Katalóg

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Andrej Mock

The structure of the animal body is extremely varied. Each species has its distinctive morphological features, which bears as a testimony to long-term development and belonging to the developmental lineage. At the same time, the body has been tested for a long time by natural conditions, resulting in unique adaptations to the environment and life strategy. Despite this admirable variety - which includes both recent and fossil animals and which we have far from mapped – a comparison of body parts brings knowledge we can generalize: the main building principles, and boundaries within which phenotypic diversity is realized.

Comparative animal morphology today uses the latest methodological material and knowledge from other disciplines, from genetics, molecular biology and experimental embryology, through progressive imaging methods (e.g. electron microscopy, computer micro-tomography) and the possibilities of subsequent software processing of image material (measurement, staining, etc.) to the view of physics, chemistry, statics and geometry on the structures (to nanostructures) of the living body. Detailed knowledge of historical and contemporary conditions on Earth is an important interpretative context in the study of animal morphology. Surprisingly, the knowledge accumulated after centuries of research is now rapidly supplemented by new knowledge, and often the traditional knowledge is subsequently reinterpreted. Finally, and no less important, in studying animal (and human) morphology, we learn surprising knowledge about ourselves.

The author of the presented textbook had the ambition in a simplified form to introduce the reader, especially the student of biological studies, into a dynamic and fascinating scientific discipline, as the current comparative animal morphology is.

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Zuzana Vargová - Miroslav Almáši - Juraj Kuchár - Jana Dinajová 

The script „Základné laboratórne praktikum z anorganickej chémie“ builds on previous editions of the script, with some thematic units updated and supplemented with new knowledge, principles, and detailed work procedures.

This script is intended as a teaching aid for first-year students of the chemistry and interdisciplinary study programs at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. The introductory part of the volume acquaints students with safety regulations that they should follow during work in a chemical laboratory. Subsequently, in five chapters, basic laboratory techniques are described in detail, which students will use in the further part of the practices for preparing inorganic compounds. These chapters are enriched with illustrative images created using the freely distributable ACDFreeLabs 10 program or taken from literature listed at the end of the script. Some images were created by the authors, and others were taken from the catalog of Fisher Slovakia, s.r.o., which provided written permission for their use. The chapters describing the preparation of inorganic compounds are organized according to their composition, from simple elements or molecules, through binary compounds, acids, and salts, to complex compounds.

Within this subject, students should apply their theoretical knowledge gained during lectures on General Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry and thereby acquire basic practical experience and skills that they will use in further studies.

The last two chapters were developed based on cooperation with Duslo a.s., Production Plant Strážske, which participates in the innovation of practical teaching through direct involvement of experts from practice as part of the KEGA project No. 008UPJŠ-4/2018.

Authors

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Ladislav Janovec

An enormous progress in computer technology, closely linked with advances in computational chemistry, has enabled the user to exploit the principles of quantum chemistry to elucidate the chemical phenomena.

Computational chemistry is the branch of science that requires, except an academic knowledge, software skills to fully exploit a potential of theoretical methods. The aim of this textbook is to help the user take the legendary first step in the field of computational chemistry to opening a new horizon of knowledge.

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Zuzana Orságová Králová (ed.)

The scientific book of abstracts is a summary of the contributions of teachers, scientists and other conference participants, which contain the original results of their scientific and research activities. Their work will be the subject of the next domestic conference "New trends in chemistry, research and education 2019". The conference is a space for dialogue between scientific academics on the one hand and professional staff and students on the other.

The contributions published in this volume can be divided according to content into the field of analytical, inorganic, physical, organic chemistry, biochemistry and didactics of chemistry. All contributions are interesting and can be used in further creative scientific and research work, in the process of education and in practical work.

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Adriana Zeleňáková - Zuzana Ješková - Adela Kravčáková  et al. (eds.)

The proceedings contain abstracts of contributions from participants of the 10th Czech-Slovak Student Scientific Conference in Physics, which took place on May 2–3, 2019, at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

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Terézia Kisková - Stanislav Matéffy - Františka Horváthová

The laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is one of the most commonly used experimental animals. It serves as a model organism for analyzing numerous biological processes and pathological mechanisms, such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders (e.g., lipid metabolism, diabetes mellitus), neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions (e.g., stroke, epilepsy, or Alzheimer's disease), neurobehavioral research, autoimmune diseases (e.g., arthritis), cancer, and renal diseases. It offers many unique advantages for modeling human diseases, testing drugs and natural substances, and studying responses to environmental factors. The size of the laboratory rat, compared to the mouse, creates ideal conditions for physiological manipulations. Additionally, rats are used in clinical toxicology to test chemical substances (Hedrich, 2000).

