Fruitful December at DPE - results of new project proposals to several competitions

The last three weeks were very fruitful for our CEPLANT center and the Department of Physical Electronics. First, the results of the second competition in the National Center of Competence program were announced. At the beginning of this year, we applied as co-investigators for two projects, both of which were successfully approved. The first project is the National Center of Competence for Materials, Advanced Technologies, Coatings and their Applications (MATCA). This project is a continuation of an already active project from 2019. The second project is the Centre of Advanced Electron and Photonic Optics. For this project, we applied for the first time.

The Grant Agency of the Czech Republic announced long-awaited results for standard GAČR projects on Friday, 2nd of December, 2022. Our researcher at DPE and CEPLANT proposed an overall twenty projects, four of which were successful. They are following. First is an individual project of Assoc. Prof. Pavel Souček "Ab-initio guided investigation of refractory metal-based high entropy ceramic coatings." The other three projects will be carried out in cooperation with other Czech research organizations. The first one is "Surface treatment of glass and its influence on the reliability of adhesive bonding for glass structures at elevated temperatures." It is a joint project of Assoc. Prof. Martina Eliášová from the CTU and Prof. Mirko Černák. The second one is "Thermophysical characterization of thin films." It is a collaborative project of dr. Peter Klapetek from CMI and Assoc. Prof. Vilma Buršíková. The third one is "Advanced thin film photocatalysts on a basis of graphitic carbon nitride." That is a joint project of Assoc. Prof. Petr Klusoň from the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS and Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Homola. Our scientists will work on these projects from January 2023 to December 2025.

After the standard GAČR announcements, the Evaluation based on the Lead Agency principle projects (LA) were publicized. In co-operation with Polish Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN), a joint project of Assoc. Prof. Pavel Dvořák and dr. Jan Kratzer from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry of CAS. Its topic is "Versatile plasma sources and advanced approaches to signal evaluation as novel concepts in ultratrace element analysis by atomic spectrometry."

The Grant Agency of Masaryk University (GAMU) also announced the proposed project results. Dr. Dana Skácelová was successful with her Career Restart project. This grant scheme supports the integration of researchers after a career break, for instance, due to parental leave, into Masaryk University research teams. The program should facilitate and speed up the return of talented young researchers to productive academic careers and increase their share in independent research posts.

Last week, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR) announced the results of the sixth TREND competition. Our researchers submitted two proposals, and both were successful. The first one is Assoc. Prof. Pavel Souček's project, "Research and development of thin film metallic glasses and technology for their industrial deposition with use in Hi-tech industries," will be solved with SHM company and Palacký University Olomouc. The second one is Prof. Petr Vašina's project, "Thin-film strain gauge with high sensitivity and durability prepared by magnetron sputtering," which will be worked on in cooperation with company HVM Plasma, the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň and the Institute of Physics of CAS.

In the last three years, this year is the most successful GAČR competition results. The success rate of our proposed project is 24%. The Department of Physical Electronics increased its success rate in all submitted project proposals above 33%! We sincerely congratulate all our successful researchers!