The NTC UWB Research Center received a prestigious European grant to support young scientists

"I am very proud that the University of West Bohemia was not only one of the consortium members when applying," said Ján Minár, Head of the Research of Advanced Materials team of the NTC.

New Technologies - Research Center (NTC) of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB) received a prestigious grant from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Call of the Horizon Europe framework program. Thanks to it, the research center will have the opportunity to implement a new program for doctoral students focused on spectroscopy and modelling of future materials together with European partners and will be a host institution for a promising doctoral student.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) is the European Union's flagship research fellowship program, which includes five types of grants. The "MSCA Doctoral Network" grants will use € 405 million for 144 new doctoral programs trained by 1,500 Ph.D. candidates. They will gain experience in academia, research centers, companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, after graduation, their employment in the labor market will improve, both in the industrial and academic sectors.

According to the results published on April 4, the research centre NTC of UWB also succeeded in the big competition and will have the opportunity to implement one of the educational doctoral programs together with its European partners. The program will be called the European Spectroscopy Laboratory to Model the Materials of the Future - EUSpecLab and will be attended by an eleven-member consortium, including the University of Rennes 1, the University of Liege and others.

"Obtaining this grant is of great importance for our university in terms of fulfilling the strategic goal, expanding scientific and project know-how, and, of course, prestige. In the past, our researchers participated in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie mobility programs abroad. However, this is the first time during Horizon 2020 a Horizon Europe that the UWB will be the host institution and the grant recipient within this type of calls, “said Lenka Strnadová, European Projects Consultant from the UWB Project Center.

The consortium members have already worked together on a previous European project, COST EUSpec, which ended in March 2018. They have decided to submit a project to the MSCA, which aims to support the human resources, mobility, training and career prospects of early European researchers.

"I am very proud that the University of West Bohemia was not only one of the consortium members when applying, but I can say that together with the University of Rennes 1 and the University of Liège we were the main driving force behind the successful grant and my thanks go to all those," said Ján Minár, Head of the Research of Advanced Materials team of the NTC.

Students will be trained in the EUSpecLab project in spectroscopy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, materials modeling, software development and other areas important to the industry. Students selected at all eleven partner universities and research institutes will study for three years, participate in joint workshops and other activities, and share their scientific outputs. A number of professional trainings and various soft skills trainings are prepared for them. Some workshops will also take place at the New Technologies – Research Centre in Pilsen. “I am very much looking forward to a newly selected Ph.D. student. I also await the opportunity to welcome a complete team of newly selected students to one of the workshops in Pilsen,” concludes Ján Minár.