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Katarína Cechlárová (ed.)

This year, the Student Scientific Conference was held on April 24, 2019, across 17 sections in disciplines such as biology and ecology, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics, informatics, and their didactics. Bachelor’s and master’s students presented a total of 124 contributions. The most successful participants advanced to national or traditional Czech-Slovak student scientific showcases in fields like physics, chemistry, mathematics, informatics, and mathematics didactics.

In addition to faculty students, 10 high school students participated outside the competition. They were invited based on their achievements in subject-specific Olympiads or because they were already engaged with the faculty under the guidance of dedicated teachers in laboratory work as part of their preparation for future studies. The day also featured a programming competition with 23 participants, an IHRA contest involving 16 teams of high school students and 15 teams from elementary schools, and a new Puzzle section where 72 high school students from the region competed.

The abstracts from the Student Scientific Conference demonstrate that our faculty's students not only absorb theoretical knowledge delivered in lectures but also actively engage in solving partial scientific problems that align with research objectives at the institutes of PF UPJŠ. This collection serves as both a record of scientific activity at the faculty and a dignified presentation for the broader public.

Prof. RNDr. Katarína Cechlárová, DrSc.

Vice-Dean for Education

Doc. RNDr. Gabriel Semanišin, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty

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Marcel Uhrin - David Jandzik - Andrej Čerňanský - Michal Rindoš - Blanka Lehotská - Stanislav Danko - Ján Kautman - Peter Mikulíček - Peter Urban - Daniel Jablonski

Bibliographies provide basic scientific information, illustrate quality and intensity of research in a particular topic, area, or time, and thus help build a cultural-historical perspective of society’s appreciation of knowledge and education. Here we provide a bibliography of herpetological research in the region of Slovakia between the years 1791 and 2017. We collected 2,183 references authored by 1,453 different authors and covering all species of amphibians (18) and reptiles (13) occurring in Slovakia and, in addition, amphibian and reptile taxa occurring in 94 other countries.

Most of the contributions were published in popular magazines and non-indexed journals, while only about 12% of all references represent scientific articles from journals indexed in relevant scientific databases. The extensiveness of study on amphibians and reptiles has varied among different periods within the selected time frame. However, an obvious intensification in the field of herpetology can be observed, especially during the second half of the 20th century. While there have only been few professionals specialized in herpetology, an important role in promoting the research and conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Slovakia has been played by non-governmental organizations and hobbyists. The most frequent type of herpetological data in the referenced literature comes from faunistic research, followed by conservation and general information on herpetofauna, with the majority of published articles in indexed journals coming from the fields of palaeontology, phylogeography, and population genetics.

The presented bibliography is the first step towards building a solid base for future systematic herpetological research in the country and Central Europe.

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Jozef Strečka - Hana Čenčariková - Andrej Gendiar (eds.)

The proceeding involves programme and abstracts of Workshop on Quantum Magnetism: Theoretical Challenges and Future Perspectives, which was held on June 7th – June 8th, 2019, in Košice, Slovakia.

The workshop is organized by Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and Institute of Experimental Physics of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Košice under the financial support of Slovak Research and Development Agency.

The main conference topics are devoted to state-of-the-art problems of Quantum Theory of Magnetism inncluding molecular magnetism, highly frustrated magnetism, magnetic phase transitions, quantum spin liquids, strongly correlated systems, exotic quantum states, flat-band systems and quantum entanglement.

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Danica Sabolová

This university textbook is intended for students of the Faculty of Science of the University of Applied Sciences in Košice who have enrolled in practical exercises in Biotechnology, but also for all other students who are interested in learning about the practical applications of biotechnology.

The aim of the practical course is to familiarize students with basic biotechnological methods and their applications. The students will verify in practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in the Biotechnology lectures such as the course of fermentation processes, wine production, preparation of fermented milk products and cheese, preparation of culture media, inoculation and cultivation of microorganisms, etc. The practical exercises also include the use of analytical and spectral methods, which are an integral part of biochemistry.

