Summary of 2021 research and innovation activities

The year 2021 was marked by numerous achievements in the research and innovation activity of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Recently, at the meeting of the University Senate, academician Stanislav Groppa, Vice-Rector for Research Activity, has summarized the results obtained in the field during the reference period.

According to Professor Groppa, achievements were based on the Strategy for Strengthening the Field of Research and Innovation at Nicolae Testemitanu University for the period 2020-2030, pursuant to the motto education through research and the Action Plan on its implementation. These documents focus on the following strategic objectives: modernizing the structure of the research sector, transforming the research infrastructure into a contemporary one, implementing education through research principle, internationalizing the research process, strengthening the technological transfer of research results, increasing the visibility of research, increasing the quality of scientific results and intellectual property protection.

In this regard, last year, the Program for Improving Higher Education, which provides for the creation of units of molecular medicine and personalized medicine, was submitted to the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova.

Also, in the context of the organization of the Population Biobank, the draft law on the biobank was drafted and submitted for endorsement and approval. At the same time, the National Project for the creation of the Register of informational evidence of bio-specimens within the Biobank was won and the project Twinning for advancing the level of excellence of biomedical research in Moldova in partnership with the Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin (Germany) and the Medical University of Graz (Austria) was submitted to the competition.

The Advanced Training Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Medicine for students, resident physicians, PhD students and didactic staff members was launched. Students will complete a 3-month internship, being integrated into international bioinformatics projects at the University of Southern California, USA, having the opportunity to be employed by the University's Bioinformatics Laboratory, to be established within the National Institute for Health and Medical Research.

In 2021, emphasis was placed on revitalizing the coordination of student research activity, strengthening scientific circles for students and resident physicians. During the same period, 18 doctoral theses and 3 habilitated doctoral theses in medical sciences were defended.

As regards the international collaboration, activities within the framework of partnerships with Germany, Slovenia and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD have intensified. At the same time, the initiative for the creation of the Medical Scientific Diaspora Network of the Republic of Moldova – DiaMed was launched, and the Cooperation Agreement between the University and the Diaspora Relations Office within the State Chancellery was signed. In this context, Nicolae Testemitanu University participated in the Diaspora Congress and held a round table on DiaMed Medical Network – Training through research in the era of internationalization. In partnership with Tekwill, the Interinstitutional Memorandum of Understanding was concluded and the participation in HealthTech Hackathon (three winning teams) and Demo Day (a winning team and 3 startups developing health innovations) was ensured.

Respectively, the collaboration with the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in Trieste, Italy has intensified, in the context of the Moldovan-Italian project for strengthening the responses to COVID-19 and other epidemics, 25 SARS-CoV-2 strains being sequenced and the molecular virology internship of a university’s researcher at ICGEB being organized.

As regards the implementation of the Open Science principle, the Open Science Strategy of “Nicolae Testemitanu” University for 2021-2026 under MINERVA project, as well as the Human Resources Strategy for University researchers were developed and approved.

The competition entitled Impact of Research Activity was organized based on performance criteria and reflected by the Hirsch and IF index, the results being announced during the Laureates Gala. It should be noted that the annual Scientific Conference “Research in Biomedicine and Health: Quality, Excellence and Performance” brought together participants from 17 countries, 320 moderators, 220 national speakers and 4 international speakers.

The innovation and technology transfer activity materialized in 111 intellectual property objects and 68 implementing acts, as well as 6 research and innovation exhibitions, at which researchers obtained 19 special awards and 85 medals.

Academician Stanislav Groppa emphasized that Nicolae Testemitanu University should be proud of its scientific potential: “The university trained famous graduates, who currently hold important positions and lead scientific directions at international level.”

Among the priorities for 2022 were: the creation of the Research Management Information System and the Interuniversity Center for the verification of scientific papers for similarities, in order to combat the plagiarism phenomenon, the development of a General Research Infrastructure Management Plan,  of a Management Plan of the Advanced Medical Technologies Unit, and of a Microbiology and Virology Laboratory launch concept.

The Vice-Rector emphasized the need to involve each university subdivision in the continuous development of research and innovation, the participation of researchers in national and international projects and the intensification of the process of concluding collaboration agreements with foreign research institutions. The heads of scientific-didactic subdivisions will evaluate the results of research activity based on internationally recognized performance indicators: the Hirsch index in SCOPUS, Webometrics and Google Academic, which will constitute the basis for the rating of university subdivisions, research performance ranking indicators, as well as individual rating in the criteria of competitions for scientific-didactic promotion at faculty and department level. Moreover, fostering the student research activity by revitalizing the student circles within each subdivision and increasing the quality of bachelor theses will be carried out. At the same time, the research infrastructure will be strengthened in all areas: the renovation of the Central Laboratory and its endowment with high-performance equipment, the provision of quality research services, the provision of open access research data management and the implementation of a transparent and efficient Research Management Information System at Nicolae Testemitanu University.

Currently, the University’s human resources in science include 5711 students, 397 doctoral students, 1350 resident doctors, 992 teachers and scientific-teaching staff, 287 scientific researchers, 467 doctors of science, 152 habilitated doctors of science and 13 academicians, full members and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.