The Institute is one of the 55 research institutes of Czech Academy of Sciences. It conducts research in the following fields: - Non-inductive current drive and heating in tokamaks by lower hybrid waves - Edge plasma turbulence in tokamaks - Plasma diagnostics - High current capillary discharge - Generation of shock waves by a plasma discharge in water - Generation of chemically active non-equilibrium plasma in gases at atmospheric pressure and in liquids - Generation of equilibrium water-stabilised arc discharges - Interaction of thermal plasma with materials: plasma spraying and waste treatment - Materials research connected with plasma technologies - Generation of hot dense plasma by a sub-nanosecond iodine laser - Laser plasma as a source of intense coherent and non-coherent x-ray radiation and of multicharged ions - Special optics and optomechanical systems, state-of-the-art precision, including consulting, advisory and expertise services, simulations, analysis, application research, precise manufacturing, prototyping and measurements. Since 1999 the Institute has been coordinating Czech participation in the EURATOM S&T programme in fusion (Association EURATOM/IPP.CR)