CSBMB currently has almost 400 members, which are recruited from relevant institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Czech universities, research institutes and companies. One of its roles is to represent Czech biochemists in the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and via FEBS also in the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB).
The first chairman of the previous Czechoslovak Biochemical Society, when it was arranged within the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS) in 1955, was František Šorm (Institute of Chemistry, CSAS). Next chairmen were Jaroslav Hořejší (1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University) and Jan Škoda (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, CSAS). After the fall of the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia and liberalization of social conditions in 1989, Václav Pačes (Institute of Molecular Genetics, CSAS) was elected the chairman in 1990. The current chairman is Libor Grubhoffer (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences), who has been elected for the period 2017-2021.
CSBMB is a voluntary association and member of the Council of Scientific Societies of the Czech Republic. At the beginning, the biochemical society was significantly oriented to the fields of clinical biochemistry and medicinal chemistry. Since 1989, when the political barriers and isolation were dismantled, the society has been opened up to standard international scientific contacts and collaborations. It now covers various biochemical and molecular biological disciplines and subdisciplines, which are fostered in the country. This is reflected in the existence of specialized autonomous sections (bioinformatics, lipidomics, proteomics).
The most traditional activity conducted by CSBMB is the organization of biennial biochemical congresses (together with the Slovak Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) since 1993. In 2020, the congress will take place on the common campus of the Biology Centre CAS and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. Other activities include: publishing of the official periodical entitled Bulletin of CSBMB (twice a year); bestowing the Josef Václav Koštíř Prize for the best scientific achievement of a young biochemist or molecular biologist; organizing joint seminars and lectures with international, state and private institutions and companies (research & development, public health, state & regional administration) plus mediating contacts between academia and companies; educational and popularization activities.
Photo by Martin Krchnacek on Unsplash
Join the FEBS Network today
Joining the FEBS Network’s molecular life sciences community enables you to access special content on the site, present your profile, 'follow' contributors, 'comment' on and 'like' content, post your own content, and set up a tailored email digest for updates.