SAS outstanding publications of the year 2024

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Recognition and inspiration were the main mottos of the award ceremony for outstanding publications of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) from 2024. The event took place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at the Small Congress Centre of the VEDA publishing house of the SAS. The awarded scientists received their awards from Martin Venhart, President of the SAS, and Tomáš Hromádka, Vice President of the SAS for Science, Research, and Innovation. The results of long, thorough, and systematic work of individuals and collectives were recognized in the following categories: Outstanding Journal Publications, Nature Index Publications, Outstanding Scientific Monographies, and Publications in Journals Listed in the Norwegian Register.

“Awarding of outstanding publications is a typical event that shows that the present and the future depends on top-level science. I am glad that we have gathered here to honor the best,” said President of the SAS Martin Venhart in his ceremonial speech, reminding that the Slovak Academy of Sciences has gone through a challenging period. “I would never have thought that we would have to prove the elementary pillars of science, yet at the same time, as an institution, we have never felt such strong public support – thanks also to your work, which is an inspiration for others,” emphasized the SAS President.

The Vice President of the SAS for Science, Research, and Innovation, Tomáš Hromádka, highlighted that this is still a very “young” event, one that does not yet have a long tradition. “Former SAS Vice President Peter Samuely, the originator of the idea of awarding outstanding publications, knew why it is important to recognize people whose work proves the high quality of the SAS, that top research is being carried out here, and that when it comes to awarding, there is plenty to choose from,” Hromádka explained, recalling the history of the event, which has been held since 2017, and expressed his conviction that the event has a promising future. “The SAS still has much to show, and there is always something to choose from,” he noted, wishing the awardees, among other things, greater competition — which always drives science forward.

Outstanding Journal Publications

  • Adam Tomašových from Earth Science Institute SAS for his publication Abundance–diversity relationship as a unique signature of temporal scaling in the fossil record  in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology Letters.

  • Jana Kubacková and Zoltán Tomori from the Institute of Experimental Physics SAS for their publication Optically Actuated Soft Microrobot Family for Single-Cell Manipulation in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials.

  • Naďa Mrkývková, Karol Végsö, Peter Šiffalovič from Institute of Physics SAS for their publication Pizza Oven Processing of Organohalide Perovskites (POPOP): A Simple, Versatile and Efficient Vapor Deposition Method in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Energy Materials.

  • Miroslav Baláž, Barbara Ukropcová, and Jozef Ukropec from the Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center SAS for their publication Glucose controls lipolysis through Golgi PtdIns4P-mediated regulation of ATGL in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature Cell Biology.

  • Andrej Belák from the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS for his publication Social mechanisms behind the poor health of marginalized Roma: Novel insights and implications from four ethnographic studies in Slovakia in the peer-reviewed journal Social Science & Medicine.

  • Lucia Nezvalová, Eva Fottová, and Beáta Milová from the Institute of Archaeology SAS for their publication The first radiocarbon data from the settlement Nitra-Lupka in the peer-reviewed journal Radiocarbon.

Nature Index Publications

  • Roman Bystrický from the Center for Advanced Materials Applications SAS and Peter Hutár from the Institute of Electrical Engineering SAS for their publication Thermal Stability of Chalcogenide Perovskites in the peer-reviewed journal Inorganic Chemistry.

  • Jana Hrdá, Martin Moško, Tatiana Vojteková, Lenka Pribusová Slušná, Peter Hutár, Marián Precner, Edmund Dobročka, Marianna Španková, Martin Hulman, Štefan Chromik, Michaela Sojková from the Institute of Electrical Engineering SAS, and Peter Šiffalovič from the Institute of Physics SAS for their publication Investigating structural, optical, and electron-transport properties of lithium intercalated few-layer MoS₂ films: Unraveling the influence of disorder in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Physics Letters.

  • Miroslav Kocifaj and Stefan Wallner from the Institute of Construction and Architecture SAS for their publication Detailed Assessment of Multiple-Scattering Effects on Night-Sky Brightness Modeling in Turbid Environments: The Impact of Truncation and Convergence Errors in the peer-reviewed journal Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres.

  • Vladimír Kovaľ from the Institute of Materials Research SAS for his publication Dynamic magnetoelectric effect in bismuth-layer structured Aurivillius ceramics in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Physics Letters.

  • Denis Kochan from the Institute of Physics SAS for his publication Emergent Correlated Phases in Rhombohedral Trilayer Graphene Induced by Proximity Spin-Orbit and Exchange Coupling in the peer-reviewed journal Physical Review Letters.

  • Peter Cifra and Tomáš Bleha from the Polymer Institute SAS for their publication Continuous Crossover from the Dilute to Semidilute Concentration Regime in Spherically Confined Polymers in the peer-reviewed journal Macromolecules.

  • Katarína Muchová, Evelína Kalocsaiová, Zuzana Chromiková, Silvia Žarnovičanová, and Imrich Barák from the Institute of Molecular Biology SAS for their publication Spatio-temporal control of asymmetric septum positioning during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis in the peer-reviewed journal Journal of Biological Chemistry.

  • Marek Pribus, Ľuboš Jankovič, Valéria Kureková, Martin Barlog, and Jana Madejová from the Institute of Molecular Biology SAS for their publication Structural and spectroscopic characterization of montmorillonite modified with poly(2-n-alkyl-2-oxazolines) in the peer-reviewed journal Macromolecules.

  • Maksym Danchenko, Jana Bellová, Barbara Siváková, and Peter Baráth from the Institute of Chemistry SAS for their publication Compartmentalization of galactan biosynthesis in mycobacteria in the peer‑reviewed journal Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Outstanding Scientific Monographies

  • Alžbeta Kuchtová from the Institute of Philosophy SAS for her publication The Ungraspable as a Philosophical Problem: Stubborn Persistence of Humanism in Contemporary Phenomenology published by Brill.

  • Róbert Gáfrik from the Institute of World Literature SAS for his monumental work Upanišady published by VEDA, Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Publications in Journals Listed in the Norwegian Register

  • Veronika Szeghy-Gayer from the Institute of Social Sciences, Centre for Social and Psychological Sciences SAS for her publication Former Hungarian Civil Servants on the Territory of Slovakia in the Early Years of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1919–1924: A Case Study on the Status Regulation of Teachers and Postal Employees in the peer-reviewed journal European Review of History.

  • Eugenia Kelbert Rudan from the Institute of World Literature SAS for her publication Romain Gary’s Collaborative Self-Translations: Translational Beyond Translation in the peer-reviewed journal Meta: Journal des traducteurs.

  • Daniela Vacek and Matteo Pascucci from the Institute of Philosophy SAS for their publication Making Sense of Vicarious Responsibility: Moral Philosophy Meets Legal Theory in the peer-reviewed journal Erkenntnis.

 

We sincerely congratulate the awarded scientists!

Original text: SAS News