UMFST to join European Commission's hackathon to identify innovative solutions to COVID-19 pandemic

The George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology (UMFST) of Targu Mures announced on Thursday that it will participate in a hackathon coordinated by the European Innovation Council within the European Commission to identify and develop innovative solutions that can meet the challenges generated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"As well as the registered organisations offering specialists and highly performing equipment available to them, the hackathon, scheduled for April 24-26, also includes developing ideas for concrete solutions in areas such as health, online education and distance learning, continuity of entrepreneurial activities, social and political cohesion, digitisation of financial activities," the university reported in a press statement.

According to UMFST Targu-Mures, the university is prepared for the challenge launched by the European Commission, being actively involved both in the diagnosis and in the care of patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

"Since the beginning of this period, our university has been involved in the diagnosis of COVID-19, making available to the public health system its entire diagnostic infrastructure of the Centre for Advanced Medical-Pharmaceutical Research, where tests are performed to identify the coronavirus SAR-CoV-2 by real time PCR. At the initiative of the university, the Mures County Prefecture's Office, together with other organisations directly involved in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic has decided to transform the multipurpose hall on campus into a modular hospital for the tracing, monitoring and treatment of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus displaying moderate symptoms. The university has understood through these steps to meet its social responsibility and will make every effort in the future to contribute professionally to the joint action to fight the current pandemic," the university pointed out.

The hackathon is an event in which several programmers and others involved in software development collaborate intensively on software projects.