The approval process, which lasted almost a year and a half, has been finalized by the signature of the Euro commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn. The Minister of Education of the Czech Republic Josef Dobeš had already signed the Resolution on providing a grant to the CEITEC project , which was the condition for its actual start, before the approval of the European Commission in order to quicken all administrative and procedural time limits.
„The approval of the project by the European Commission is a successful climax of several years lasting efforts of many people who participated in its preparation. We invested a lot of energy, time and financial resources in the preparation of the project. We are pleased with the result which shows that we have a made a step in the right direction,“ said the Rector of Masaryk university Petr Fiala.
CEITEC is the second largest and best evaluated major project in the first priority axis of the Operational Programme Research and Development for innovation. The overall setting and management of the project has undergone several stages of rigorous verification by European and Czech experts. The uniqueness of the project lies in the tight interconnection of life sciences with the research and development of advanced materials and new technologies. The aim is to set up a significant European centre of science and education with state-of-the-art facilities and conditions for the best scientists. The modern laboratories will grow to the total area of 25,000 m2 by 2014 in the University Campus Bohunice and in the area Pod Palackého vrchem in Brno. The unique instrumentation will be utilized by up to 600 scientists and experts from the Czech Republic and abroad; there will be up to 1,200 students involved in the research programmes.
The institute will bring to scientists state-of-the-art technology, unique instruments and facilities comparable to global research institutes. „CEITEC will ensure not only facilities comparable to world leaders, but also masterminds in science for the extension of existing research teams. For the whole of the South Moravian Region and the city of Brno, CEITEC is an investment for the future. We expect the whole region to be significantly lifted in terms of economic growth and its prestige abroad,“ claimed Karel Rais, the Rector of Brno University of Technology.
Within the cooperation of seven research programmes: Advanced Nanotechnology and Microtechnology, Advanced materials, Structural Biology, Genomics and Proteomics of Plant Systems, Molecular Medicine, Brain and Mind Research and Molecular Veterinary Medicine, innovative inventions will be generated within a very wide focus in CEITEC, e.g.: exploratory military robots and nanorobots, special hydrogels, which are able to join fractured bones by means of an injection, dentures of ceramic and metal materials tailor-made for the patient, or self-cleaning paints for buildings. Scientists will also study the human mind and brain and even technology to find the fastest and best quality sperm. Based on research of human and animal molecules and cells taking place in CEITEC, doctors will be able to diagnose infectious, oncological and other illnesses.
The owners of the CEITEC project are Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University in Brno, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Brno, Institute of Physics of Materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Veterinary Research Institute.
Vision of the CEITEC centre: „We are creating a centre of excellent science, whose results will contribute to the improvement of the quality of life and human health.“
