Faculty of Pharmacy actively participated in the project V4 platform "Flow Analysis & Capillary Electrophoresis," co-financed by the International Visegrad Fund. Its main goal was to establish a thematic platform for the collaboration and integration of universities from the Visegrad Group (V4) that conduct research and teaching in the field of analytical chemistry (AC), particularly in the field of flow analysis and capillary electrophoresis.
The leader of the project was Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, represented by prof. Paweł Kościelniak. The partners of the project were Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University, Czech Republic, Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, Hungary, Research Institute of Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering, University of Pannonia, Hungary, and Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Poland. The collaboration of these units should facilitate exchanging the best laboratory practices, raising the professional competencies of lecturers and developing their distinctive skills, as well as exchanging experience in communication and setting up a partnership between scientists and external stakeholders. The process of integration across national borders is vital to strengthen the position of universities in the V4 region, especially with regard to the West-Europe countries. Furthermore, integration increases access to financial resources, allowing to undertake valuable scientific and academic teaching projects. Implementing the assumed goals should indirectly contribute to developing innovative solutions in analytical chemistry, increasing the soft and hard skills of trained young scientists and students, and triggering internship programs. As a result, young people will have better access to the labor market, which should increase the competitiveness of the Visegrad macro-region.
The main event of the project was the conference: V4 Symposium "Flow Analysis & Capillary Electrophoresis" V4-FACE2020, which was held at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow on June 28 – Juli 1, 2021 (due to the worldwide epidemiological situation in one-year postponement). During the conference, representatives of all partners, students, young scientists, academic teachers, and representatives of routine laboratories and industry learned about the latest achievements in the field of flow analysis and capillary electrophoresis. They exchanged their experiences and needs in chemical analysis development in the Visegrad macro-region. Workshops and a discussion forum focused on hard skills and perspectives in the cooperation and education in analytical chemistry. Eleven works presented at the conference were accepted for publication in the special issue "V4 Platform on Flow Analysis and Capillary Electrophoresis" in open access journal Molecules (MDPI, IF 4,412).
For publicity of the project, cooperation, and both analytical techniques, a publication "Brief (hi)story of Flow injection analysis and Capillary electrophoresis in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia)" in Chemické listy journal was prepared. Many scientists from our faculty who have contributed significantly to the research and development of both techniques in the Czech Republic were mentioned.
Text: Assoc. Prof. PharmDr. Petr Chocholouš, Ph.D.
This activity was supported by the project (no. 21930006) co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