The scripts are published only in electronic form and are available on the University's website: http://kosice.upjs.sk/~kbch/sk, for the reason that it will always be possible to update and modernize the content of the laboratory exercises.

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Daniela Kladeková

This university text is intended for students of chemical and ecological sciences at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the P. J. Šafárik University in Košice and is intended to serve as a tool for experimental exercises in colloid chemistry. Colloid chemistry is an important part of the theoretical basis of the chemical sciences and belongs to the newer interdisciplinary fields of natural sciences.

It combines knowledge from physical chemistry, physics and biology, while also drawing on a solid knowledge of mathematics and other scientific disciplines. Experiments are often essential in understanding the problems of colloid chemistry, modelling ideas about the phenomena and laws involved in the discipline. This is why active participation in experimental exercises is so important and essential to mastering the material in colloid chemistry.

In selecting the tasks for these scripts, it was also necessary to respect the considerable limitations imposed by the possibilities of the laboratory instrumentation and material equipment of our department. Despite this limitation, however, they can illustrate to students the basic theoretical physicochemical principles of colloid dispersion systems and, importantly, their understanding can contribute to the understanding of some of the more important peculiarities of colloidal phenomena.

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Janka Vrláková - Stanislav Vokál

Atomic and nuclear physics are relatively young scientific disciplines forming the final part of the general physics course at the Faculty of Physics of the Jagiellonian University. Their aim is to explain the nature of the basic physical properties of atoms, atomic nucleus and elementary particles.

This is also the content of the lectures and exercises ‘General Physics IV’ in the 2nd year of the Bachelor's degree in Physics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences (PF) of the P.J. Šafárik University (UPJŠ) in Košice. They are followed by optional lectures ‘Nuclear Radiation in the Environment’, ‘Introduction to the Physics of the Microworld’ in the 3rd year of the Bachelor's degree of single-discipline study of physics, or teacher study of physics in combination with another subject, and ‘Subnuclear Physics’ in the 1st year of the Master's degree of teacher study of physics in combination with another subject.

In the aforementioned lectures, the latest experimental findings on the structure and behaviour of the microworld are presented by means of physical theories and their subsequent experimental verification in experiments.

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Božena Mihalíková - Ján Ohriska

This text is intended for first-year students in 76-12-8 ‘General Education Teaching’ in combinations with mathematics. It is based on the authors' lectures and their more than ten years of experience in teaching this subject at the Faculty of Education of the University of Applied Sciences. When writing it, the authors tried to take into account the specificity of mathematics teaching studies.

The present teaching text was not written due to the lack of textbooks on mathematical analysis. The reason for writing it was the authors' findings that the students do not have sufficient experience in working with specialized literature from secondary school, the difficulties for many of them (especially in the first semesters) are caused by even a slightly different interpretation, not rarely also by a change in labeling, which makes them miss the essence of the studied problem. The authors of the text did not set out to be original. Their aim was to make such a selection of topics as is necessary for a future teacher of mathematics and to choose such a method of interpretation which, in their opinion, is suitable for first-year students.

A good mastery of the curriculum (expansion of the mathematical apparatus and the related possibilities of applying other methods of proof as well as the acquisition of the necessary numerical skills) presupposes the use of other literary sources (textbooks, collections of problems) according to the teacher's recommendation.

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Peter Paľove-Balang

The text ‘Uptake and transport of mineral substances in plants’ in Slovak language provides a general overview of the uptake and distribution of substances in an easy-to-understand form.

The individual chapters introduce students to the properties of the soil environment, which have a significant influence on the availability of substances, as well as the transport of substances across membranes and over medium and long distances. The text contains the latest findings from the English literature, supplemented by diagrams and graphs created by the author on the basis of his own research or by compiling several sources.

The text is intended primarily for students of a master's degree in biology or ecology and assumes at least a basic knowledge of plant physiology.

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Jozef Kováčik

These "Exercise Manuals" present a concise overview of commonly used methodologies as well as progressive techniques, such as the use of liquid chromatography and fluorescence microscopy. Individual tasks were selected based on the research focus of the Department of Botany at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, particularly in the context of "stress physiology."

Some tasks can also be utilized within the subject "Plant Ecology." Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is typically used as a model plant for individual tasks due to its long-standing history of research at the Department of Botany and its ease of cultivation under laboratory conditions. The chapters also briefly discuss the significance of monitored parameters, principles of their determination, and metabolism (formation or degradation), aiming to indicate their mutual context.

