PROJECT COORDINATOR
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Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia |
Main expertise: Structure, stability, thermodynamics of proteins
Role in the project: CIB TIP-UPJS is the coordinator and the main beneficiary of the CasProt project. Staff, scientific as well administrative, and early stage researchers at CIB TIP-UPJS will participate on all activities of the project, organization of workshops, symposia, trainings, joint summer schools. CIB TIP-UPJS will benefit from the incoming expert visits from University of Zürich (Switzerland) (UZH) and Technical University of Munich (Germany) (TUM) as well as outgoing short-term visits at the partners institutions. Dissemination and communication activities will be performed by the designated members of CIB. Finally, CIB TIP-UPJS will manage and coordinate work-packages (WP1-WP6) involved in the project and communicate with EC.
PAVOL JOZEF ŠAFÁRIK UNIVERSITY IN KOŠICE (UPJS), CIB TIP-UPJS
UPJS established in 1959, is the second-largest classical Slovak university with five faculties (Medicine, Science, Law, Public Administration, Arts) and approximately 7500 students and 650 teachers/researchers. The recent reports of several Academic Ranking and Rating Agencies confirm that the quality of research outputs from the UPJS is increasing and that the University belongs between the best three Research universities in Slovakia. Research infrastructure of the UPJS has been in the previous years (2010-2019) upgraded by the implementation of 24 scientific and research projects within the national Operational Program Research and Development (OPRD), which is an implementation strategy for European Cohesion Policy defined in the official National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 negotiated with EC. Individual laboratories from UPJS have participated in FP5, FP6, FP7, and H2020 projects. The most important from the point of view of the recent CasProt project was the FP7 project – „Fostering Excellence in Multiscale Cell Imaging“ – 316310 CELIM, [REGPOT-2012-2013-1 HEALTH], period: 2013-2016, total budget 2.7 million of EUR. This project, coordinated by prof. Pavol Miskovsky (the Director of the TIP-UPJS), enabled in the previous years to establish close cooperation (mainly bilateral projects) with experienced scientists from recognized research institutions in Europe.
Technology and Innovation Park at the UPJS (TIP-UPJS) is a newly created center of scientific and technology excellence at UPJS in the fields of biomedicine, biotechnology, information technologies, and advanced materials. The primary mission of TIP-UPJS is to create a healthy ecosystem of high-quality centers of capitalized research and applications with an efficiently working environment for business activities in the high-tech industry. The core center of the TIP-UPJS is the Center for Interdisciplinary Biosciences (CIB TIP-UPJS). The research performed at CIB TIP-UPJS is an interdisciplinary biomedical research focused mainly on protein science (in vitro evolution of proteins, protein engineering, therapeutics aggregation), development of nanovehicles for targeted drug delivery, study of physicochemical mechanism of cytotoxic activityof photoactive molecules (photosensitizers) used in photodynamic therapy and bioenergetics. The scientific approach includes different sophisticated experimental as well as theoretical methods applied at molecular through cellular up-to whole organism level (experiments with laboratory animals). In the previous years (2010-2019), the laboratories of CIB TIP-UPJS were equipped by the state-of-the-art techniques in molecular biophysics, protein engineering, organic biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, laser spectroscopy, bioenergetics, microscopy, and molecular simulations (computer super-facilities). The budget for these new laboratory instruments was approximately 2.5 million EUR.
COOPERATING PARTNERS
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University of Zürich, Switzerland |
Main expertise: Protein engineering, directed evolution of proteins, display technologies, structural biology, high-throughput techniques
Role in the project: Providing expertise in the specific area of protein science, directed in vitro evolution of proteins and high-throughput expression and analysis of proteins, participation on workshops, symposia and joint summer schools during the project, providing capacity and tutoring for the outgoing visits of the scientists and early stage researchers from CIB TIP-UPJS to UZH. Helping the staff of the coordinating institution (the UPJS) to improve its project management/administration skills through short-term expert visits, trainings and workshops. The co-coordinator of WP1 and WP5.
UNIVERSITY OF ZÜRICH (UZH), Department of Biochemistry
With its 26,000 enrolled students, the Universität Zürich (UZH) is Switzerland’s largest university. Founded in the year 1833, UZH was Europe’s first university to be established by a democratic political system; today, UZH is one of the foremost universities in the Germanspeaking world. Made up of seven faculties covering some 100 different subject areas, the University offers a wide variety of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs. In addition, UZH’s continuing education programs offer excellent learning opportunities. As a member of the “League of European Research Universities” (LERU), the Universität Zürich belongs to Europe’s most prestigious research institutions. Numerous distinctions highlight the University’s international renown in the fields of medicine, immunology, genetics, neuroscience and structural biology as well as in economics. To date, the Nobel Prize has been conferred on twelve UZH scholars. The academic excellence of the Universität Zürich brings benefits to both the public and the private sectors not only in the Canton of Zurich, but throughout Switzerland. Knowledge is shared in a variety of ways: in addition to granting the public access to its twelve museums and many of its libraries, the University makes findings from cutting-edge research available to the public in accessible and engaging lecture series and panel discussions.
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Technical University of Munich, Germany |
Main expertise: Single-molecule biophysics, protein folding, optical tweezers, and related software and hardware development, data analysis, molecular assays, new protocols protein conjugations.
Role in the project: Providing expertise in the specific area of protein science, single-molecule protein folding and refolding, development and customization of high-resolution optical tweezers, participation on workshops, symposia and joint summer schools during the project, providing capacity and tutoring for the outgoing visits of the scientists and early stage researchers from CIB TIP-UPJS to TUM. Helping the staff of the coordinating institution (the UPJS) to improve its project management/administration skills through short-term expert visits, trainings and workshops. The co-coordinator of WP1 and WP5.
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH (TUM), Department of Physics E22
TUM was founded in 1868 to provide the state of Bavaria with a centre of learning dedicated to the natural sciences. The university played a vital role in Bavaria’s transition from an agricultural to an industrial state – and accelerated the pace of technological advancement across Europe. TUM is clearly structured. It has 14 academic departments, and Integrative Research Centres engaged in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. The TUM Board of Management oversees the running of the university, the TUM Board of Trustees is the university’s central supervisory board. The TUM is one of Europe’s top universities. It is committed to excellence in research and teaching, interdisciplinary education and the active promotion of promising young scientists. The university also forges strong links with companies and scientific institutions across the world. TUM was one of the first universities in Germany to be named a University of Excellence. Moreover, TUM regularly ranks among the best European universities in international rankings.
