RCPTM participated in two projects awarded in the contest Vizionáři 2021
The Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM), now part of CATRIN, Palacký University, scooped two awards in the contest Vizionáři 2021. During the ceremony in Prague, the centre’s representatives received an honorary mention for NANOBIOWAT, a system for groundwater treatment, and its contribution to the protection of water resources and the environment. RCPTM, as a partner in Alterbio—another project funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR)—also participated in the development of technologies using silver nanoparticles in antimicrobial applications, for which the company Synpo, the principal investigator, was awarded.
“From my viewpoint the NANOBIOWAT project was a great success. The cooperation of academic partners with remediation companies worked brilliantly and proved that cutting-edge research can be translated into industrial practice. The technologies have been already used by companies both in the Czech Republic and abroad,” added the Principal Investigator, Radek Zbořil.
NANOBIOWAT was an eight-year project funded by the Competence Centre of TACR, which joined three academic partners (Palacký University Olomouc, Technical University of Liberec, and the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS) and major domestic remediation companies. Between 2012 and 2019, the project partners developed novel environmentally friendly nanotechnologies and biotechnologies that are capable of removing organic as well as inorganic and microbial pollutants from contaminated waters and soils. This joint effort resulted in 4 patents, almost 30 proven technologies, and dozens of papers in world-renowned scientific journals. Another outcome worth highlighting is a book entitled Advanced Nano-Bio Technologies for Water and Soil Treatment, published by Springer.
RCPTM participated in another project supported by TACR—Alterbio, for which Synpo was awarded. The Olomouc research group crucially contributed to designing a system for anchoring silver nanoparticles onto a polyurethane carrier, now protected by a European patent.
The aim of Vizionáři,which has been organized by CzechInno for 11 years, is to award innovative projects and help to commercialize innovative ideas. According to the Executive Director of CzechInno, Tereza Šamanová, the goal is to not only praise visionary projects but also offer their authors suitable links and contacts for collaboration. “Vizionáři does not end by announcing the winners—it continues with collaboration,” she explained.
The total of 44 applications from 11 regions were submitted for this eleventh year. “A vast number of different fields were represented, most of which were the result of interdisciplinary collaborations. Two areas, however, stood out—environmental technologies and digitalization,” revealed the Chair of the expert jury, Pavel Švejda, from the Association of Innovative Entrepreneurship CR.
CzechInno is an interest association of legal persons that was established in 2011 with the aim of effectively supporting innovation in the Czech business arena. It’s an author of a unique system of innovation support for Czech companies in the public sector; holder of a number of regional, national, and international grants focusing on innovation development support; founder of the Central European Platform for Digital Innovation CzechInno; and the co-founder of Hub for Digital Innovation.