TRENCIANSKA UNIVERZITA ALEXANDRA DUBCEKA V TRENCINE

Their core work

Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín is a Slovak public university that has built a specialized research profile around functional and surface-functionalized glasses. Through the FunGlass initiative, they established a dedicated Centre of Excellence focused on advanced glass materials — including bioactive, optical, and industrially functionalized glass compositions — backed by over EUR 12.6M of EU Teaming funding. Their work combines fundamental materials science with training of early-stage researchers and direct collaboration with industry partners who use functional glass in medical, optical, and manufacturing applications. They are the rare case of a regional Slovak university being upgraded into an internationally competitive glass research hub.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015–2016 the focus was narrow and preparatory: defining what a Centre of Excellence in functional glasses should look like, with a small EUR 72k CSA grant. From 2017 onward, with the EUR 12.6M Phase 2 grant, the scope expanded well beyond science to include training programs, industrial collaboration, academic autonomy, and long-term self-sustainability. The trajectory is a textbook Teaming ramp-up — from concept design to a full operating research centre embedded in a wider ecosystem.

They are moving from EU-funded build-up into the self-sustainability phase, which is when Teaming centres most actively seek industrial partners and follow-on research projects.

How they like to work

They are coordinator in both of their H2020 projects, not a passive participant — they drive the agenda. The consortium is deliberately small (only four unique partners across three countries), which is typical of Teaming projects where the host university is paired with a handful of established "advanced" partners who transfer know-how. Working with them means engaging directly with the principal institution rather than navigating a large distributed consortium.

A small, tightly-knit network: four unique consortium partners across three countries, consistent with the Teaming model of pairing a widening-country host with a few advanced-country mentoring institutions. The footprint is European but concentrated, not distributed.

What sets them apart

This is one of the very few Slovak universities to have won — and fully executed — a Teaming Phase 2 grant, placing it in an elite group of Central-Eastern European institutions with a dedicated EU-recognised Centre of Excellence. Their niche is unusually specific: functional and surface-functionalized glasses, a field where few universities in the region have comparable infrastructure. Partner with them if you need a glass-materials research capability in Central Europe with proven EU project management experience.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FunGlass
  A EUR 12.6M Teaming Phase 2 grant — one of the largest single H2020 awards ever made to a Slovak university and the centrepiece of their research identity.
• FunGLASS
  The 2015–2016 Teaming Phase 1 preparatory grant that paved the way for the Phase 2 centre — useful evidence that they successfully executed the full Teaming pipeline end-to-end.