Unique Facilities

The faculty reactor VR-1, also known as “Vrabec”, is a light-water, pool-type educational reactor located in the Heavy Technology Laboratory building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, and in the Department of Nuclear Reactors at the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE) of CTU in Prague’s Troja district. The reactor serves as a teaching tool for students from Czech and international technical faculties, particularly FNSPE. It is also used for staff training at nuclear power plants, international courses on reactor physics, and professional training in the nuclear field for workers from developing countries.

The GOLEM tokamak was the first functional experimental facility designed for basic research on microwave heating of plasma in Tokamak-type vessels. This unique experimental facility for mastering controlled thermonuclear fusion has been available to FNSPE students since 2007. In addition to scientific research, the facility also supports educational activities, including guided visits for secondary school students.

The Fractographic Laboratory at the Department of Materials is a scientific and educational facility at the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE) of CTU in Prague. It was established in 1973 as the first specialized fractographic laboratory in what was then Czechoslovakia. The facility studies failure processes in a wide variety of materials—not only metals and alloys, but also ceramics, plastics, rubber, and glass (historically, some biological samples such as wood and teeth were also examined). Methods of both theoretical and experimental research are developed here, including mathematical modelling of failure processes and new approaches to quantitative fractography linked to computer-based image analysis. Probability aspects of crack propagation are also investigated, and the results of component and structural failure analyses are applied in practice.

The Doppler Institute (DI) was founded in 1993. Its activities are funded from sources outside the faculty (grants). Its staff includes employees of FNSPE (specifically the Departments of Mathematics and Physics), the Czech Academy of Sciences (Nuclear Physics Institute), and Hradec Králové University.

The Doppler Institute focuses on research and on the education of Master’s and doctoral students in mathematical physics, with an emphasis on modern directions in mathematics and quantum physics. In line with its programme, DI organises the regular Doppler Institute Seminar, the Quantum Course, and other lectures and seminars. It also hosts regular international colloquia such as “Integrable Systems,” international Student Winter Schools “Mathematical Physics”, professional international conferences, and oversees international student exchanges.