This approach highlights that determining an individual parameter cannot provide a general explanation for the overall causes and impacts of observed changes; however, it can serve as a basis for testing hypotheses at the level of other parameters.

For deeper study of specific issues, there is an abundance of high-quality international monographs and review articles available.

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Ondrej Hutník

The concept of the integral is one of the most significant concepts in mathematics as a whole. In its most primitive form, it was already used by the ancient Greeks in the creation of Euclidean geometry. However, it was only after Descartes' work on analytical geometry in 1637 that mathematicians could begin to consider the integral as a subject of analysis. Descartes' work laid the groundwork for the discovery of infinitesimal calculus by Leibniz and Newton around 1665. At that time, a great dispute arose over the priority of this discovery, dividing scholars of Germany and England into two opposing camps, each favoring their own champion. Today, we know that Newton's work on fluxions and fluents was somewhat earlier, but Leibniz's notation and approach have gained more acceptance in the mathematical world, and the symbols ∫ ∫ and d d are still used today. A brief overview of the history of the integral will be presented in Chapter 1.

Today, there is a plethora of scripts, textbooks, and books dedicated to explaining the concept of the integral. Therefore, every potential author faces the initial question of whether to write another text on this topic. Our affirmative answer to this question was driven by the students' request to find the subject matter of a part of the winter semester of the second year presented in a coherent form. The second motivation is a slightly different approach to the topic. If we consider the methods typically used in solving problems and gaining routine with a certain integral, it mainly involves the Newton-Leibniz formula, and often there is little time left to compute the definite (Riemann) integral using its definition. Therefore, we included a discussion of the Newton integral in Chapter 2, which reflects this fact and is directly related to the indefinite integral, whose various calculation methods receive relatively much attention in the previous semester. Only after that, in Chapter 3, do we build the theory of the Riemann integral, present criteria for its existence, classes of integrable functions, basic properties, and finally its relationship with the Newton integral. Questions primarily concerning geometric applications are addressed in Chapter 4, and in the final chapter, we focus on extending the Riemann integral to unbounded functions and unbounded intervals.

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Mária Kožurková

These university textbooks are intended for first-year master's degree students at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of UPJŠ in Košice. The scope and content of the works included in these scripts are primarily based on time and spatial constraints, taking into account the material demands of the tasks.

The aim of these scripts is to teach students basic microbiological techniques and to show them the importance of microorganisms in everyday life and their crucial role in nature. The exercises are designed to enhance students' technical skills and teach them to work according to safety principles.

The text is divided into 13 parts. Each part begins with an introduction to the theory related to the practice topic. The appendix includes a proposal for the preparation of protocols for individual exercises.

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Daniela Kladeková

Working with this study text requires adequate knowledge of physical chemistry, physics, and biology, as navigating the presented material becomes challenging without this foundation. A solid grasp of mathematics is essential and aids in understanding colloidal chemistry problems. The textbook, structured into individual chapters, first addresses optical and molecular-kinetic properties after classifying and characterizing disperse systems.

This university-level textbook is primarily intended for students in chemical and ecological disciplines at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. It does not aim to exhaustively cover every detail of the subject, as comprehensive treatments are already available in specialized monographs on colloid and macromolecular chemistry, as well as in foundational physical chemistry textbooks.

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Martin Orendáč

The textbook is designed to prepare students who will engage in the experimental study of the properties of condensed matter. It demonstrates that a contemporary experimental physicist must not only possess sufficiently detailed knowledge of the physical processes occurring within the object under study but also understand the methods for creating the experimental conditions in which the experiment is conducted. Active knowledge of the functioning of the entire experimental setup can be of fundamental importance in the implementation or potential modification of the measurement methodology used.

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Andrea Morovská Turoňová

The discovery of radioactivity at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries stimulated the rapid development of nuclear sciences. At the interface between nuclear physics and chemistry, disciplines such as radiochemistry, radiation chemistry and nuclear chemistry were formed.

The aim of the Nuclear Chemistry course which is taught at the PF UPJŠ is to provide basic knowledge, with an emphasis on the general value of the subject. It is important to make available the basics of various methods, techniques and their specifics in the application of nuclear phenomena in chemistry and related fields. Emphasis is also placed on the use of correct terminology, knowledge of the context of relationships and basic principles, supplemented by illustrative concrete cases.

The choice of material is rather difficult, but we count on additional monographs and textbooks to fill in the gaps of these teaching texts.

