There are altogether 24 academic and industrial facilities across different parts of the Czech Republic participating in the NCC for MATCA that share a common interest in advanced technologies R&D.

The NCK MATCA consortium has grown noticeably over the period of its existence and from the original seven founding members, a total of 20 NCK MATCA institutes from the academic and industrial sphere, which combine research and development of advanced technologies, are currently scattered across the Czech Republic.

We would like to continue our very promising cooperation and applied research, and continue to connect the academic and industrial spheres. Therefore, in April this year, an application was submitted for the second public competition of the Program of the National Centre of Competence, announced by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TAČR). Not only all the current institutes of our consortium, but also four new partners (Institute for Hydrodynamics of the CAS, v. v. i., SHM, s. r. o., ad-tech s.r.o. and Advanced Metal Powders s.r.o.) enter with us into the follow-up NCK MATCA 2.

The results of the competition will be known until 30^th November 2022.

Academic institutions:

FZU TUL IPP UPOL HiLASE CHV IT JČU MUNI UFCH JH BC IH

Commercial entities:

HVM BaL LET CZUB CARDAM SIGMA VS OZM FNM SHM ADT AMP

The University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice is a research-oriented university, focusing primarily on natural sciences, and social sciences and humanities. Their science and research activities are closely linked with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The university consists of eight faculties, offering a selection of tertiary education study programmes. The Faculty of Natural Sciences continues in the tradition of its predecessor the Faculty of Biological Sciences established in 1991. This faculty offers bachelor’s, master’s and PhD study programmes in a number of biological disciplines, and in 2007, it extended its study programmes to offer several other disciplines (chemistry, physics, mathematics, informatics).

The research at the Department of Physics mainly concentrates on biophysics, for example on ultra-fast excited state processes in different natural systems; molecular modelling (water/water solutions simulations, phase equilibrium, solid-liquid interface), liquids modelling (numerical simulation of dynamic processes in the Sun’s corona), low-temperature plasma and materials science. The Laboratory of Plasma Physics and Nanostructures concentrates on a research focused on low-temperature plasma processes for the deposition of 1-, 2- and 3-D innovative nanostructures and (bio-) functional thin films. Their research is interdisciplinary, and is conducted on the boundaries between advanced materials science, physics and biochemistry, dealing with preparation of surfaces with potential application in biotechnology, sensors and protective surfaces. Functional thin films are prepared preferably using a plasma vapour deposition (PVD) method and plasma-enhanced vapour chemical deposition (PEVCD) method, with their topological structures adapted to dimensions ranging from the nano-scale to micron-sized layers of dense and homogeneous coatings. This method enabled the deposition of any type of inorganic substance such as metals, metal oxides, semi-conductors, polymer films, or isolated nanoparticles and nanocomposites with a high added value. The laboratory maintains cooperation with Czech and foreign partners, including business partners for applied research.