The workplaces comprising the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials have long and rich tradition in cooperation both with the industry and state organizations in the fields of applied and contractual research. At the Faculty of Science of the Palacký University in Olomouc they belong to superior workplaces in this respect. Historically, the activities in the are of contract research have mainly been oriented to the most important enterprises of the Olomouc region, like Meopta-optika, s.r.o., (Přerov), Farmak, a.s., (Olomouc), or Precheza, a.s., (Přerov). In recent years the number of contractual partners of the rank of small or medium enterprises also quickly increases. The contracts from state or public institutions are non-negligible as well. The cooperation with foreign entities has been mostly oriented to academic sphere up to now and although minor as for volume, it represents a significant and prestigious part of the contract research (cooperation on the Pierre Auger Observatory, Malargue, Argentina, or delivery of Mössbauer spectrometers).
As for subjects, the activities of the workplaces of the Center ranged from chemical analytic services, through microscopic analyses and characterization of physical and chemical properties of materials, to extensive cooperation in the field of medicine, decontamination of underground water or applied optics. A separate chapter is represented by design and construction of original physical and chemical measurement systems.
The contract research has been realized in a number of ways: From cooperation in the framework of joint research projects (e.g., using programs 1M or KAN of Ministry of Education of CR), through direct contracts for research or delivery of experimental instruments, to minor analytic works or services using instrument infrastructure of the Center.
During the years 2004 to 2008 the total volume of all forms of contract research performed by the workplaces comprising the Center exceeded 33 mil. CZK.