Also in this issue is an article on another centre of excellence to receive the support of the European Commission with a grant. It is the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the ASCR where civil engineering and architecture are the main fields of application for research results. This tradition is more than 80 years old. Increased attention has been paid to safeguard the established heritage and its integration into the life of contemporary society. The complexity of problems of cultural heritage calls for a modern interdisciplinary approach and this was inaugurated in a systematic way in 1995 by founding a new department at the Institute - the Associated Centre for Historic Structures and Sites. The process has continued and now involves scientists from other research institutes and universities working at two research units - one in Prague and the other at the World Heritage City of Telč. and Miloš Drdácký.
The director of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the AS CR, Miloš Drdácký, writes about nanomaterials in the conservation and restoration of culture heritage. He explains that the complex tasks of the consolidation and conservation of historic mortars can be solved effectively by using such nanomaterials as Nano. lime that is available under the name CaLoSil, a new stone strengthener based on colloidal suspensions of lime nanoparticles in various solvents. and Miloš Drdácký a Zuzana Slížková.