Historia Centrum Biotechnologii
History
On November 1, 2006, the Biotechnology Center was established as an interfaculty organizational unit of the Silesian University of Technology. Its mission was to support the development of biotechnology through cooperation with the University’s core faculties as well as national and international research centers.
The primary task of theBiotechnology Center was to coordinate collaboration among three faculties of the Silesian University of Technology – the Faculty of Chemistry, the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science, and the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering – which jointly offered the interfaculty degree program in Biotechnology. In this field, the University also closely cooperated with the Oncology Institute, Gliwice Branch.
Other responsibilities of the Center included:
initiating the creation of interdisciplinary teaching and research teams in biotechnology, with the aim of:
• organizing biotechnology education at different levels and in various forms (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and postgraduate studies),
• applying jointly to the Ministry of Science and other national and European institutions for funding of interdisciplinary research projects,
• establishing cooperation with international academic institutions to ensure high standards of teaching and to promote the development of biotechnology at the University,
• promoting the latest teaching techniques and methods in biotechnology education,
• co-organizing conferences, seminars, workshops, meetings,
• developing publishing activities,
• organizing training and professional development courses.
In 2007, the project “Silesian BIO-FARMA” was launched under Measure 2.1 of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy – “Development of research centers with high research potential”. The aim of the project was to expand the infrastructure of research units with strong research capacity, enabling high-quality scientific investigations. The main objective was to increase the competitiveness of the BIO-FARMA consortium members in the fields of biotechnology, bioengineering, and bioinformatics.
The Silesian University of Technology, through the faculties represented by the Biotechnology Center, was one of the consortium members. As part of the project, the following laboratories were renovated and equipped:
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics,
Chemical Synthesis and Analysis,
Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering.
Following changes resulting from project-related commitments, since December 2016 the primary mission of the Center has been to conduct comprehensive basic research in the fields of medical, environmental, and industrial biotechnology as well as bioinformatics, including interdisciplinary studies and application-oriented research. This is carried out in collaboration with the organizational units of the Silesian University of Technology and external partners.
Additional tasks of the Center include:
integrating the academic community and initiating the formation of interdisciplinary research teams in biotechnology,
developing scientific and research infrastructure,
cooperating with faculties and other units of the Silesian University of Technology, including in the supervision of habilitation, doctoral, and diploma theses, in accordance with applicable regulations,
organizing conferences, seminars, workshops, and thematic meetings,
securing funding from national and international sources for the implementation of research,
establishing cooperation with other research institutions and enterprises, both domestic and international, to carry out joint research projects,
generating know-how and intellectual property,
promoting knowledge about biotechnology.
