About

Established in: 1957

Research focus
The Institute of Laboratory Research on Geomaterials (ILRG) is an interdisciplinary scientific workplace focused on the methodical development and application of selected experimental methods in the area of physical, chemical and biologic characterization of geologic and other materials (rocks, minerals, sediments, soils, dust particles, water, biota, etc.).
For this purpose the workplace uses, inter alia, laboratory methods of atomic absorption (AAS), optical emission (ICP OES) and mass (ICP MS) spectrometry that enable the determination of major, minor, trace and ultra-trace elements and their natural isotopes in solid and liquid samples. Similarly, it deals with methods of the decomposition of solid samples, separation/pre-concentration procedures, speciation analysis and fractionation of chemical elements and the issue of their speciation, mobility, bioavailability and toxicity in natural materials. Currently it also deals with the study of certain biogeochemical processes (interaction of metals and metalloids with organic substances, bioleaching, bioaccumulation, biosorption and biovolatilization of chemical elements with the use of microscopic fungi and plants).
In international cooperation, the ILRG has good contacts with workplaces at several universities and institutes in the Czech Republic (Masaryk University in Brno, Brno University of Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Brno and Prague, Charles University in Prague, Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, etc.) and other European countries (University of Warsaw, Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety in Vienna, University of Ljubljana, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation in Cluj-Napoca, ETH Zurich, etc.).

Organization of international conferences
XVIIIth Slovak Spectroscopic Conference, 15-18 October 2006, Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia
XIXth Slovak-Czech Spectroscopic Conference, 12-16 October 2008, Častá-Papiernička, Slovakia
European Symposium on Atomic Spectrometry 2012 / XXth Slovak-Czech Spectroscopic Conference, 7-12 October 2012, Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia

Identification of top teams and individuals at Comenius University (Academic Ranking and Rating Agency ARRA):
In 2012 a group of six employees of ILRG was assessed as one of 13 teams with above-standard scientific performances at Comenius University, see www.arra.sk/spickove-vedecke-timy-jednotlivci-na-uk-2012.