At the beginning of June, the first summer programme commenced with 7 students from Canada, USA, Colombia and UK arriving to Brno for their 2-month research internships at the Department of Natural Drugs, Chemical Drugs and Molecular Pharmacy. The young aspiring scientists joined research projects of Dr Václav Trojan, Dr Milan Malaník, Dr Jakub Treml, Dr Michaela Kuchynka and Dr Jan Otevřel and embarked on two-month-long excursion into the remarkable world of science.
They got hands-on experience and learned laboratory techniques in areas like isolation of compounds from plants, phytochemical profiling, evaluation of biological activity, cultivation of medicinal cannabis, diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke or organocatalysis in medicinal chemistry. After their work in the lab, the students in cooperation with their supervisors prepared a presentation of their research activities to share with their peers.
A second type of summer programmes introduced 2-week intensive courses in the field of 3D Printing in Pharmaceutics and Methods of Forensic Analysis.
At the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Dr Jan Elbl welcomed 6 students who showed interest in different forms of 3D Printing and its use in Pharmaceutical industry. They had the opportunity to work with different types of 3D printing technologies, such as FDM, SLA, or SSE, and their possible usage in the preparation of drug dosage forms. Morning lessons that explained the theoretical background of 3D printing technology were followed by practical seminars where students learned and practiced new skills on different 3D printers, producing different drug dosage forms such as tablets, capsules or orodispersible films, and had the chance to bring their own innovative drug dosage form ideas to life.
At the same time, at the Department of Chemical Drugs doc. Radka Opatřilová and her colleagues Dr Eva Havránková and Mgr. Veronika Murgašová welcomed 11 students who were intrigued by the methods of forensic analysis. Following the same concept, students began each day gaining insights into the basic principles of various methodologies used in forensic laboratories, after which they moved to the labs to get a hands-on-experience on what it is like to be a forensic analyst. They solved mysteries, examined fingerprints, traces of lipstick, body fluids or experimented with chemiluminescence. After getting a peak behind the curtain of forensic science, for these students, true crime documentaries will never be the same.
After their day in the labs, the students engaged in great number of cultural and social activities like wine tasting, Czech folklore dances, boat rides, castle visits, and many others, and went on excursions to Prague, Vienna or Budapest. The ultimate summer experience.
