Mission statement

The overall objective of the Centre for Functional and Surface Functionalized Glass is to become an internationally recognized research institute aiming to master its expertise within the following activities:

– Basic/fundamental research: conduct cutting edge research in the area of glass with special functional properties (luminescence, electric, magnetic, catalytic, sorption), and functionalization of conventional glass with the aim to modify mentioned characteristics and add new functionalities,
– Training and applied research: tap into a local know-how in development of the competitive advantage within the region by training of skilled research personnel and by actively pursuing opportunities to establish partnerships with regional and European glass industries in order to facilitate efficient knowledge transfer and conversion of research into successful commercial applications,
– International networking: establish creative international environment and maintain close ties with FunGlass H2020 project partners from leading EU science institutes in the field.

FunGlass Centre vision years 2017-2021

“to upgrade the present unit to an internationally recognized Centre for Functional and Surface-Functionalized Glasses (FunGlass) focusing on cutting-edge research in the area of specialty glasses with dedicated functional properties, and functionalization of conventional glasses to modify their properties and add new functionalities.”

FunGlass Centre updated vision (2021 onwards)

At its meeting in March 2021, the Scientific Board approved an updated statement of the Centre´s vision so that it reflects on recent achievements and at the same emphasizes shift towards efforts to transfer basic research into innovations with commercial exploitation potential:

The Centre´s vision is to become an internationally recognized hub for cutting edge research into innovative glass-based materials, composites and coatings, with a proven ability to contribute to sustainable economic development and serve as a model of research excellence for material science institutions in the Visegrad Four region.

In this regard, the updated vision introduces the following pillars of excellence to guide future development of the Centre:

• Innovate beyond the current state of the art (the range of topics shall range from functional and functionalized glass towards progressive glass-based materials, composites and coatings) with the ambition to gradually master topics of choice as global leader;
• Be sustainable: respect circular economy principles and develop competencies in life cycle assessment;
• Contribute to economic development: look for ways to bridge the gap between research and experimental development leading to commercial exploitation of results (key components: IPR portfolio, industry research-project partnerships, inter-sectoral training of PhD. Students);
• Share your best-practices in particular within the Central European region