Research infrastructure
The Doctoral School of Biology provides doctoral students with the research infrastructure of institutes, research centers and university clinics, as well as libraries and access to resources and databases necessary for documentation for doctoral research.
The research activity of doctoral students is mainly carried out in the Institute of Life Sciences “Aurel Ardelean”, established in 2008 (HS no. 81 / 12.04.2008) and accredited by the Academy of Medical Sciences, which is a research unit with character interdisciplinary, structured in 3 departments – Experimental and applied biology, Biotechnology, Ecology / ecotoxicology and environmental protection. In the period 2010-2016, more than 1.5 million euros were invested in research infrastructure from European-funded projects.
The biobase with laboratory animals is an authorized research infrastructure for the growth and development of experiments on laboratory animals (ANSVSA opinion 862 / 05.04.2016). The technological flow throughout the building is adapted to national and European veterinary requirements (temperature, humidity, light / dark cycle), technological separation of clean areas from sanitation, ventilation and exhaust systems with HEPA filters. (http://erris.gov.ro/animal_facility-ILS-UVVG).
Animal accommodation. Mice and rats are housed in IVC (IVC Sealsafe PLUS Mouse and Rats – green line) accommodation systems, with a total capacity of 1600 mice and 400 laboratory rats, allowing the separation of animals from each cage by individual ventilation, electronic monitoring and environmental protection through HEPA filters. Bed linen is changed in cage exchange systems with laminar flow and HEPA filters (C55 Evo Changing Station).
The surgery room includes the surgical table, surgical magnifying glass, surgical instruments, osteotomy instrument kit, inhalation anesthesia system.
In vivo imaging system for Xtreme preclinical studies (Bruker), which allows the analysis of images in fluorescence, luminescence, radioisotopes and radiographs (X-ray) and analysis of bone densitometry.
Functional explorations; Automatic biochemistry analyzer Mindray BS-120 and Automatic hematology analyzer Urit 2900 VetPlus.
Laboratory of histopathology, optical microscopy, fluorescence and confocal microscopy: MicroTec and Leica microtomes, TC 50 paraffin thermostat – Caloris, SLEE-MAINZ-MNT cryostat, Olympus BX43 microscope with fluorescence module and Cell Dimension Software and Leica TCS SP8 confocal microscope (http://erris.gov.ro/Histology-ILS-UVVG).
Electron Microscopy Laboratory: FEI Quanta 250 Scanning Electron Microscope and FEI Tecnai 12 Transmission Electron Microscope, Biotwin, as well as the necessary equipment for sample preparation – Ultramicrotom Leica UC7, Agar Sputter-coater, gold film deposition (https://erris.gov.ro/Electron_Microscopy_Facility|ILS).
Molecular Biology Laboratory: Horizontal DNA Electrophoresis Biorad Power & PAC 300; Gene Rotor -QIAGEN QRT- PCR; Thermal Cycler PC- 960 Air Cooled; Water Bath JULABO SW 23; UVP Benchtop 3 UV Transilluminator; ChemiDoc ™ MP Imaging System, Centrifuge R SIGMA 2-16K. (https://erris.gov.ro/Molecular-biology–Institute).
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory: The basic directions of research are focused on the application of in vitro technologies in creating valuable forms of different plant species, especially pharmaceuticals, the obtaining of which by traditional methods is limited. By using in vitro techniques, the possibilities of obtaining new forms of plants were established: callusogenesis, somatic embryogenesis. An important direction of investigation concerns the obtaining and multiplication of virus-free plants. Based on the research carried out during the study years, protocols were developed to obtain healthy planting material for fruit trees and shrubs. Solidification agents much more efficient than agar are used to obtain the culture media, especially from an economic point of view. Efficient lighting materials such as LEDs of different wavelengths and phosphorescent materials are also used to illuminate viticulture. The laboratory is equipped with the necessary equipment: hood with sterile laminar air flow, autoclave, bidistiller, oven, magnetic stirrers, glassware and suitable instruments. (https://erris.gov.ro/Plant-Biotehnology-ILS-UVVG)
A fairly high percentage of PhD students use the “Pavel Covaci” Macea University Botanical Garden as a research base. The garden has an area of 21.5 ha and a number of taxa of over 3550 (of which about 2100 woody). Students also turn to the Gene Bank where over 2,500 seeds are kept (investment of 400,000 euros from projects with European funds). The garden is a founding member of the Romanian Botanical Gardens Association (AGBR) and a member of the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). The garden has permanent exchanges of biological material with over 225 botanical gardens and trees around the world (www.uvvg.ro/macea). Also, the university preserves the oldest herbarium in Romania since 1864, its foundations being laid by the distinguished naturalist Lajos Simonkai.
