Department history

From Its Founding Through World War II

The history of analytical chemistry instruction at our university began in 1869, when the Prague Polytechnic was divided into Czech and German sections. At the newly established Czech Polytechnic Institute of the Kingdom of Bohemia (renamed the Imperial and Royal Czech Technical University in Prague in 1879), there were two chemistry chairs at the time; one of them, focused on general and analytical chemistry, was headed by Professor Vojtěch Šafařík (son of Pavel Josef Šafařík, one of the leading figures in Czech and Slovak history). This can be considered the beginning of the tradition of teaching analytical chemistry, which in later years became one of the cornerstones of the Faculty of Chemistry at the Czech Technical University in Prague.

Professor Šafařík’s successor was Professor Karel Preis, who was the first in the country to establish analytical chemistry laboratories, focusing on both purely chemical analysis and food analysis. Professor Preis’s assistant was his later successor, Professor Josef Hanuš. He furthered his expertise through advanced studies at both the Czech and German universities in Prague and a fellowship with Professor Henriques, an expert in the chemistry of fats, resins, and rubber, in Berlin. This enabled Professor Hanuš to teach not only analytical chemistry but also chemical and microscopic testing of food, and even fat technology. His lectures on food analysis laid the groundwork for the fundamentals of food chemistry and analysis currently taught at the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. Professor Hanuš is one of our most renowned Czech analytical chemists, having developed a number of chemical analysis methods. In the final years of his career, he focused on the use of organic reagents for qualitative detection and quantitative gravimetric determination of metal ions. He also served for many years as executive director of the Czech Chemical Society and as editor of its journal Chemické listy.

Professor Hanuš’s students—Prof. Hovorka, Prof. Lukas, Prof. Jílek, and Prof. Hac, who headed the Department after it was divided in 1927 into the Department of Analytical Chemistry I, focused on quantitative analysis and gravimetry, and the Department of Analytical Chemistry II, focused on volumetric analysis and the teaching of specialized and physical analytical methods—continued in this scientific direction.

From World War II to 1989

After the reopening of universities in 1945, the teaching of analytical chemistry—just as before the war—was divided between two parts. The Department of Analytical Chemistry I provided instruction in qualitative and quantitative analytical chemistry, while the Department of Analytical Chemistry II focused on physical and specialized analytical methods, from which instrumental analysis emerged. The Department of Analytical Chemistry I was headed by Prof. Václav Hovorka, who was appointed full professor of analytical chemistry in 1946. Together with his colleagues, he greatly advanced the applications of organic reagents in analytical chemistry and also refined their theoretical foundations. Under his leadership, the structure of chelate complex salts was elucidated, and the formation of a new series of metal salts was discovered. His collaborators included Dr. Vladimír Zátka, Dr. Ludvík Diviš, Dr. Jan Morávek, Ing. František Vláčil, Dr. Václav Sýkora, Ing. Ladislav Šůcha, Ing. Jiří Martínek, and the future head of the department, Professor Záviš Holzbecher.

Professor Rudolf Hac remained active at the Department of Analytical Chemistry II for some time, but due to poor health, he entrusted the reorganization of the Department and his own teaching duties to Prof. František Čůta, who was appointed head in 1951. The year 1952 was significant for Czech chemistry because the Faculty of Chemistry was separated from the Czech Technical University (ČVUT), and the independent University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT) was established. In 1956, the Department was renamed the Department of Physical and Special Analytical Methods. Thanks to Prof. František Čůta’s focus on physical chemistry, as well as his research stays with Prof. Erich Max Müller at the Dresden University of Technology and with Prof. Herrick L. Johnston at Ohio State University, the department devoted itself to physical-chemical methods of analysis. Given its modest beginnings and lack of equipment, Prof. František Čůta guided his colleagues toward electrochemical methods, pH measurement, polarography, and later, methods of spectral analysis. In terms of teaching, he was instrumental in expanding lectures and laboratory exercises to include electrochemical and optical instrumental analytical methods. In addition, he demonstrated a positive attitude toward industrial collaboration, which was particularly evident in 1949, when he established a joint research laboratory with the North Bohemian Fat Works (today SETUZA a.s.) at the department; this laboratory was transformed into the independent research organization – Research Institute of the Fat Industry – after 1958.