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Martin Bačkor - Silvia Mihaličová (eds.)

Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Doctoral Students in Experimental Plant Biology and the 13th Conference on Experimental Plant Biology, Košice, September 9–13, 2013

13th Conference of Experimental Plant Biology (Sections)

1. Cell Biology and Cytology: Michal Martinka
2. Developmental Biology and Morphogenesis: Alexander Lux
3. “Omics” – Genomics, Transcriptomics, and Proteomics: Boris Vyskot
4. Hormonal Regulation of Plant Growth and Development: Jana Albrechtová
5. Photosynthesis, Assimilate Production, and Transport: Jiří Šantrůček
6. GMOs and Plant Biotechnology: Eva Čellárová
7. Biophysical Signals and Optical Properties of Plants: Jan Nauš Stress
8. Physiology: Ľudmila Slováková
9. Plant Interactions with Organisms: Martin Bačkor
10. Water and Mineral Nutrition of Plants: Miroslav Repčák
11. Productive Biology of Plants and Agriculture: Václav Hejnák
12. Ecological Plant Biology and Global Climate Change: Michal Marek

11th Days of Doctoral Students in Experimental Plant Biology (Sections)

1. Molecular & Cell Genetics: Viktor Žárský
2. Developmental Biology: Alexander Lux
3. Biochemistry & Physiology: Jiří Šantrůček
4. Systematics & Evolution: Jana Albrechtová
5. Ecophysiology: Jana Albrechtová

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Kveta Markušová - Daniela Kladeková

Electrochemistry is the science that studies ionic systems and the processes or phenomena that occur at the interface between ionic systems and metals or semiconductors. At the current stage of development, electrochemistry can be divided into two main areas based on its focus. The first one - ionics - deals with the properties of ionic systems (solutions, melts, solid electrolytes). The second area - electrodeics - focuses on phenomena at the electrode/ionic system interface.

Both ionics and electrodeics investigate equilibrium and non-equilibrium phenomena and processes. Research into the properties of ionic systems under equilibrium conditions provides information and insights into the structure and composition of electrolyte solutions, melts, and solid electrolytes, while measurements under non-equilibrium conditions provide data on the electrical conductivity of ionic systems. In the field of electrodeics, the study of equilibria at the electrode/solution (or melt) interface is the domain of electrochemical thermodynamics. Measuring the rates of processes occurring at this phase interface and explaining the principles governing these processes fall under the scope of electrode process kinetics or electrochemical kinetics.

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Michal Jaščur

This monograph is devoted to the discussion of effective field theory based on the differential operator method, originally introduced by Honmura and Kaneyoshi in 1979, which remains actively used for theoretical studies of localized spin models of magnetism—particularly variants of the Ising model. To date, this methodology has been applied by numerous authors to investigate a wide range of systems, including crystalline systems, diluted magnetic systems, systems with random exchange interactions, amorphous magnetic materials, systems under random magnetic and crystalline fields, thin magnetic layers, magnetic systems with free surfaces, binary and ternary magnetic alloys, among others.

During my scientific career, I have collaborated with several leading experts in this field—including Prof. Kaneyoshi, with whom I completed two long-term research stays—to advance the development of the differential operator method (and consequently effective field theory). Within this research area, I have published over 40 scientific papers in prominent international physics journals. These works include both methodological advancements and significant applications that predict intriguing physical phenomena, such as multicompensation phenomena in ferrimagnets.

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Michal Jaščur - Michal Hnatič

This textbook covers the fundamentals of phenomenological thermodynamics to the extent typically taught in standard theoretical physics courses at the undergraduate level in the Physics degree program. A slightly reduced scope is also taught in all interdisciplinary study programs combined with physics. In recent years, the time allocation for individual courses has been slightly reduced, which is reflected in our selection and coverage of topics.

Our primary aim was to provide a sufficiently solid explanation of the key concepts and laws of thermodynamics necessary for mastering further theoretical physics courses at the master's level (e.g., Statistical Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Quantum Theory of Solids, Quantum Theory of Magnetism, etc.). The book also presents the essential minimum knowledge required for the study of further applications of thermodynamics in biophysics, biology, chemistry, and engineering disciplines.

Understanding individual sections, as well as the text as a whole, requires a grasp of the basic concepts of thermodynamics at the level of a General Physics course and knowledge equivalent to a standard university mathematics course. Each topic is treated with the utmost emphasis on conceptual clarity and mathematical rigor.

