Institutional Cooperation
of UCT Prague + UiT Tromso
Establishing of Institutional Cooperation between UiT The Arctic University of Norway and University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague in education in the field of food quality and biotechnology

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the project is the increased and strengthened institutional cooperation at all levels of the education sector, transfer of competence, techniques and technology between the two institutions.

Modular Robotic Station The UCT Prague will gain the valuable experience in the field of drug discovering, development of industrial materials based on new types of biological matrices, health supplements, and nutraceuticals and biofuels and bioenergy. Extremely important is the experience of UiT Tromso in the field of "high throughput" bioprospecting and toxicity testing, because at UCT Prague, new platform for testing the bioactivities and toxicities of unknown organisms and food matrices has been recently purchased (UCT Prague got the funding from the Prague operational program for competitiveness for purchasing of the high throughput robotic device).

On the other hand, UCT Prague can offer the students and researchers cooperation in the field of the advanced analytical chemistry, mainly methods based on the high resolution mass spectrometry, for the identification of new biologically active compounds. The analytical background and mass spectrometric equipment belongs to the tops in the Europe / world. The mutual cooperation between the UiT Tromso and UCT Prague will bring new possibilities both in the education of the students. LC-MS platform Support of educational cooperation will be stressed, i.e. mainly the preparation of webinars, and development of new teaching tools and methods. New types of "interactive teaching" will be developed and implemented. By using of the special electronic "voting devices" enabling the anonymous voting about the solution of particular problematics, students will identify the most suitable solution, followed by an interactive discussion. This completely new approach helps to take the attention of students, gain their immediate feedback and interactively adjust the lesson "fit to the audience" will bring the benefits reflecting in the increased knowledge and high education level.
Interactive Teaching The cooperation will also establish the new collaborating research teams which will follow the present research and will lead to development of both of the countries, especially in the field of biotechnologies and health food products. The project will enable equal opportunities for exchange of staff and students between donor and recipient country. The project will support future extension of the collaboration to include research projects focusing on bioprospecting and bioactive compounds, characterisation, mode of action studies and exploitation. It will also be interesting to implement future mobility projects for master students within biotechnology and seafood sciences.

The secondary objective of the proposed project is organizing of common seminars and workshops, and the common educational materials serving for the strengthening of the education and transfer of know-how in PhD study programs between both institutions. The UCT Prague will gain primarily the know-how regarding the bioprospection, biotechnology, and toxicity testing, and UiT Tromso will receive new skills and practical knowledge in transfer in advanced methods for analysis of biological matrices and identification of new biologically active compounds.