After the death of Prof. Václav Hovorka in 1960, the two departments were merged into one, headed by Prof. František Čůta until 1974. Professor Čůta was a prominent chemist, a corresponding member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (ČSAV), and a long-time president of the Czechoslovak Chemical Society. He is known, among other things, for the universal acid-base indicator (Čůta–Kámen), which he developed in 1935 together with Prof. Karel Kámen. With the increasing number of students and the growing responsibilities of the Department’s director, the then Department of Analytical Chemistry was divided into the Division of Chemical Analysis and the Division of Instrumental Analysis. Prof. Jaromír Vrbský was appointed head of the Division of Chemical Analysis, while the Division of Instrumental Analysis was led by Assoc. Prof. František Štráfelda. In the Division of Chemical Analysis, research continued on complex compounds of organic reagents with the aim of developing substances with outstanding selectivity and sensitivity. In the Division of Instrumental Analysis, attention was focused primarily on electrochemistry, pH measurement, and polarography. Associate Professor František Štráfelda personally introduced automated analytical control, as the construction of analyzers was his hobby.

International developments and the growing analytical use of a wide range of spectroscopic methods for elemental and molecular analysis sparked the interest in spectrometric methods. In addition to atomic emission and absorption spectroscopy, pioneered by Associate Professor Miloš Hejtmánek, molecular absorption spectroscopy was also developed, initially in the visible region of the spectrum and later in the infrared region as well. Thanks to Prof. Zbyněk Ksandr, the University of Chemistry and Technology acquired a Perkin-Elmer 325 infrared spectrometer, which replaced the aging Zeiss UR10 spectrometer, and in 1967, it also acquired its first nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Associate Professor Bohumil Polej adapted a triple-prism spectrograph into a Raman spectrometer with photographic detection at a time when commercial instruments were already available on the market. However, the high cost hindered the faster development of individual techniques and was also the reason why the instruments were often unavailable for wider use. The establishment of the Central Laboratories of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague meant that, starting in the 1960s, a number of analytical techniques were operated outside the department; some department staff even transferred there or contributed to the work of the CL. This applied in particular to atomic spectrometry (Dr. Václav Sychra, Ing. Dana Kolihová) and optical spectroscopy (from 1966 to 1970, the CL laboratory was headed by then-Associate Professor Zbyněk Ksandr).

Even before Prof. František Čůta retired, the separate divisions were dissolved, and the unified department continued its research and teaching activities from 1974 onward under the leadership of Prof. Záviš Holzbecher. In the final years of his tenure, the two former departments were again reestablished and remained in place until his retirement. The Department of Chemical Analysis was headed by Prof. Jaromír Vrbský, while the Department of Instrumental Analysis was led by Assoc. Prof. Milan Popl, who contributed significantly to the development of chromatographic methods. Development in the field of atomic spectroscopy also continued; Prof. Karel Volka focused on vibrational spectroscopy, while future professor Zbyněk Ksandr worked on nuclear magnetic resonance. Thanks to his efforts, the Department of Analytical Chemistry maintained cooperation with German universities for more than 20 years. As early as the late 1950s, this collaboration was with Martin-Luther-Universität in Halle/Saale, and later with Technische Hochschule Leuna-Merseburg. In the 1980s, Prof. Jaromír Vrbský became the head of the department, which had once again been officially unified, while preserving all the research areas that had been developed. Professor Vrbský was a prolific author of analytical chemistry textbooks and workbooks on analytical chemistry calculations that are still in use today, particularly in collaboration with his department colleague, Associate Professor František Vláčil. In 1988, the Department of Analytical Chemistry, together with the Department of Physical Chemistry, was transferred to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, the youngest faculty at the University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT). This faculty was established in 1960, initially as the Faculty of Automation and Economics of Chemical Production, and was renamed to its current name in 1969.

