LERCO is a background for excellent science
Ostrava and the University of Ostrava are turning into a place of opportunities. The LERCO research project will provide ideal conditions for scientific work in the field of medicine and biomedicine. In the future, it will offer facilities for medical and science students.
This year, the University of Ostrava managed to obtain significant financial support worth CZK 1.8 billion from the European Union subsidies and partly from the Fair Transformation Fund of the Ministry of the Environment for the implementation of the unique scientific research hub LERCO (Life Environment Research Center Ostrava), which represents the research of three scientific research institutions - the University of Ostrava, the Technical University of Ostrava and the University Hospital Ostrava. However, the LERCO project will ultimately benefit primarily the inhabitants of our region.
The LERCO research hub will bring a range of innovations in biomedicine, cancer treatment and improving the quality of life of the population. The ambition of the project is also to offer for commercial exploitation a range of new treatment methods and tools, patents and software used in medicine and biomedicine. The selected scientific teams are working on behavioural health, improving quality of life, for example, increased self-sufficiency in old age, related musculoskeletal research, development of new rehabilitation tools and aids and much more, with a particular focus on affordability and cost-effectiveness.
Ostrava and LERCO is an opportunity for budding and excellent scientists and for investors
"Unfortunately, Ostrava still has the reputation of an industrial city in the Czech Republic, which is why we have not been able to attract experts from Prague or Brno for a long time, which is why we are deliberately approaching mainly foreign scientists for this project. However, in order to be competitive, we need to create comparable working conditions to those they are used to from abroad," says Assoc. Michal Šimíček from the University of Ostrava, who is the head of the research programme focusing on research and development of new treatment methods for haemato- oncological diseases. The LERCO project will provide the required facilities in the form of state-of- the-art infrastructure and established scientific teams.
"We have excellent experts in the LERCO project who focus on biomedicine, behavioural health, biomedical engineering, molecular biology and genomics, among others, but now we need to develop the research we have started and expand the individual teams with additional capacities and research directions," adds Assoc. Šimíček. The new building of the University of Ostrava, financed by the LERCO project, will serve not only the research teams but also the needs of the faculties of the University of Ostrava, which plan to expand the range of study programmes within the project.
LERCO will help Ostrava and the region
The LERCO project definitely has the potential to attract excellent scientists to Ostrava and the region and slow down the brain drain, as it can offer the necessary conditions for scientific work and further education. The University of Ostrava will gain the background and the necessary capacities to expand the range of study programmes and to create spin-off companies that will ensure the transfer of research results into practice.
LERCO is thus not only an opportunity for scientists, but especially for domestic companies and investors looking for new opportunities to start or expand their business.
Life Environment Research Center Ostrava (LERCO) is a newly built scientific research hub, which as one of the tools enables the transformation of the Moravian-Silesian Region (MSK) from a "coal" to a "healthier and smarter" region. The state-of-the- art facilities and 9 excellent research teams of the project will enable the implementation of activities in a broad and unique interdisciplinary focus in biomedical, natural and behavioural fields, from basic research through experimental development to applied research, across scientific research institutions (OU, FNO, VŠB-TUO) and other cooperating scientific research and commercial entities from practice in the Czech Republic and abroad.
The aim of the project is to comprehensively support the development of the innovative scientific research potential of the MSK region in non-technical fields with an impact on: the health of the population, the development of cooperation between science and research and the commercial sphere (support for the creation of spin-off and start-up companies), support for employment in the region, increase the attractiveness of the region in science and research, education and municipality by providing innovative tools.
The project is not based on commercial activities or their support, it only prepares a suitable background for further possible (and desirable) cooperation between the scientific research sphere and the application sphere in MSK, which has not been sufficient regionally so far.
