Top research projects head to the Central Bohemia Region
In the future there will be two new research infrastructures in the Central Bohemia Region – ELI and BIOCEV. Both of them successfully passed national evaluation of project applications in first call of Priority Axis I of Research and Development for Innovations Operational Programme 2007-2013 for building European centers of excellence. BIOCEV and ELI advanced among other 8 projects to final evaluation phase of the European Commission, which is to decide about financing of the projects by the end of 2010.
“ELI and BIOCEV projects can count on support of Central Bohemia Region Authority. Both projects will contribute among other to creation of new jobs, development of perspective areas of industry and business and strengthening of competitiveness of Central Bohemia Region. The Region has been continuously making efforts to develop itself as independent and economically strong region with knowledge oriented economy. ELI and BIOCEV projects bring a unique opportunity to use and further develop innovation potential of the Region and at the same time give a chance to at least partially make up for the debt when historically low amounts of money were flowing in to Central-Bohemian infrastructure, “ said the governor of the Central Bohemia Region Dr. David Rath.
ELI is an international project mentioned in ESFRI – European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures with the aim to build and operate a unique laser infrastructure. The unique ELI Beamlines laser center will be built in Dolní Břežany. Primary task of the center will be creation of entirely new generation of secondary sources produced by ultra intensive lasers. For fundamental research, the ultra intensive sources will enable for example laboratory experiments in quantum electrodynamics with high energy densities, in laboratory astrophysics (eg. laboratory testing of pulsar radiations mechanisms) and in warm dense matter physics, plasma physics etc.
For applied research the new laser sources of radiation and particles will enable among other development of new diagnostics in medicine, new therapeutic techniques, personalized treatments and new materials.
Zoning permit for ELI became effective in January 2010. Now there is intensive preparation of building permit documentation. At the same time geological, vibration and oscillation measurements are being done.
“If the project is approved by the European Commission by the end of 2010 we expect the construction to be started by half of 2011 with foreseen term of completion in 2013” says Jan Řídký, Director of the Institute of Physics of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, “Following to that the experts will start setting up lasers and other technologies and in second half of 2015 ELI will be put into operation”.
BIOCEV is common project of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Charles University with the aim to build biotechnological and biomedical centre in Vestec. The research will be oriented to for example functioning and diseases of liver, cardiovascular dysfunction, development of diabetes and other metabolic derangements, which make part of metabolic syndrome. The scientists will also try to clarify genetic basis for innate loss of hearing and presbyacusia of humans. They will study association of tumorous diseases to viral infections and possibilities of gene therapy and vaccination against viral infections. In environmental issues, the scientists will focus at enzymes usable for example by waste management, in modern energetic (biological items), by biotechnological processing of food or by optimization of applicability of some nucleolytic enzymes against cancer proliferation. They will also consider the proposal of morphologically and functionally equivalent tissue substitutes constructed on the basis of biomaterials and human stem cells. Preparation of blood vessel, heart valves, cartilages and bone substitutes is planned.
