The Natforce Project

    
The basic concept of NatForce project is the scientific and technological reinforcement of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry of the University of Athens (LNPC) in Greece.
The project is funded by the EU FP7-REGPOT-2007-1, budget: €1,050,000
             
 
 
The main objectives of the project is to upgrade the research Laboratory to a state of the art research centre in the field of natural products in Europe which will provide contribution and spread of scientific knowledge on the production of high added value natural compounds for pharmaceuticals/agrochemicals
/nutraceuticals.

The achievement of the above objective is based on
· Acquirement and upgrade of instrumentation for cost-effective high throughput analysis
· Know-how transfer about high throughput analysis and pharmacological screening
· Recruitment of scientists and opportunity for high level research activities
· Organization of workshops and participation in European and international conferences
· Dissemination and promotional activities of research achievements and offered services.
· Developing strategic partnership with well established EU research centers
 
  Who are we
 

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens  (NKUA) was the first University established at the Eastern Mediterranean (1837) and nowadays is the principal state institution in Greece, and one of the largest universities in Europe. NKUA has more than 31 Departments and more than 34.000 students among them 9.000 on master degree and 7.500 on PhD.   NKUA is ranked among the top 200 most distinguished universities worldwide. 

LNPC  is a sub unit of Faculty  of Pharmacy of NKUA and has the advantage to be in Greece which is considered one of the 25 worldwide biodiversity hotspots. A collection of more than 1000 identified plant species and some hundreds of fungi and marine organisms are used for the discovery of new bioactive natural products.  

LNPC through NatForce has obtained state of the art equipment like NMR 600 MHz microprobe and a hybrid LS-Ms/Ms (LTQ-Orbitrap)  that complement the existing modern powerful instrumentation of the lab.  LNPC has numerous participations in national and European research programmes and currently is coordinating 3 EU FP7 projects. It has also extensive collaboration with international industrial partners as well as with well established research centers. 

Overall the reinforcement of scientific and technological potential, would lead to the establishment of a state of the art research center in the field of natural products in Europe and would lead to the production of significant knowledge and new high added value applications of natural compounds in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutraceutical and agricultural sectors.