Applied research knows its winners

Yesterday,the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) awarded the best applied research projects for the past year for the twelfth time. The theme of the TA CR Day 2024 was 15 years of the TA CR, and so the celebration of Czech applied research was joined by the celebration of this important anniversary of the Agency. The professional part of the programme was alternated by a unique website with articles, videos and interviews on the topic. In the evening, four top projects with a high contribution to society and the economy were awarded in the categories PARTNERSHIP, GOVERNANCE, BUSINESS and SOCIETY. The absolute winner was voted for by the public via the TA CR website, together with the audience in the hall, and was the project from the COMPANY category, whose researchers developed a unique system for water purification using plasma.

TA CR Day always has a specific theme that highlights current events in society. Last year, the Agency tried to show that science is not science fiction and can push the boundaries of what is possible. For this year, TA CR focused on its 15th anniversary. “This year is really special for the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, as it celebrates 15 years since its foundation. It has come a long way in that time and has become a respected institution providing support for applied research and innovation in the Czech Republic. It is not only for this reason that we decided to celebrate this important anniversary at the most important evening of the whole year for us, i.e. the TA CR Awards,” said Petr Konvalinka, Chairman of the TA CR.

In the professional part of the TA CR Day, the traditional conference was replaced by a unique website with content reflecting the theme of the event. The microsite opens with a timeline that guides visitors through the important milestones achieved by the Agency from its foundation to the present day. Most milestones are followed by an article, interview or video that explains its essence in an interesting way. “We have tried to present each milestone to the public in an engaging way and let them see behind the curtain of the research ecosystem and TA CR’s support. On the website you can read a very engaging interview with Miroslava Kopicová, former Minister of Education in Mirek Topolánek’s government, who recalled how difficult it was to push through the establishment of TA CR. Milena Vicenová recalled the entry of TA CR into TAFTIE and its presidency and Táňa Hálová Perglová explains very nicely the tools of international cooperation. I definitely recommend visiting the website,” says the President of the TA CR. The website has been available since spring at 15let.tacr.cz.

An absolute novelty of this year’s TA CR Day is the podcast miniseries TA.LK, in which Martin Bunček, Director of the TA CR Office, discusses topics from the field of research, technology and government in a human and creative way with inspiring guests. Josef Švejda, CFO and Managing Director of the Rožnov branch of onsemi, and Pavla Hubálková, science populariser, have accepted the invitation to join the programme. There will be five episodes in total and they will be published every Thursday from 14 November on podcast platforms and the 15let.tacr.cz website.

The gala evening with the awarding of the TA ČR Awards to the best applied research projects for the past year was traditionally held in the historic building of the National Museum. The winners of the winning projects will take home an original glass sculpture by Czech designer Lukáš Jabůrk. “The TA ČR awards go to the best quality applied research projects of the past year. The award is intended to be a form of motivation to maintain and encourage further cooperation in the field of applied research. We award them in four categories – BUSINESS, PARTNERSHIP, SOCIETY and GOVERNANCE. The public decides who will receive the fifth Czech Idea Award,” said Petr Konvalinka. The absolute winner and the winner of the Czech Idea Award from 3Dees was decided by the public via a vote on the TA ČR website and by the audience in the hall. They chose the project from the SOCIETY category.

WINNING PROJECTS OF THE TA CZ AWARDS 2024

Business category

New silencers will reduce noise emissions from rolling stock

Solvers:

• BONATRANS GROUP a.s.
• Centre for Advanced Innovative Technologies Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, VŠB-TUO

Excessive noise is currently one of the most widespread pollutants that not only destroy nature, but also cause serious diseases of civilization. It is therefore not surprising that there is increasing pressure to reduce man-made noise emissions, especially in the transport sector. The team of experts from the winning project in the BUSINESS category addressed the topic of noise emissions, specifically in rail vehicles such as trains, trams and subways. Their project focused on the development of damping systems, mathematical predictions of their behaviour and experimental verification of their acoustic properties. As a result, they have validated the material and design of acoustic dampers for three types of rail transport – high-speed passenger transport, freight transport for EU carriers and urban transport.

