19. 09. 2025
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On Thursday, 11 September 2025, two professional courses were held at the IEM CAS as part of the international Summer School for Nanomaterials 2025, organised by the NanoEnviCz (open in a new window) research infrastructure.
This infrastructure provides cutting-edge services in the field of preparation, characterisation, testing and application of nanomaterials for advanced technologies. The IEM CAS is its partner and guarantor of the WP9 – Toxicity and risks of nanomaterials work package.
During the programme, two intensive courses focused on the safety and toxicity testing of nanomaterials were held:
Best Practices for Working Safely with Nanomaterials in Research Laboratories
- Students learned about the potential health risks of working with nanomaterials and measures to minimise these risks. The course presented the recommended sources of information, control measures and personal protective equipment, waste management procedures and solutions for potential nanomaterial spills. Particular emphasis was placed on using the Control Banding tool (CB Nanotool – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) to assess health risks and control measures.
In vitro Toxicity Testing of Nanomaterials
- Students were able to try out different approaches for assessing the toxicity and biocompatibility of nanomaterials in practice. The course presented standard operating procedures for preparing nanomaterial samples for in vitro testing, techniques for attaching cells to nanofibre carriers, testing nanomaterial leachates according to ISO 10993-5:2009, and exposing cells at the air-liquid interface.
A total of eight students from the following institutions participated in the course:
- Technical University of Liberec
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences
- Palacký University Olomouc
- Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem
- University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
The participants were from different countries (the Czech Republic, Turkey, India, Egypt, and Iran), but they all currently work at Czech academic institutions.
Both courses offered not only a theoretical framework but, above all, practical experience and skills that are important for safe and high-quality work with nanomaterials. The Summer School for Nanomaterials thus reaffirmed that combining professional know-how with practical training is the key to developing cutting-edge research in the field of nanotechnology.
We would like to thank our lecturers Táňa Závodná, Kateřina Hoňková and Tereza Červená for their professional guidance and inspiring approach.