Prague, July 13, 2012 – Representatives of the Unipetrol Group and the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague signed a cooperation contract for 2012. The main objective of the long-term cooperation, which has been in place for almost ten years, is to promote chemistry among young people and to secure a flow of new talents to this area by doing so. As one of many projects, Unipetrol will support special awards for successful students, the School for Elementary School Teachers or the Hour of Modern Chemistry.
“We value our long-term cooperation with the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague very much. During the previous years, we have started several interesting projects, such as the Hour of Modern Chemistry or the Unipetrol award for the best students,” stated the general director and the chairman of the Unipetrol Board of Directors Piotr Chełmiński.“Supporting young people in their chemistry studies is our key objective especially when considering the ever more aging employees, a challenge faced not only by Unipetrol but by the entire Union of Chemical Industry,“ added Piotr Chełmiński.
“The Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague appreciates the support from Unipetrol and use it to promote chemistry and other study areas at the university among high school students as well as for supporting its own students. ICT, Prague educates experts for petrochemistry, which presents and will continue to present perspective and interesting job opportunities for our graduates. Those many years of our cooperation with Unipetrol demonstrate a close relation between research and application, profitable to both partners,” says Karel Melzoch, president of ICT, Prague.
This year, Unipetrol will co-finance a total of 11 projects and activities of the school. For example, the Hour of Modern Chemistry project lures students to study chemistry. As a part of this project, two presenters visit high schools and elementary schools where they present interesting chemical experiments in a fun form. The School for the Elementary School Teachers is a brand new project, objective of which is to allow elementary school teachers to share their experience and information. It follows the example of the already traditional Summer School of High School Teachers that takes place at ICT in August.
Unipetrol also provides financial awards for successful ICT students with the best master or PhD thesis. Every year, three best students from each year receive the Unipetrol Award for their study results in the Education and Study Center in Most – Velebudice.
UNIPETROL, a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the UNIPETROL Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs almost 4,000 people.
Contact:
Mikuláš Duda
Press Department Manager
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520
E-mail: mikulas.duda@unipetrol.cz