The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences is deeply saddened to announce that on Thursday 23 July 2026, our outstanding colleague, teacher, mentor and friend, Prof. Pavel Jungwirth, tragically passed away.
He was born on 20 May 1966 in Prague to the family of the renowned physicist Karel Jungwirth. He studied physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, and completed his doctoral studies at the Jaroslav Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry under the supervision of the legendary Rudolf Zahradník, who always described him as one of his finest students. After obtaining his doctorate, he worked at a number of prestigious institutions abroad, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Tampere in Finland, where he was a visiting professor for many years.
Pavel Jungwirth studied the behaviour of ions and molecules – including water molecules and biomolecules – in a liquid environment. Although these may appear, at first glance, to be very theoretical questions, the answers to them are of crucial importance for fields such as biology, medicine, the chemical industry and the development of new medicines. His team uses supercomputers and advanced molecular simulations that enable them to observe processes at the level of individual atoms. The results of his research have helped to better understand such complex and diverse phenomena as the formation of light pollution in Los Angeles, the passage of small molecules through biological membranes, and the mechanism of human hearing.
Pavel Jungwirth often enjoyed asking – and successfully answering – seemingly trivial questions, such as why sodium actually explodes on contact with water, why heavy water is sweet, or why water does not behave like a metal. The answers to these questions then led to a deep understanding of some of the key physico-chemical processes in the natural world around us.
For his outstanding achievements, he has received a whole host of domestic and international awards, such as the Spiers Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Neuron Foundation Prize. He was elected a foreign member of the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Arts and was a full member (and, for several years, its president) of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic, which brings together leading Czech scientists across various disciplines. A few days ago, the UOCHB nominated him for the National Government Award „Česká hlava“.
Pavel Jungwirth was a brilliant and much-loved teacher and an outstanding advocate of science. He frequently appeared in the media, where he highlighted the importance of scientific methods in societal decision-making and spoke out forcefully, yet wittily, against pseudoscience, disinformation and the misuse of science.
With the passing of Pavel Jungwirth, Czech science has lost the most talented chemist of his generation, an exceptional scientist, teacher and inspirer; his family has lost a wonderful father and grandfather; and we have all lost an irreplaceable friend and colleague.
May his memory be a blessing.
Prof. Jan Konvalinka, IOCB Prague director