After 1989

Following Professor Vrbský, the department was briefly led by Prof. Bohuslav Doležal, who guided it through the pivotal years of 1989–1990. In 1991, Prof. Karel Volka took over as head of the department and remained in that position until 2008. Prof. Volka earned his engineering degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, in 1963. He was accepted into the doctoral program under Prof. Holzbecher, under whose supervision he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1968. After completing his habilitation in analytical chemistry in 1990, he successfully passed the appointment procedure and was appointed professor of analytical chemistry in 1993. From 1994 to 1996, Prof. Volka concurrently served as Vice Rector for Science and Research at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. His scientific career focused primarily on molecular spectroscopy, particularly vibrational spectroscopy methods. He made significant contributions both to the development of “traditional” methods of infrared and Raman spectroscopy and to the development of spectroscopic techniques that were often unique in the Czech Republic. These included, in particular, the development of chiroptical spectroscopic methods and the advancement of high-resolution spectroscopy techniques in the centimeter, millimeter, submillimeter, and terahertz ranges. In 2008, he was awarded the Rector’s Prize of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, for his many years of work in advancing the field. In 2011, he was awarded the Emil Votoček Medal. From 1990 to 2005, he served as president of the Jan Marek Marci Spectroscopic Society and organized a number of national and international scientific conferences.

Prof. Štěpán Urban, an expert in high-resolution infrared and microwave spectroscopy as well as in the emerging field of terahertz spectroscopy, succeeded him as head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry from 2008 to 2018. Prof. Urban is also a pioneer in the field of forensic olfactronic identification of individuals and the digitization of odor signatures, including the determination of an individual’s group characteristics through detailed analysis of the chemical composition of odors. Štěpán Urban graduated with a specialization in physical chemistry from the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, in 1974. In 1980, at the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, he defended his dissertation on the topic of high-resolution ammonia spectra under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dušan Papoušek. In 1995, he earned his habilitation in analytical chemistry, and in 2003, he was appointed professor in this field. In 2010, he received the Jan Marek Marci of Kronland Medal; from 2010 to 2016, he served on the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy. For many years, he served as chair of the organizing committee for international conferences on high-resolution molecular spectroscopy. In 2021, Prof. Štěpán Urban received the Josef Hlávka Medal in recognition of his life’s work. Prof. Štěpán Urban has been a professor emeritus at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, since 2027.

From 2018 to 2022, the Department of Analytical Chemistry was headed by Prof. Vladimír Setnička, an expert in chiroptical spectroscopic techniques. Prof. Vladimír Setnička graduated from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (1999) and defended his dissertation in 2002 under the supervision of Prof. Marie Urbanová. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, IL, USA) in the research group of Prof. T. A. Keiderling and spent time at the Pasteur University in Strasbourg with Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Prof. J.-M. Lehn. Prof. Vladimír Setnička was appointed associate professor in 2010 and full professor in 2018. His work focuses on the development of techniques for clinical diagnostics and forensic analytical chemistry. He heads the research group on medicinal and chiroptical spectroscopy, where he develops modern spectroscopic methods for studying optical activity, such as circular dichroism and Raman optical activity techniques.

From 2022 to 2026, the head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry was Prof. Bohumil Dolenský, a graduate of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (1994), who also defended his dissertation in the field of organic chemistry there in 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he completed a three-year research fellowship in the United States at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA). He earned his habilitation in 2011 and was appointed professor of Analytical Chemistry in 2026. He is the head of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) research group. His research focuses on NMR techniques for determining the covalent structure and conformations of organic molecules of both natural and synthetic origin, the study of the molecular structure of noncovalent complexes of chemical receptors with analytes, and molecular recognition. In his research, he combines organic and analytical chemistry.

Since September 2026, Dr. Michael Volný has been the head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry. He earned his master’s degree from the Faculty of Science, Charles University (1999) and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA (2006), where he studied under the supervision of Prof. František “Frank” Tureček. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. R. G. Cooks at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN, USA). From 2009 to 2011, he was a Marie Curie Fellow at the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He completed his habilitation at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, in 2026. Dr. Volný focuses on instrumentation for mass spectrometry, particularly ion sources, the deposition of polyatomic ions on surfaces, and the development of analytical methods based on LC-MS, MALDI-MS, and ambient mass spectrometry.