The Institute of Life Sciences „Aurel Ardelean” was established in 2008 (Senate Decision no.81/12.04.2008) at the initiative of Professor Dr. Aurel Ardelean, the founding rector of the „Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad.
Professor Aurel Ardelean studied at the Faculty of Biology, “Babeş Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca (1962). He got his PhD in biological sciences with the thesis „Flora and vegetation of Crişul Alb, between its springs and the city of Ineu”, in 1980. He worked passionately in the field of biology in pre-university education, also as a specialized school inspector for 15 years, and from 1980, after completing his PhD, he taught Agricultural Botany at the University of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine in Timişoara. He was a senator and member of the Commission for Education, Youth and Sports of the Romanian Senate between 2004-2008. He was a university professor in the field of botany, pharmaceutical botany and cell biology at the Faculties of Biology, Medicine and Pharmacy of the „Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad. Since 2001 he has been supervised PhD thesis in the field of biology at the University of Oradea, and since 2009 he has been leading the Doctoral School of Biology of the “Vasile Goldiş” Western University of Arad. He was the president of the Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Romania and the president of the Romanian Society for Cell Biology.
The Scientific Council of the „Aurel Ardelean” Institute of Life Sciences is lead by a great scientific personality of the biomedical field, Dr. Stefan Hell, the director of the Max Planck Institute, Doctor Honoris Causa of the „Vasile Goldiș” Western University of Arad in 2012 and the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014.
This eminent researcher introduced a new concept in the field of microscopy – STED – by which he exceeded the resolution limit of fluorescence microscopes. This new method of superresolution, invented and developed by him, has become a basic tool in the imaging analysis of biological samples, starting from cells, tissues and small animals, contributing substantially to the evolution of the research in the field of life sciences.
Institute of Life Sciences “Aurel Ardelean” is structured in 3 departments:
- Experimental and Applied Biology, where research activities are carried out in biomedical field;
- Biotechnologies, where research activities are carried out in the field of in vitro plant cultures and in vitro animal/human cell cultures;
- Ecology/Ecotoxicology and Environmental Protection, with research activities in the field of ecotoxicology, ecology and environmental protection.
The supporting structures of the “Aurel Ardelean” Institute of Life Sciences are: the Animal Research Facility and “Pavel Covaci” University Botanical Garden from Macea.
