Centre of Functional Odontology (COFO)

Project Description

The main goal of the proposal is to establish an outstanding research and development centre located at Veveří Street in Brno (within the grounds of the Czech Academy of Sciences), that will combine the excellent fundamental research with its application and commercialization not just in the South Moravian industrial agglomeration, but also in the entire Central-European research area.

Following the successful history of the fundamental research at the universities and academic facilities in Brno, the Project goal is to build an excellent scientific and research centre equipped with modern laboratories, cabinets for research and scientific experts, office space and lecture halls, to deepen and extend the very successful odontologic research. The idea is to create an intellectual platform to connect the first-rate research in the field of molecular dentistry with utilizable analytic technologies, with the emphasis on the effective presentation and making the results accessible to the professionals as well as general public, including the application areas (dental medicine, odontology, genetics). Therefore, the goal is to create an integrated centre with a perfect location in the town centre, that would be able to produce high-quality research results, apply them widely in practice, and effectively organize various specialist, educational, and promotional activities (congresses, symposia, colloquia, lectures, exhibitions, videoconferences) for targeted expert groups as well as general public interested in research and development issues. An integral part of the proposal is to promote active employment policy and to incorporate the facility as an important subject into the European Research Area, thus strengthening the innovation potential, importance, and competitive advantage of the South Moravian Region.

The expected cost is approximately 630 M CZK, including the technologies. The initial preliminous project and the feasibility study have already been prepared, and the building location at Veveří Street (within the planned Academic Square) has been accepted and incorporated into the Municipal Plan of Brno. In addition to the financial resources from the EU Structural Funds, the Project implementation could be covered by the assets and stock of land owned by the Czech Academy of Sciences. After the end of the Project duration, we expect it to continue uninterruptedly, financed partly from the institutional means of the participating organizations (ARUB, FNUSA, MOU), and partly from financial resources, purposely acquired by the respective research teams.

The initial COFO potential will mainly consist of the Institute of Archaeology in Brno (ARUB) – Laboratory of Molecular Archaeology, Laboratory for Archaeogenetics, Laboratory of Morfology, as well as the experimental Dental Clinic of the FNUSA, the pathobiology workplace of MOU Brno – Department of Molecular and Experimental Pathology and deputy of the application sphere ÚJP Praha, a.s. Such concentration of the top-ranking activities, unique in the European area, may be attractive and interesting especially for the Middle-Eastern and Eastern European subjects, that have already expressed their serious interest in utilizing such potential. Gradual seeking and recruiting scientists and experts, crucial for the smooth and problem-free Centre operation, has been under way.