Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnical and Agricultural Research
The Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnical and Agricultural Research was established by Palacký University in Olomouc and the Olomouc worksites of the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Science and the Crop Research Institute.
Each partner brings their specific expertise, experts, and top technology into the Centre, supported by the Operational Programme of Research and Development for Innovation.
The Centre has become a part of the existing university complex on Šlechtitelů Street where modern infrastructure was constructed—four new buildings for individual research programmes. New facilities enable concentration of all participating worksites into a single campus, consolidation of the research teams, and equipping them with state-of-the-art equipment.
Research carried out at the Centre puts emphasis on interdisciplinarity and includes the following programmes:
- Protein Biochemistry and Proteomics
- Plant Bioenergetics
- Plant Biotechnology
- Chemical Biology
- Cell and Developmental Plant Biology
- Plant Genetics and Genomics
- Metabolomics
- Genetic Resources of Vegetables and Special Crops
The main goal of the Centre is the expansion of the research capacities of the university and its partners, the concentration of scientific potential in one place, and the effective transfer of the results of science and research into the commercial sector.
The successful fulfillment of these goals will be beneficial for the Olomouc region by bringing about the development of sophisticated plant biotechnologies, thus strengthening the areas of agriculture and breeding which have a long tradition in the Haná region. An intensive development of biotechnological and agricultural research, and subsequently applying its results in use will also create ideal conditions for keeping scientific capacities in the region. The results of research and development will be treated by intellectual property protection and will be provided to external parties in and beyond the region through licenses. Another goal is a more intense application of the most advanced biotechnology in the application sphere and to enhance the competitiveness of regional businesses. The cooperation with partners from the academic and commercial sector mainly takes the form of long-term research collaboration and contracted research. The Centre has been among others cooperating with some major companies, giving it the perspective of delivering its products beyond the region, and beyond the Czech Republic.
The Centre is quite active in obtaining grant funds for research as well as educational projects and publishes extensively in journals with a relatively high impact factor. There is also extensive cooperation with various foreign partners from academic and commercial sector.
The Centre’s operations also include the education of students at the Faculty of Sciences of Palacký University in Olomouc, especially students majoring in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Molecular Biophysics, Experimental Biology, and Botany and Plant Physiology and Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Researchers at the Centre are involved in teaching students and they supervise Bachelor’s and Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.