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Michal Jaščur

This is a supporting text for the undergraduate students interested in quan- tum theory of magnetism. The text represents an introduction to various theoretical approaches used in this eld. It is an open material, in the sense that it will be supported by appropriate problems to be solved by student at seminars and also as a homework.

The text consists of four chapters that form closed themes of the in- troductory quantum theory of magnetism. In the rst part we explain the quantum origin of the magnetism illustrating the appearance of the ex- change interaction for the case of hydrogen molecule. The second chapter is devoted to the application of the Bogolyubov inequality to the Heisenberg model and it represents the part which is usually missing in the textbooks of magnetism. The third chapter deals with the standard spin wave-theory including the Bloch and Holstein-Primakoff a approach. Finally, we discuss the application of the Jordan-Wigner transformation to one-dimensional spin-1/2 XY model.

The primary ambition of this supportive text is to explain diverse math- ematical methods and their applications in the quantum theory of mag- netism. The text is written in the form which should be sufficient to de- velop the skills of the students up to the very high level. In fact, it is expected that students following this course will able to make their own original applications of the methods presented in this book.

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Vladimír Zeleňák (ed.)

The publication contains abstracts of contributions presented at the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UPJŠ in Košice, held on April 25, 2013. The event was marked by the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UPJŠ and was part of a series of events called ScienceFest.

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Milan Žukovič

The textbook Computational Physics I covers the topics taught in the course of the same name at the bachelor's level of the Physics study program, as well as in the course Application of Numerical Methods at the bachelor's level of the Applied Informatics study program.

The text builds upon the basic course in numerical methods, focusing on explaining the fundamental principles of computer-based solutions to some typical physics problems. It includes both the area of deterministic methods for solving problems modeled by ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as the area of stochastic Monte Carlo simulations. The course Computational Physics I lays the foundation for further study of more advanced computational methods taught at the master's level in the subject Computational Physics II. Nowadays, the use of computers as a tool for solving real physics problems, and for students as a tool for preparing their final bachelor's or master's theses, is almost indispensable.

This has led to the creation of numerous user-oriented software packages in various environments for solving a wide range of problems. However, without a thorough understanding of how individual computational techniques work, these programs become black boxes with many pitfalls and risks in their use. Therefore, this text emphasizes understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of individual methods and the assumptions for their successful application.

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Vladimír Zeleňák(ed.)

The proceedings contain abstracts of contributions from participants of the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, which took place on April 22, 2015.

The Student Scientific Conference (SSC) enjoys long-term popularity among the faculty's students and teachers, and we are pleased that this was no different this year, with 128 contributions submitted to the SSC.

The contributions were organized into 19 sections, additionally complemented by an open programming competition and the final of the IHRA contest. For many students, presenting at the SSC is one of the first opportunities to gain experience in presenting their results before a professional audience. Considering the number of submitted contributions, along with the members of the expert juries from the faculty's teaching staff and the audience who came to support their classmates' presentations, the SSC is an event where a large part of the student and academic community of the faculty meets at one place and time. Many abstracts presented in this proceedings were developed as part of students' work on partial tasks that are components of research projects at the departments of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University.

The abstracts represent, in a way, an overview of research topics at the individual workplaces of the faculty. The SSC proceedings thus serve as a useful tool that students and faculty teachers can use to present the faculty externally to partners, employers, and potential collaborators. Partners from practice have shown interest in cooperating in organizing the SSC for a long time. Since 2005, the association of IT companies has awarded a Prize for the Most Original Work and a Prize for the Work with the Best Prospects for Practical Application.

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Miroslav Repčák - Martin Bačkor - Peter Paľove-Balang - Silvia Gajdošová

The establishment of the Plant Physiology Laboratory at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice in 1969 was associated with the name of Ing. Štefan Kocúrik, CSc. (1923–2006), who also prepared the first "Instructions for Exercises in Plant Physiology" (Košice 1972, 1976).

