Profile & History

Department of Environmental Chemistry is part of the Faculty of Environmental Technology at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague). We are a modern, forward-thinking department with top-tier facilities and state-of-the-art instrumentation, dedicated to addressing challenges in environmental protection. To learn more about our activities, explore the sections below or visit the “Research” tab..

Our focus spans the following key research areas, which are directly reflected in our educational and teaching activities:

 
  • Study of Transport Phenomena in Membranes
  • Membrane Contactors
  • Application of Membrane Technologies
  • Innovative Use of Membrane Technologies and Integrated Processes
  • Modern advanced oxidation processes (AOPs)
  • Emerging contaminants, their occurrence and transformation in the environment
  • In-situ chemical oxidation and reduction
  • Ecotoxicity Assessment
  • Civil Protection
  • Development of detection systems
  • Issues of Li-ion Batteries and Electromobility
  • Analysis of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (NPS)
  • Physicochemical Treatment of Solid Waste and Sludge, Landfilling
  • Properties and Utilization of Low-Value Materials in Environmental Engineering 
  • Treatment of Specific Industrial Wastewaters and Runoff from Paved Surfaces
Department History

The Department of Environmental Chemistry was established as an academic and teaching unit in 1990, evolving from the former research facility of the Synthetic Fuels Laboratory. From its inception, the department’s educational and research activities were primarily focused on waste management and contaminated soil remediation.

While other departments within our faculty could draw on decades-long pedagogical and research traditions in their respective disciplines, our department had to carve out its place and profile from the ground up. These early beginnings were made all the more demanding by the fact that waste-related issues in the country had been neglected for decades, ultimately bringing national waste management to the brink of collapse. A binding legal foundation was only provided with the enactment of the Waste Act in August 1991.

In developing our curriculum and research programs, we could not rely on established domestic traditions and had to seek out suitable literature and instructional materials. From the very beginning, we therefore established close ties with domestic industrial companies operating in waste management, as well as with leading universities and institutions abroad where waste management was already well established as an advanced field of study.

You can find us in Building A (UCT Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6 – Dejvice).

  • Main Office / Head of Department: 1st floor, room A177a (to the right).

  • Laboratories & Offices: Additional departmental laboratories and staff offices are located throughout Building A.

  • Direct Phone Lines: +420 220 44X XXX, where XXXX represents the four-digit extension listed under individual staff profiles.