Scientists, students, representatives of small and medium-sized companies from the border of the Czech and Slovak Republics will meet. Not the beginning of a joke, but the real vision of the European project GlaCerHub, coordinated by Czech and Slovak scientists. They are planning joint workshops where the participants will share information. Representatives of glass-ceramic companies may be interested in the innovative approaches and conclusions of the scientists' research - they will establish cooperation and set up a spin-off company with the skilful students to monetise the findings. No more ideas ending up in a drawer, no more regional companies falling behind. The beginning of communication and collaboration across heterogeneous groups. This is the vision of GlaCerHub - a shared space for the glass and ceramics industry to flourish, whose imaginary petals will grow from the South Moravian and Trenčín regions. The European Union is "watering" the project with 5 million euros.
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Blahomír Skoupý, project manager, answers the questions, complemented by Prof. Karel Maca, project coordinator at CEITEC BUT.
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Who makes up the GlaCerHub project?

The GlaCerHub consortium consists of six partners from the Czech Republic and seven from Slovakia. They include representatives of the research and industrial sector, the municipalities of the Trenčín and South Moravian Regions and talent acquisition institutions such as the South Moravian Innovation Centre, the South Moravian Centre for International Mobility, the Slovak Chamber of Commerce, etc. In the field of technology transfer, intellectual property protection and preparation and implementation of European projects, the Spanish company Inveniam contributes significantly with its know-how.

Why do we need such a centre?

In these two regions, research and development in the glass and ceramics industries is thriving. Unfortunately, however, what is not succeeding, at least not to the same level as in other EU Member States, is the transfer and application of scientific knowledge to the industrial sector. Start-ups, spin-off companies and, in general, the commercialisation of research results is something that should kick-start this new ecosystem.

What tools do you want to use to do this?

What tools do you want to use to achieve this?Now I will speak for the Czech branch of the project. We have a budget to put money and effort into training for PhD students, employees of industrial companies, and into the support and development of applied research - to get the results into practice. We would also like to involve more glass-ceramic companies in the Horizon Europe programme to participate in these projects. So far, only two small to medium-sized companies from our region are part of the project. When we manage to expand this number, it will only be to the benefit of the Czech Republic.

How large a group would the new innovation centre be for?

The bigger it is, the better. It's primarily aimed at companies in the glass-ceramic industry. But research and development is focused on a wide range of applications across industries. The aerospace and automotive industries are therefore also targeted. There would be applications in recycling and ecology in general, as we are also researching the development of low-carbon building materials that have a lower carbon footprint. We could also interest dentists, a medical field. The range of applications is really wide. We can offer cooperation to perhaps dozens or even hundreds of companies. But we still need time, we are still at the beginning of the project.

What preceded the project?

Karel Maca: I was approached with the idea for the project by my colleague, the head of the FunGlass Centre of Excellence in Trenčín, Prof. Dušan Galusek. We have been collaborating very intensively since 2014 and during that time we have written almost 20 publications together. He told me that the European Union has launched a call for so-called Excellence Hubs, and if we will not go for it. We started to write a project, which was helped by Inveniam, an international company that focuses on technology transfer and has a huge experience in project preparation. We succeeded and we have 4 years to fulfill our vision.

How is the cooperation with so many project partners so far?

We had a kick-off meeting where, in addition to most of the partners, we also had the European Commissioner, who is in charge of the control and management of the project. We got to know each other and agreed on what needs to be done in the first quarter. We clarified who has what tasks for the whole four years. We are moving slowly but surely. We are continuously recruiting renowned foreign experts from academia and industry.

What do you start with?

The tasks result from the grant agreement. The main coordinator of the project is the University of Trenčín, which has the highest share of the grant. First of all, the management structure of the HUB needs to be established - decision-making and control bodies, scientific council. The Trenčín and Brno offices will be established, with staff members who will be tasked and will carry out the different parts of the project. Practically, we have divided it into 7 work packages. The first describes the necessary establishment of the management and supervisory structures of the HUB, the second is in charge of the research, development and investment plans, the third package deals with the training and talent support plan, and the fourth covers technology transfer and intellectual property protection. The fifth describes the activities that should ensure that GlaCerHub can continue to be funded after the formal end of the EU-funded project. The sixth package deals with communication and publication of results and the last one deals with the management and administration of the HUB (project management).

What will be the result of GlaCerHub?

Karel Maca: The European Union wants measurable results after four years in the form of increased investment in research and development in the glass-ceramic industry. We should support the creation of new spin-off companies and start-ups, we should ensure that research results are applied in the form of licences, which will then be sold to industrial companies, etc. There are precise points on which the success of a project will be determined.

GlaCerHub's mission is to connect. How do you make sure your target audience knows about you?

Karel Maca: We are currently working on the visual identity of the project, the website, social networks and planning the newsletter. We need to start working on the syllabi for the various workshops and training sessions for interested people from academia, industry, government and the non-profit sector. Some of the workshops would be targeted at the technical area and some would be more general, such as how to increase your skills, how to start start-ups, intellectual property issues, etc. We will send workshop offers to individual companies. We want them to be high quality, sophisticated and interactive. So that after the first one, participants ask: when is the next one? Blahomír Skoupý: It is also worth mentioning that two CEITEC research groups, Advanced Multifunctional Ceramics by Prof. Karel Maci and Advanced Materials and Coatings for Industry by Assoc. Prof. Ladislav Čelko. Both have excellent links with industrial companies in many fields. Thus, we already have some contacts and possible candidates for involvement in GlaCerHub.

What will the research part of GlaCerHub deal with?

Karel Maca: We focus on topics that we think have great potential. One of them is transparent luminescent ceramics. Making transparent ceramics is a really challenging task. To be transparent, it has to be perfect and it cannot contain any impurities or pores. Compared to single crystals and glasses, it has many important properties, such as better mechanical properties, better chemical and thermodynamic stability and the possibility of doping with functional dopants. Therefore, there is the added value of luminescence, a feature that is suitable for e.g. lasers, dosimeters, scintillators, etc. Another topic is new materials, so-called high-entropy ceramics, but there are other possibilities that we want to and will open up in connection with the possibility of so-called cotutelle studies (individual study programmes at two universities), which we provide for Ph.D. students together with the University of Trenčín.

What is your idea of the ideal functioning of an innovation centre?

Karel Maca: Our common goal is to build a reputable organisation that will help industrial and academic partners to obtain new sources of funding for research and development, as well as the necessary investment in cutting-edge instrumentation, especially within the framework of EU projects.

Blahomír Skoupý: The Innovation Centre will be attractive not only for industrial companies, but also will be an attraction for young professionals from all over the world, offering them a unique technological and knowledge base for research and subsequent application of the results in practice and in the commercial sphere. In this area, we will draw on the experience of our partners, Inveniam and JIC, whose know-how will help young scientists to transfer technology, for example through spin-off companies. The project should attract an experienced expert for the position of International Innovation Chair, who will not only identify specific directions for research and development, but will also mentor the best students and PhD students.

Karel Maca: We would like the general public to perceive the GlaCerHub project as a great visibility of both regions on a European and global scale and as an opportunity for the development of international technological cooperation in the field of advanced glass, ceramic and composite materials.