Since 1980, the manual by Associate Professor RNDr. Karol Erdelský, CSc., and Ing. Fridrich Frič, DrSc., titled "Practicum and Analytical Methods in Plant Physiology" (Bratislava 1980) has been used. With the increase in the number of students, it became relevant in 1991 to publish the "Instructions for Exercises in Plant Physiology" again to improve preparation and the efficient organization of practical work. Associate Professor RNDr. A. Košturiak, CSc., contributed significantly to the expansion of the introductory part of the instructions with his valuable advice, for which the authors are grateful. For the fourth edition, some tasks were updated and modernized, taking into account the possibilities of the renovated laboratory. The selection of tasks was adapted to the current scope of exercises for individual plant physiology subjects within the bachelor's and master's study programs in biology and ecology. These subjects include: Plant Physiology, Plant Metabolism, Mineral Nutrition of Plants, Plant Growth and Development, and Plant Ecology. Some tasks are also suitable for high school experiments.

The choice of topics was influenced by the research focus of our workplace on secondary metabolism, ecophysiology, and medicinal plants. The instructions generally adhere to the SI unit system, occasionally including other commonly used units.

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Mária Ganajová

The current teaching of chemistry has its specific problems. On one hand, due to the shift of the focus of chemistry curriculum towards theoretical content, the difficulty of chemistry material has increased, and in connection with this, students' interest in chemistry has decreased.

The lack of student interest in chemistry is mostly supported by the opinion that it is precisely chemistry that significantly contributes to the deterioration of environmental quality. On the other hand, we live in an era where we encounter chemical products practically everywhere. It is necessary to learn the basics of chemistry as well as possible, which makes the question of increasing interest in chemistry education and improving its effectiveness very relevant. State educational programs have been introduced into Slovak schools as a foundation for the creation of school educational programs. These emphasize not only acquiring a certain amount of knowledge but also the development and enhancement of key and specific competencies of students, preparing them for lifelong learning and their application in life.

Therefore, increasing attention is being paid to one of the fundamental didactic tools for raising student activity in teaching, and thus improving the effectiveness of chemistry education – learning tasks. From both theory and practice of chemistry teaching, we know that learning tasks, questions, examples, exercises, etc., are among the important components of every teaching lesson. Learning tasks are applied in all phases of teaching – in the motivational phase, the phase of acquiring knowledge, the phase of consolidating knowledge, and the phase of checking the acquired knowledge. It is therefore clear that every teacher will sooner or later find themselves in a situation where they will have to select learning tasks from textbooks, workbooks, collections of problems and examples, or create them themselves.

This scientific monograph is intended for educational specialists and chemistry teachers, aiming to familiarize them with examples of various types and forms of learning tasks and the basics of their creation in chemistry. It can also be helpful for them in preparing certification works focused on test creation and their statistical evaluation.

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Dušan Barabas - Alena Labunová

These study materials aim to provide basic information about biogeographical issues from a geographical perspective, i.e., a perspective focused primarily on the aspect of spatial differentiation of the biosphere. The basis for the division of the biosphere is its historical development, during which individual taxa and communities were formed.

The historical development of the biosphere did not occur under stable, constant conditions, but rather in ever-changing conditions caused by the position of our planet within the solar system, the position of the Earth's axis relative to the ecliptic, and also the position of the solar system within the galaxy. All changes in the Earth's position, together with the movement of continents (drift) and climate changes, created the prerequisites for the spatial expansion of the biosphere. The historical development of the biosphere, various perspectives, the hierarchical level of differentiation, and the causes of differentiation are incorporated in this study material, whose aim is to outline the basic principles of this division.

The goal is also to highlight certain differences in the understanding of terminology, as well as to point out some fundamental relationships operating within the landscape system in the broadest sense of the word. The section devoted to the ecological principles of the functioning and formation of the landscape system, according to MIČIAN and ZATKALÍK (1984), outlines the issues of understanding the terms ecosystem and geosystem. For this reason, the presented text includes chapters that attempt to explain the understanding and approach to some basic concepts.

These study materials are intended for students of single-subject, interdisciplinary, and supplementary studies as basic teaching material. By expanding the knowledge from this study material with further information, which is elaborated in more detail in the literature listed in the bibliography of this text, graduates will gain a comprehensive view of biogeographical issues.

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Igor Hudec - Ľubomír Kováč 

The study course provides the basic knowledge on the fundamental parameters, relationships and processes in ecological sciences. Brief content: ecological factors and relations to environment (air, water, soil); influence of ecological factors upon organisms (morphological adaptations, behavioural responses); populations and communities (external and internal parameters of populations, population dynamics); ecosystems (impact assessment) and biomes (basic features and human impact); cycles (hydrologic, gaseous, sedimentation) of basic elements on Earth.  

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