RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN AT „NICOLAE TESTEMITANU” UNIVERSITY IN 2021

The celebration of the Days of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy has become a beautiful tradition that reflects the institution’s progress over time. University Days started with the unfolding of the annual scientific conference Research in Biomedicine and Health: Quality, Excellence and Performance dedicated to the 76th anniversary of the founding of Alma Mater. Today research represents one of the priority activity directions of strategic importance for institutional development, and the Strategy for Strengthening the Research and Innovation Field until 2030 constitutes a challenge for the university community, with education through research as an underlying principle. The statement was made by Rector Emil Ceban during the solemn meeting of the Scientific Council when inaugurating the Anniversary Conference.

Rector Emil Ceban has emphasized that the participation of the academic community in various scientific events offers the possibility to get acquainted with the latest scientific results and new research directions, with perceptive  interdisciplinary insights and innovations. ”Collaboration with the external scientific environment opens new horizons and valuable opportunities for experience exchange, knowledge transfer and sharing good practices with renowned scientists and specialists from around the world”, specified Professor Ceban.

In his speech, the Rector congratulated the university community members on the occasion of Alma Mater's anniversary, expressing appreciation and sincere gratitude for their professionalism, responsibility and devotion, effort and substantial contribution to the development of higher medical education, including by strengthening research and innovation as well as University’s visibility and prestige at national and international level.

Academician Stanislav Groppa, Vice-Rector for Research Activity, President of the Scientific Council, presented a comprehensive report on the research activity of Nicolae Testemitanu University in 2020-2021. According to the Vice-Rector, the University’s human potential in the scientific area is a source of pride: members of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, habilitated doctors and doctors of science, university professors, scientific researchers, teachers and scientific-didactic staff, the most energetic being the doctoral students, resident doctors and medical students.

With the approval of the Strategy for Strengthening the Research and Innovation Field at Nicolae Testemitanu University has started a series of crucial events designed to create a favorable environment for increasing the efficiency, relevance as well as the national and international competitiveness of research and innovation. Currently, the research process takes place at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research of Nicolae Testemitanu University, founded on September 1, 2020. At the same time, the Biomedical and Health Research Center has been created – a modern structure of fundamental and translational research consisting of five centers, 23 laboratories, a Biobank, a Vivarium and a Section for technological transfer and innovative incubator. In order to consolidate and regulate research processes, a series of institutional regulations on the creation, protection and management of intellectual property objects, the functioning of the biobank and student scientific circles has been developed and approved.

”Research and innovation are the engine of economic growth and the generator of solutions to overcome the challenges faced by society. The degree of development of these fields directly influences both the economic competitiveness of a country and the level of population’s resistance to the consequences of changes undergone by humanity”, added academician Groppa. The Vice-Rector has noted that the recent achievements in the development of research infrastructure are related to the development of the concept of operation under the new conditions of Nicolae Testemitanu University laboratories, which help conduct research according to today's requirements. Therefore, the training of competitive research staff is an absolute imperative for each of us within the limits of professional duties, human resources, infrastructure, process regulation, etc.

Education through research motto involves strengthening the research activity of students by streamlining communication, increasing the visibility of research activities of young people and their coordination by teachers, mobilizing medical students for participation in national and international scientific events, enrolling them in research and innovation projects, active functioning of student scientific circles, etc. Promoting excellence in research implies strengthening the procedure of verifying the primary material, founding an inter-university antiplagiarism center, verifying similarities and combating the phenomenon of plagiarism. Thus, the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Commission for the Verification of the Primary Material Documentation has been developed. It envisages an increase in the quality of doctoral works, but also assistance for initiating the procedure to support the scientific work, mentioned Vice-Rector Stanislav Groppa.

Currently, the University collaborates with 90 universities, medical faculties and research centers from over 28 countries, based on 145 signed agreements. During 2020-2021, international relations in research area were extended and strengthened by the certification of new collaboration agreements with the University of Ljubljana, the Institute for Scientific Research in Microbiology and Virology of Slovenia, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mures, Romania, etc. All these actions were undertaken in order to access the funding mechanisms aimed at developing the research capacities of students, master students, doctoral students and scientific researchers of Nicolae Testemitanu University.

This year, the University signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. The digital age offers the academic community a variety of opportunities for disseminating scientific results, one of them being the Institutional Repository. By approving the Institutional Policy on Open Access, the University supports free communication and exchange of information as the most efficient way to ensure accessibility and capitalization on knowledge resulting from scientific investigations, development-innovation practices, educational, managerial and technology transfer activities.

Research, innovation and implementation of results are essential for the academic community, which should facilitate the integration of the University into the international research circuit. In 2020-2021 the number of citations of the publications of Nicolae Testemitanu University researchers in the Scopus database was on the rise. ”At the moment, there are 2,303 citations, so we have obtained a thousand more citations as compared to other educational institutions of the country, which will ensure an increase in the Hirsch index over the next period. There was also an increase in the Hirsch index from 20 in 2019 - to 39 in October 2021, by 100% in a very short period. The real situation obliges us to analyze and develop concrete strategies aimed at the compulsoriness and responsibility of each member of our university”, stressed the President of the Scientific Council.

According to the Vice-Rector, the dynamics of research projects favours the scientific activity of Nicolae Testemitanu University. Currently, there are 34 ongoing national research projects, of which five have been won this year. At the same time, 26 international research projects are under way, and another 5 are awaiting the competition results. The implementation of the education-research-innovation knowledge triangle constitutes an imperative for the academic community. In 2020-2021, the University participated in 9 exhibitions of research, innovation and technology transfer, and obtained 19 special awards and 83 medals, of which: 34 gold medals, 28 silver medals and 21 bronze medals. This year is also noted for obtaining 191 intellectual property objects, patents, copyright and innovation applications.

Academician Stanislav Groppa emphasized that, for the first time, in 2021 the Research Activity Impact performance evaluation competition was organized, based on the analysis of international rating criteria according to official records in scientometric databases such as Hirsch index in Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and articles published in 2020 in journals with the highest impact factor.

The Vice-Rector has urged the academic community of the University to actively participate in the scientific conference dedicated to the University Days, which includes State of the Art Lectures, a Round Table with the participation of medical diaspora, thematic sessions, educational courses and medical workshops, etc., highlighting broad interdisciplinary views, communication and collaboration with representatives of the international scientific environment.

Finally, several representatives of the University have expressed their appreciation for the research and innovation activity, mentioning that medical education is possible only through research. Furthermore, they specified some problems faced by researchers: allocation of insufficient funds from the state budget for scientific activity, ways of funding, difficulties in purchasing consumables for research laboratories, etc.

More information can be found in the Annual Report on Research Activity of Nicolae Testemitanu University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova in 2021.