In the period 2009-13, the NMR Centre of Excellence intends to focus its knowledge and efforts into two primary fields of research, namely, the health and life sciences, and advanced novel synthetic metal and non-metal materials. The consortium consisting of research institutions and highly technologically developed businesses ensures high a quality multidisciplinary team of researchers from academic and business sectors, which comines a critical mass of knowledge and the required research infrastructure to focus on the development of new technologies in our primary research areas.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a spectroscopic method, which enables researchers to make connections between structure, bio-macromolecule sequence, dynamics and molecular recognition, and thus represents a key method for insight into the biological functions, chemical structures and their interactions in liquid and solid states, and the nature of fundamental processes, which are important for production and development of pharmaceutical preparations and new advanced materials. This knowledge opens new biotechnology and biomedicine possibilities, which help to increase competitiveness, to develop an innovative environment, to make progress in medicine and to increase product added value. Research and characterization of new materials for hydrogen storage are in compliance with the world-wide trends of moving towards hydrogen based energy and thus a low-carbon society. Research work is focused on the development of energetically efficient products and thus meeting horizontal goals to stimulate an energetically efficient economy with emphasis on sustainable development.
The Slovenian NMR Centre, in 2000, became the first and the only EU Centre of Excellence in Slovenia. With this title our centre has confirmed its quality and recognition in the highly competitive European science and research arena. This achievement of the NMR centre is based on the strong connections with technologically developed partners in Slovenia, particularly with those from pharmaceutical companies and the chemical industry. The program period 2004-07 contributed to strengthening the role of the NMR Centre of Excellence. We want to continue and expand the long-standing successful partnership with academic institutions and companies in the program period 2009-13. In the framework of the Centre of Excellence we set a goal to achieve a breakthrough and strengthen our position in international collaborations with a vision to contribute to research excellence, development of the research environment, competitiveness and higher added value, transfer of knowledge into companies and thus to the goals of Slovenia in the priority areas of research and technological development by combining the critical mass of knowledge. Strategic goals of partners involve deepening of cooperation in the framework of 16 R&D projects, better utilization of the capacities of our NMR centre and further development of research infrastructure, which will enable us to meet the set goals. |