Molecular and Cellular Biology of Yeast Population, Interaction, Signalling and Differentiation
High efficiency and quality. The LasApp project will promote state-of-the-art fibre and thin-film lasers and their applications
The LasApp project wants to effectively support lasers and thus the technological development of the Czech Republic. It will connect excellent research centres of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University and other institutions and will focus on the most modern fibre and thin-disc lasers, which are applied e.g. in engineering, medicine and defence systems. The project, co-funded by the European Union, has received support from the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme (OP JAK) of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the Top Research Call.
The invention of fiber and thin-disk lasers is changing the world of laser applications. The ambition of LasApp: Breakthrough Laser Technologies for Smart Manufacturing, Space and Biotechnology Applications is to give the Czech Republic a technological edge. Fiber and thin-disc lasers are largely complementary. While fibre lasers have the advantage of a high average power, are currently the most powerful lasers ever and are highly popular especially in engineering due to their low maintenance, thin-disc lasers dominate wherever high-energy pulses are needed, e.g. in laser resurfacing for material refinement in the energy industry or aerospace.
The LasApp project primarily develops existing state-of-the-art laser technologies, in whose research the Czech Republic is a world leader, and seeks completely new directions for their application, which have the potential to provide breakthrough solutions on an international scale. It involves six partners. In addition to the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the CAS in Prague, the project involves the HiLASE Laser Centre in Dolní Břežany (Institute of Physics of the CAS), the Faculty of Science of Charles University (BIOCEV centre in Vestec), the Institute of Instrumentation Technology of the CAS in Brno, the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovations of the Technical University of Liberec and the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS (TOPTEC centre in Turnov).
"Our team focuses on the innovative use of laser technology in biomedicine and biotechnology, with an emphasis on microbial biofilm research. Biofilms, complex communities of microorganisms, are significant contaminants in many industries and are a serious source of infections. Identifying such laser-treated surfaces that effectively suppress biofilm formation is our primary goal. Research into the basic principles of biofilm formation and a better understanding of the dynamics of biofilm development is also a key prerequisite for success," said Zdena Palková from the Faculty of Science of Charles University at the BIOCEV Centre (Biotechnology and Biomedicine Centre of the CAS and UK) in Vestec.
More information can be found in the Czech version of the press release. The English version will be published soon.
