In Liberec, two research centers will be established for 1.5 billion

Liberec - Two top research centers worth 1.5 billion crowns will be built in Liberec. The Technical University (TUL) has started the construction of the Center for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies, and Innovations this year. The construction of the Center for Engineering Research Development in Liberec is being prepared by the Research Institute of Textile Machines (VÚTS). Both should be completed next year and put into operation by 2013.
    The VÚTS center is expected to start construction by the end of the year in the Sever industrial zone. "The construction will be completed next year; in 2012, we want to equip it with technology, and we will start trial operation in January 2013," said VÚTS director Miroslav Václavík to reporters today. TUL is already building one part of the project, which is a seven-story building with laboratories. The entire project should also be completed around 2013.
    Both centers will closely collaborate, which should enhance the region's prestige and strengthen its potential in science and research. New jobs will also be created. The TUL center will employ about 100 people in 2013, and the VÚTS center will create about 40 positions.
    The centers were funded with grants amounting to 800 million and 750 million crowns from the Operational Program Research and Development for Innovations of the Ministry of Education.