At present Charles University has seventeen faculties altogether, out of which fourteen are seated in Prague while the other three are located in the distinguished important Czech towns of Hradec Kralove and Plzen.

The Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University, with its seat in the town of Hradec Kra1ove, was established by a government decree in 1969. This Faculty of Pharmacy has continued in the old and long-time tradition of the education of pharmacy at Charles University.

Pharmacy is a medical branch, which is focused on the research, production, control, supply, and dispensing of medicines and drugs. It also deals with information about drugs and pharmaceutical functions, organizations, the management of pharmaceutical functions (social pharmacy), and with the historical development of the branch.

Hradec Kralove, the biggest town in Eastern Bohemia, has about one hundred thousand inhabitants and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Labe and Orlice about 100 km from the capital of the country , Prague.

It is mentioned among the oldest Czech towns as early as 1225. At the beginning of the 14th century, it became the dowry and royal seat of Czech queens. That is why since that time it has had the contemporary name - "the Castle of the Queen". The town itself flourished economically in the 15th century, but later it was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. The historical core of the town has its major buildings: the cathedral of the Holy Ghost dating from the beginning of the 14th century, White Tower from the end of the 16th century, and the baroque Jesuit church of the Assumption of Mary the Virgin with a convent from the 2nd half of the 17th century. Towards the end of the 18th century, the town was changed into a late baroque fortress. Since 1884 the character of the town as a fortress was gradually transformed - the town got rid of the shell of the fortification and further possibilities for its development became available. Between the two World Wars, the town developed into the center of modern Czech architecture.

After World War II Hradec Kralove became the administrative and cultural center of Eastern Bohemia - with theatres, galleries, museums, high schools, and colleges. Besides the Faculty of Pharmacy it is also the seat of the Medical Faculty, Charles University; Military Medical Academy; and the independent University of Pedagogics. About 4,000 students attend classes in this town every year.

The students are trained to work on the research of new medicaments and medicinal preparations, in their production, control, and distribution; in the pharmaceutical service; information service; management; pharmaceutical education; and biochemical and other laboratories.

Research Areas

One of the most characteristic features of the pharmacy science is its interdisciplinary - pharmacy distributes its attention into interfaces of chemistry, biology, medicine and is closely related also with social life, health care and economy. From this point of view the faculty research activities can be divided into three general scientific areas

* Chemically or physical-chemically oriented research
* Biologically and medically oriented research
* Pharmacy praxis oriented research

Grants Most of the important scientific projects are financed by form of grants.