At the heart of the project is the belief in facilitating the transfer of excellence through the cooperation of established institutions with young emerging institutions. This way, solidarity not only helps the weak, but also contributes to the sustainable development and prosperity of the common European space. “Scientific excellence is contagious,” says coordinator Dušan Galusek, director of the FunGlass Centre. “With FunGlass, we demonstrate how expertise from top European partners can be transfused into a young, aspiring institute, empowering it to carry out great research.” Building on these principles, the project led to the following key achievements:
• Creation of new research departments: Under the mentorship of advanced partners, FunGlass established 4 new research departments and recruited over 90 highly skilled researchers and PhD students from 20 countries.
• Reconstruction of premises and installation of state-of-the-art research infrastructure: a €10M investment was successfully completed, equipping the institute with cutting-edge research capabilities. To optimize the use of these facilities, a dedicated management system for advanced research infrastructure was designed and implemented.
• Training and teaching: A long-term training program with advanced partners was successfully executed, involving 29 researchers and 19 PhD students for a total of over 500 person-months. A double-degree collaboration was established with project advanced partners and Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic.
• Structural and institutional reforms: A dedicated administrative unit with specialized project management competencies was created, and a process improvement initiative was implemented.
• Intersectoral collaboration: 30 new project-based collaborations were established, including 15 new industrial partners in funded projects and 15 additional industrial partners in pending or rejected grant proposals. The Centre also attracted 50 new clients for contractual research and launched six new dissertation topics with an intersectoral component.
To enhance its international recognition and share best practices within the region, the Centre engaged in a range of dissemination & communication activities, including:
• special issues in respected scientific journals in the field prepared under FunGlass supervision: International Journal of Applied Glass Science (Vol. 12, No.4) Pure and Applied Chemistry (Vol. 94, Issue 2) on 14th Conference on Solid State Chemistry organized by FunGlass, Gels 2023 (Vol. 9, Issue 7) – “Bioceramics, Bioglasses and Gels for Tissue Engineering” by FunGlass guest editors,
• annual FunGlass symposium organized as a satellite event of prestigious conferences: 2019 - 93rd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Glass Technology, 2021 – 14th International Conference on Solid State Chemistry in Trenčín, 2022 – 36th International Congress on Glass in Berlin, 2023 – 18th Conference of the ECerS in Lyon, 2024 - 14th International Conference on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Systems in Budapest,
• promotion of best practices at national and international forums as panellists/presenters: NCP Wide.Net workshop in Tallin 2017; ERAdiate and COST workshop in Žilina 2019; Slovak Liason Office for R&D 5th Anniversary in Brussels 2019; Workshop on Tools and Developments for NCPs for H2020 in Bratislava 2019; EARMA meeting in Prague 2023; a dedicated episode in “Science within Reach” series of Slovak Public Television – July 2023; NCP_WIDERA.NET transnational hybrid seminar on Excellence Hubs and ERA Chairs in Prague 2023; NCBR Information Day of Polish NCP for HE – online 2023; HE Projects presentation at LIMACON conference in Bialy Stok 2023; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic – Company Day in January 2024; meeting of the President of the EIC, Mr. Michiel Scheffer with the representatives of Slovak public and private sector at the Slovak Government Office in October 2024.
