Excellent Research Infrastructure

Central Research and Industrial Relations Center (KKIC)

Director of Centrum: Dr. Ferenc Molnár
E-mail: molnar.ferenc@ttk.elte.hu

Centrum manager: Kacskovics-Bucsi Judit
E-mail: judit.kacskovics@ttk.elte.hu

As a result of the 2023-2024 survey conducted by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office on National Research Infrastructure, the Central Research and Industrial Relations Center of the Faculty of Science has been awarded the title of "Excellent Research Infrastructure." The mission of the Center at the faculty is to support significant material and life science research, operate the necessary instrumentation, perform research at an international level, participate in grants, involve students in research, and contribute to doctoral education. An important goal is the efficient operation of the available instrumentation, and making these tools and R&D services accessible to industrial and other external partners.

The central unit of the center is the 'Core facilities', which include research laboratories and supporting infrastructure. For industrial and other external partners, the research laboratories can offer services that encompass numerous experimental methods and measurement techniques. Our competencies include, among others, the application and development of modern analytical and material testing methods (electron microscopy examinations, Raman spectroscopy, electrochemical and electroanalytical tests, battery testing, laser diffraction methods, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence methods, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electrochemical-mechanical and nanomechanical characterization, mass spectrometry methods, nuclear chemical methods, carbon dating, etc.), data analysis, modeling of the studied systems and processes, and solving R&D tasks with the available instrumentation. The supporting infrastructure is made up of various workshops (glass technology, mechanical, electrical).

Protein Modelling Research Group and the Structural Chemistry and Biology Laboratory

Head of Laboratory: Dr. András PERCZEL
Contact: prot.chem.elte.hu/en/

In Hungary, there are numerous high-quality research infrastructures that are internationally competitive and would successfully hold their ground anywhere in the world. Therefore, at the initiative of the NKFIH, the "TOP 50" excellent research infrastructure competition was launched to identify and catalog the best research sites and infrastructure networks in Hungary, organizing them into a searchable database to ensure international visibility. Under this program, coordinated by the NKFIH, the best domestic infrastructures were selected at the end of 2021, earning the title of Excellent Research Infrastructure.

In the competition organized by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the Protein Modeling Research Group, Structural Chemistry and Biology Laboratory led by András Perczel from the ELTE Institute of Chemistry won the Excellent Research Infrastructure certification in the Health and Food Sciences category.

Activities of the Protein Modeling Research Group, Structural Chemistry and Biology Laboratory:

In recent times, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has undergone significant technical advancements in terms of sensitivity and resolution. Alongside our lab's X-ray and 500-700 MHz NMR equipment, this technology revolutionizes several research fields from basic and applied research, materials and drug research, to macromolecular chemistry and molecular biology. Cryo-EM allows us to solve the spatial structure of macromolecules and their complexes (proteins, DNA, RNA, etc.) that are 100 kDa or larger. Our development goal is therefore to establish a cryo-EM laboratory (200 and 300 kEv) and to acquire a complementary solid-state NMR system, which will enable us to become even more efficient and competitive structural researchers and to support our cooperating partners. Alongside our existing peptide and protein production capabilities and our current and planned structural research tools, we will be able to effectively serve both exploratory research and our industrial collaborations.

The scientific committee evaluated the applications submitted by the research sites based on several indicators, including industrial and supplier relations, human resources, international connections, and innovation and scientific metrics.

Digital Chemistry Center

The website of the Institute of Chemistry: chemistry.elte.hu

As a result of the 2023-2024 survey conducted by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office on National Research Infrastructure, the Digital Chemistry Center has been awarded the title of "Promisingly Developing Research Infrastructure".
The Digital Chemistry Center includes the current infrastructure of theoretical chemistry research groups as well as the SuperSmartLab facility, which is currently under construction.

Hungarian Space Chemistry Research Network - Coordinated by the HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research

Coordinator: HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Astrochemistry-Astrophysics Laboratory  
Member: MTA-ELTE LENDÜLET Laboratory Astrochemistry Research Group and Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory  

As a result of the "2023-2024 survey" conducted by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office on National Research Infrastructure, the Hungarian Space Chemistry Research Network has been awarded the title of "Excellent Research Network". 

"The Space Chemistry Research Network aims to provide a comprehensive laboratory and research infrastructure for the experimental modeling of processes occurring under space conditions.  Its instruments enable the precise monitoring of physical and chemical changes induced by radiation in solid, ice, and gas-phase samples. These allow for the study of both naturally occurring space processes and the conditions required for human space activities, including data provision for mission planning. The network’s scientists, collaborating internationally, study a wide range of topics, from the formation of chemical elements to molecular synthesis in interstellar matter and the formation mechanisms of complex organic molecules essential for life.  The network's coordinator is one of the most active participants in the Europlanet 2024 RI infrastructure project.  As a rapidly developing research network, it initiates targeted programs to support space agency missions, such as investigating processes occurring on Jupiter’s icy moons. " (Source: atomki.hu)