The kick-off meeting of the CasProt project was held by the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (UPJS) as a coordinator of the project Horizon 2020 from the European Framework Program of the EU for Research and Innovation within the framework of the “Twinning” call on the 12th and 13th of October 2020.
The objective of the meeting was to present and discuss all the technical and administrative aspects of the project, reach a common agreement concerning the responsibilities and duties of the leaders for each work package, to understand the linkage between work packages, and to plan activities implemented in the first period of the project.
The main goal of the project is to increase the scientific capacity and grow the research potential of UPJŠ in Košice in the field of protein sciences. Its implementation will take 3 years.
Top research teams of partner entities of the Technical University of Munich and the University of Zurich participate in the project. This project will lead to the development of technologies and the increase of the innovation potential of UPJŠ in Košice with the expected impact not only on eastern Slovakia but also on the whole country.
The results of the research will provide an understanding of the molecular basis of the regulation of GPCR function, as well as the improvement of a rational approach to the targeted development of new drugs. The project also significantly supports young scientists in the development of skills in the field of interdisciplinary biosciences, and one of the ambitions of the project is also to attract back experienced Slovak scientists working abroad for a long time. It is expected that the results of the project will lead to the creation of a patent and start-up company as well as to contacts with major industrial companies.
