the European Academy of Sciences. He is the President of the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society.
Prof. dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Pędzich works at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków (AGH University of Krakow) at the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, specifically at the Department of Ceramics and Refractory Materials. He is an expert in ceramic technologies and the production of ceramic composites, specializing in sintered polycrystals, advanced ceramic materials and ultra-high-temperature structural ceramics (UHTC). Since 2020 he has been Head of the Department of Ceramics and Refractory Materials; between 2016 and 2020 he served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics. He is a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society (2013), a member of its Council, an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics, and President of the Polish Ceramic Society (since 2009).
RNDr. Eva Majková, DRSc. awarded the Gold Medal of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
On Wednesday, March 25, 2025, RNDr. Eva Majková, DrSc., received the highest honor of the Slovak Academy of Sciences—the SAV Gold Medal—from the hands of the Academy’s President, Dr. Martin Venhart. The Gold Medal of the Slovak Academy of Sciences is an expression of recognition for Eva Majková’s scientific contributions to the development of Slovak science and her achievements in building a research environment capable of standing up to international competition.
“I really enjoy these moments when we can look back on the work of the people on whom our institution has relied for several years,” stated Martin Venhart at the outset, as he presented this highest institutional honor for the first time in his capacity as President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Eva Majková is one of the most prominent materials physicists and experts in the fields of materials science, nanoscience, and nanotechnology in Slovakia. She has worked at the Institute of Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences since 1972. In 1995, after returning from a stay at the University of Nancy, she founded the Department of Multilayers and Nanostructures, focused on research into various types of nanomaterials. From 1999 to 2007, she served as director of the Institute of Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) and later, for two terms, as vice-president of the SAV for science and research. She served as director of the newly established Center for the Utilization of Advanced Materials (CEMEA) of the SAV from its inception in 2017 through 2021. As E. Majková emphasizes, “CEMEA is the result of observing similar institutions abroad; it is a jewel of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and I would be delighted if it became an inspiration for other institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences as well.”
“Dr. Majková is a distinguished, internationally recognized scientific figure in the field of materials science. She has achieved her most significant results in the field of research on ultrathin multilayers, nanolayers, nanoparticles, and other nano-objects using in situ small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering methods at a small angle of radiation incidence on the sample,” explained Pavol Hvizdoš, Vice President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for the 1st Division of Sciences. The full text of the laudation is published HERE.
Anna Kityk – Winner of the L’Oréal – UNESCO For Women in Science award in Slovakia 2025
The expert jury at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, chaired by Prof. RNDr. Ľubica Lacinová, DrSc., awarded prizes in three research areas in the ninth year of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science program.
The winner in the physical and formal sciences category was Doc. Mgr. Anna Kityk, PhD. from the Center for the Use of Advanced Materials at the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Her scientific work focuses on researching green hydrogen—a clean fuel of the future that leaves only water behind after use. Her goal is to make green hydrogen production more efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly. Her approach is unique in that it uses biodegradable solvents and nanostructured materials on foam substrates. This enables her and her colleagues to create highly efficient and environmentally friendly catalysts that make a significant contribution to the development of renewable energy sources.
Top publications of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for 2024
Both acknowledgement and inspiration were the main themes of the awards ceremony for the best publications by the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) in 2024. The event took place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at the Small Congress Center of the SAS Veda Publishing House in Bratislava. The awards were presented to the winning scientists by Martin Venhart, President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and Tomáš Hromádka, Vice-President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences for Science, Research and Innovation. The results of long, thorough, and systematic work by individuals and teams were recognized in the following categories: Top Journal Publications, Nature Index Publications, Top Scientific Monographs, and Publications in Journals Listed in the Norwegian Register.
In the category of TOP JOURNAL PUBLICATION, our colleagues Naďa Mrkývková, Karol Végsö, and Peter Šiffalovič received an award for their work entitled Pizza Oven Processing of Organohalide Perovskites (POPOP): A Simple, Versatile and Efficient Vapor Deposition Method published in the scientific journal Advanced Energy Materials.
Roman Bystrický from CEMEA SAV, together with his colleague Peter Hutár from the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, received the award in the NATURE INDEX PUBLICATIONS category for their joint publication Thermal Stability of Chalcogenide Perovskites, published in the scientific journal Inorganic Chemistry.
