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Students from all over the Czech Republic competed in the chemical plant in Litvínov

Litvínov, November 21, 2017 – On Monday, November 20, Univerzitní centrum VŠCHT Praha – Unipetrol (University Centre UCT Prague – Unipetrol), located in the Chempark Záluží production site, hosted the top secondary school and university students from the Ústí Region and also from all over the Czech Republic at the Student Scientific Conference. A total of 33 teams presented their research projects. The overall winners in the category of secondary schools were two students of Masarykova střední škola chemická (Masaryk’s Secondary School of Chemistry) from Prague (so called “Křemencárna”) and a student of Gymnázium a SOŠ dr. V. Šmejkala (Grammar School and Economic Secondary School) from Ústí nad Labem. The Unipetrol Foundation provided financial rewards totaling 50,000 crowns.

The Student Scientific Conference took place in Chempark Záluží for the third time already. „It is the UCT, Prague’s activity; it organizes this event for university students. Last year we launched a pilot project in our chemical plant in Záluží u Litvínova inviting also secondary school students. And since it was quite a success we’re continuing this tradition again this year,“ says Tomáš Herink, Member of the Unipetrol Group Board of Directors responsible for investment, research, and education. „Many of our production and research employees help with or consult individual student projects,“ adds Tomáš Herink.

The Student Scientific Conference is a unique opportunity for all the participating schools to exchange their experience and compare their knowledge within the North Bohemian Region as well as the entire country. A total of 35 students and teachers of seven schools gathered in the chemical plant in Litvínov, creating fourteen secondary school and twenty one university teams. Students of První obnovené reálné gymnasium (PORG) in Prague were among this year’s favourites bringing with them to Záluží a robot prototype. For this particular project they received a special prize for innovation from the Unipetrol Foundation. The second special prize was awarded by the Foundation to a student of Podkrušnohorské gymnasium (Ore Mountains Grammar School) Most Lucie Borovská for up-to-dateness of her project on renewable resources.

In the secondary school section, the jury awarded three first places:

• Petr Palivec, Masarykova střední škola chemická, Ústí nad Labem – Collection of Chemical Experiments for Primary and Secondary School Teachers
• Kamila Starkbaumová, Masarykova střední škola chemická, Ústí nad Labem – Collection of the Volatile Organic Substances and Their Oxygen Derivatives on Aerosol Nanoparticles in Polar Stratospheric Clouds
• Dalibor Pelčák, Gymnázium a SOŠ dr. V. Šmejkala, Ústí nad Labem – Determination of the Yield of Gasoline Pyrolysis by the Hot Gass Sampling Method on Unipetrol RPA’s steam cracker.

„As part of the Student Scientific Conference, Bachelor’s and Master’s students presented the results of their research projects. The quality of contestants was high both in terms of their work and the form and way of their presentations. Compared to last year, the overall level improved even further. We were most surprised by the students of Masaryk’s Secondary School of Chemistry in Prague,“ said prof. Zdeněk Bělohlav, vice-rector of UCT Prague and jury member.  

Financial rewards for secondary school teams on the three first places were secured by the Unipetrol Foundation, partner of this year’s Conference. On top of that, each participant received a motivation bonus of CZK 1,000 from the Foundation. 

University Centre UCT Prague – Unipetrol:

Since 2015, University Centre UCT Prague – Unipetrol has been located directly in the Chempark production premises in Litvínov. It is the first seat of a Czech state university inside an industrial production site. It offers a unique connection of high-quality Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctorate studies with practical experience directly inside the production facility of the Czech Republic’s largest refining and petrochemical enterprise.

The Unipetrol Foundation:

The Unipetrol Foundation was established on December 27, 2016. The Foundation fulfils its purpose – that is to support students of natural and technical fields and to popularise natural sciences – both through scholarship programmes and paid student internships, as well as through grant programs for secondary schools. In October 2017, the Foundation distributed scholarship support of CZK 1.5 million among fourty secondary school and university students from all over the Czech Republic. Unipetrol Group’s CEO Andrzej Modrzejewski is the Chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors. Other Board Members are Karel Melzoch, Rector of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, and Tomáš Herink, the Member of the Unipetrol Group’s Board of Directors responsible for research, development, and education. Julie Růžičková is the Foundation’s coordinator. More information on the Unipetrol Foundation’s mission, as well as its individual programmes, is available at www.nadaceunipetrol.cz or at its Facebook page.