Scientific news from MFF CUNI

The Faculty of Mathematics and Physics that belongs to Charles University is among the best faculties of its kind in Europe. It’s a place where most of Czech breakthrough discoveries happen so it’s always fascinating to take a look at their newest research. What have they been up to lately?

Language generator

Ondřej Dušek is currently working on a language generator that should be capable of producing natural and fluent text. When finished, it will be able, for instance, make a coherent summary of an article or hone answers of AI assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Google.

Dušek’s project is innovative because it doesn’t use only pre-prepared templates or machine learning. It combines the best aspects of both while trying to create a brand-new generator that would take just a few dozen inputs while still creating outputs that are accurate. If Dušek succeeds, we should gain AI assistants that will talk to us much more naturally without enormous computing power.

“Most natural language generators nowadays focus on bigger and more complicated architecture of neuron networks. However, I want to make use of explicit semantic representation which was the only method how to generate text in the past, using hand-written rules. You could say I’m going to the past in a certain sense because this method is hardly ever used in neuron systems these days,” said Dušek. The project still uses neuron networks but only to generate fluent sentences, not to carry the information itself—that will rely on semantic representation.

Top scientists are from MFF CUNI

Professors Jaroslav Nešetřil, Jiří Matoušek, Jan Kratochvíl and Josef Málek became part of the elite selection of Top Mathematics Scientists based on databases Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph. Research.com compared more than four thousand scientists whose H-index is over 30. Eleven Czech scientists got in in total, out of which four are from MFF.

Researching the shape of galaxies

Astrophysical Journal has recently published findings made by MFF CUNI and St. Andrews from Bonne. It seems there are some major disparities between observation and a standard cosmological model which describes the most accepted view on the origin of our universe.

Most galaxies we can observe look like a flat disc dense in its centre. According to the model, such galaxies should be rather rare because each galaxy is presumably surrounded by dark matter which pulls galaxies closer toward each other until the point of colliding. However, model predictions and observation showed irregularities.

Simply said, there’re a lot more disc galaxies that should be possible which leads scientists to ponder whether an alternative not involving dark matter is imaginable. Should Newton’s gravitation law not apply for some reason, it would have extensive consequences also for other fields of physics. Young scientists have a great opportunity to significantly contribute to the very basics of physics.

New software for visualizing RNA molecules

British scientists cooperating with their colleagues from Czechia and the USA introduced a new method how to visualize secondary structures of RNA. Their system uses an extensive database of more than three thousand samples which can predict and visualize 2D structures of specific molecules.

“Our approach for visualization is based on a principle of sample molecule that is evolutionary close enough so that its structure and diagram can be used to generate a secondary structure for an RNA molecule whose information we lack,” said doc. Hoksza and added that such approach is very unique and no other software employs this strategy.

AI for a better colour 3D print

The scientists from Computer Graphics Group in cooperation with their colleagues abroad developed a new method that perfects the technology for full-colour 3D print. Their system makes use of machine learning algorithms so it’s possible to create more accurate 3D models much faster.

During the full-colour 3D print, the printhead doesn’t melt plastic but releases tiny drops of liquid resin that is being hardened immediately by UV radiation. This process is repeated in layers so the result is a 3D object. 3D print technology these days is used in the industry when creating prototypes, in medical science for prosthetic but also archaeology and entertainment.

MFF CUNI has a ton to offer. From top scientists teaching you to thrilling new research you can become part of, you may be sure that if you choose to study there, you’ll be never bored or lack opportunities. If you’re an aspiring young scientist, don’t hesitate to apply!