Video: Business category winner

Company category – the main winner of the evening and winner of the Czech Idea Award

Unique technology for water purification

Solvers:

• ZENA s.r.o.
• Institute of Botany of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Masaryk University / Faculty of Science
• T. G. Masaryk Research Institute of Water Management public research institution

Micropollutants, together with pesticides, represent the greatest threat to drinking water quality. These are substances that are discharged daily into wastewater as a result of human activity – mostly residues of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. They are difficult to remove and therefore often pass through the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) into the aquatic environment. Small WWTPs, which lack tertiary treatment, have the greatest difficulty in disposing of micropollutants. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are an effective tool for wastewater treatment, but they have a number of disadvantages – high operating costs, undesirable by-products, safety risks and, most importantly, low efficiency at low concentrations. The winning project in the COMPANY category therefore focused on the development and subsequent application of plasma AOP technology. This advanced oxidation method uses plasma to generate highly reactive radicals (atoms, ions and molecules with unpaired electrons that have the ability to efficiently break down organic and inorganic pollutants in wastewater). The resulting technology has the potential to become an efficient and economically sustainable method for decentralised wastewater treatment.

Video: Winner in the Company category

Partnership category

Centre for Electron and Photon Optics

Principal Investigators:

• Institute of Instrumentation of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Biological Centre of the CAS, v. v. i.
• CRYTUR, spol. s r.o.
• Institute of Physics of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Meopta – Optika, s.r.o.
• MESING, spol. s r.o.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Brno s.r.o.
• Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the CAS, v. v. i.
• Czech Technical University in Prague / Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Masaryk University / Central European Institute of Technology
• Palacký University in Olomouc / Faculty of Science
• Brno University of Technology / Central European Institute of Technology
• Brno University of Technology / Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

The Centre brings together all key academic and industrial players in the Czech Republic involved in research and development in the field of electron and photon optics. Thanks to photon and electron optics, we can observe or learn about atoms and molecules of materials and matter or individual cells and what happens in them, but it also allows us to work in this world. Thanks to tools such as lasers or electron beams, we can manipulate atoms or molecules to change the properties of surfaces and structures of materials, for example, as required. In the course of the project, a complementary synergy has been created between the partners, which brings the many years of bilateral cooperation and the experience gained by the participants to a level where these sectors of Czech research and industry are approaching world leaders, creating new jobs and significantly increasing the added value of the related industrial production. The work of experts in this project has produced a total of 220 results, including 107 working samples, 20 proven technologies and 3 software products.

Video: Winner in the Partnership category

GOVERNANCE category

Methodology and standard setting for regional raw material concepts

Principals:

• Czech Geological Survey
• G E T s.r.o.

In June 2017, the Government of the Czech Republic approved the Ministerial Strategy of the Raw Materials Policy of the Czech Republic in the field of minerals and their resources. Creating a uniform way of implementing this state policy in individual regions, taking into account their possibilities, needs and resources, was one of the objectives of the winning project in the GOVERNANCE category. Other, equally important objectives of the project were to determine how to easily and uniformly update regional raw materials concepts and ensure that they are linked to spatial plans following successive updates of the national raw materials policy. The project resulted in a universally applicable methodology and standardised procedures for the development of regional (regional) raw material concepts in line with the conclusions of the national raw material policy and other sectoral policies. The researchers tested the developed methodology in the Karlovy Vary and Central Bohemia regions together with the territory of the capital city of Prague.

Video: Winner in the GOVERNANCE category

Mgr. Mgr. Veronika Dostálová

Spokeswoman of TA ČR

Source.

Mgr. Mgr. Veronika Dostálová

Spokeswoman of TA ČR