Thesis from the NPI won 1st place at the conference with innovative use of radioanalytical methods

Graduate student of Dr. Ivana Krausová from the Department of Nuclear Spectroscopy Ing. Lucie Dvořáková took first place with her diploma thesis at the 12th annual student scientific conference Nutrition, Food and Health organised by the Society of Nutrition in cooperation with the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University.

The thesis "Monitoring of macro- and microelements in insects intended for human and animal nutrition using radioanalytical methods" was prepared by Lucie as a student of the Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources of the CZU in Prague in cooperation with the NPI and under the supervision of Dr. Ivana Krausová.

For the first time ever, Lucie used radioanalytical methods, i.e. instrumental neutron and instrumental photon activation analysis, to determine the concentrations of selected elements in nine species of edible insects. These methods allow the determination of elemental concentrations in complex matrices and unique samples, especially in cases where using classical analytical methods is difficult.

"The award to my student is also an award to the NPI as an institution that, among other things, educates students for independent experimental work, broadens their professional view, and represents the potential for their future cooperation with the Institute," said Ivana Krausová. For her, Lucie is already the second awarded graduate out of a total of seven whose work Dr. Krausová supervised.

Lucie herself certainly does not regret her decision to cooperate with the Institute. "My colleagues have given me a particular passion for a field of science in which I would never have dared to work independently before. Although the work here is very demanding, I would recommend cooperation with the Institute and Dr. Krausova to all students interested in radioanalytical methods," says Lucie.