Curriculum vitae Martin Žofka

Here I included a picture of mine. I didn't find anything else than this ex-ID photo with part of the official stamp still on it.

I was born on December 23,1970 in Prague where I still live. My father Mr. Jan Žofka was a physicist and my mother Mrs. Helena Žofková is an architect. I have a sister (1976) and a brother (1972).

Starting with the fifth grade of basic school I attended a class with emphasis on natural sciences. In 1985 after eight years of primary school I passed an entrance exam for high school of W.Pieck ( renamed after the Velvet Revolution ) focused on mathematics. During the next four years I regularly took part in mathematical and physical competitions for students and several corresponding seminars on mathematics and physics and achieved satisfactory results. I passed the school-leaving exam with honor. Due to these facts I entered Charles University, Mathematical-physical Faculty in 1989 without having to pass the entrance exam.

Since childhood I was fascinated by the night sky and astronomy became one of my hobbies. But I didn't want to know the names of stars and constellations only. I also wondered how it worked. And so after two years of studying the basic physics I decided to continue in two branches: at the Department of Theoretical Physics and the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. One year later in November 1992 I started my diploma thesis "The gravitational field around compact objects" from Professor J. Bicak of the Theoretical Physics Department. So relativistic physics became my major. Currently I am working together with another PhD. student Tomáš Ledvinka on the problem of generating Kerr-Newman black-hole solutions by infinitely thin disks. Also together with Vladislav Karas and David Vokrouhlický of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics we are investigating the possibility of generating the cosmic gamma-ray bursts through stars crossing a jet emanating from an active galactic nuclei.

I really like travelling. I have made two long trips. The first one was in summer 1991 when I worked as a counselor in YMCA Camp Oakes near Big Bear City, California. And the second one was in 1994/95 during which time I have been studying UNM in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was studying physics there of course but also took lectures on topology. Besides natural sciences I took Italian and history of the Western civilization. During my stay there I visited almost all national parks in the western US and also drove to the east coast . In winter me and two friends of mine drove to Baja California, Mexico. I also travelled in Europe where I have been to Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Poland, Ucraine. I also visited some islands in the Baltic sea during three weeks on a small yacht.

I speak English, German, Russian and right now I am learning Italian.

I am interested in sports. I do karate. I used to go jogging and biking. Now my bike broke down and I don't have much time left for jogging either. Also I go skiing every winter at least for a week or so (this year I went to the Italian Alps). This summer I hope I'll get a chance to try again one my favourite sports which is windsurfing.

We have a cottage in Southern Bohemia near Třeboň. That is one of the places which I simply must go to regularly or I'll go crazy living with another million people in the capital. Believe me, there is nothing more relaxing than taking care of our small garden or wandering through the surrounding forest picking mushrooms or simply listening to the silence.

I have quite a large collection of post-stamps but have not done anything with it within the last two years unfortunately (I'm always promising myself I will).