2022 in Łukasiewicz – PORT

The year 2022 is behind us. For Łukasiewicz – PORT, it was an intense time full of important events. We remind you of the most important of them!

A new space for science

On April 4, 2022, an agreement was signed on retrofitting Łukasiewicz – PORT in the property of the State Treasury. The seat of the Institute has grown by over 4 hectares of land and 21,000 square meters of building space. The facilities acquired by the Institute will house laboratories, a clinical unit enabling research in biotechnology, Technology Incubator for start-ups, and a place for the Technological Education Center. The agreement also means the reintegration of the Pracze Campus, which now belongs entirely to Łukasiewicz – PORT. Read more.

Second Virtual Research Institute competition

The beginning of 2022 belonged to Virtual Research Institute (WIB). On January 17, an agreement was signed with the Research Team selected in the first WIB competition. The HERO team led by Prof. Andrzej Dziembowski received nearly PLN 70 million for research on new methods of cancer therapy using therapeutic mRNA technology. Read more.

On March 10, the second WIB competition was announced, in which the pool of funds for research in medical biotechnology–oncology is over PLN 380 million. Eight applications were submitted to the competition, seven of which successfully passed the stage of formal verification. Substantive evaluation of the projects is currently underway. We will know the results of the competition in March 2023. Read more.

Scientific conferences

In autumn 2022, two international scientific conferences took place in Łukasiewicz – PORT. Symposium on Advanced Technologies and Materials ATAM 2022 (September 6-9, 2022) was devoted to hybrid and photonic materials, 2D coatings, polymers, and perovskites. The PORT for Health: Oncology 2022 conference (September 28-30, 2022) was a unique opportunity to learn about the latest results and directions of research in the field of causes and treatment of cancer.

Horizon Europe grant and new projects

In 2022, scientists from Łukasiewicz – PORT acquired 20 projects with a total value of over PLN 54 million. Successes included in competitions of the National Science Centre, as well as in the Horizon Europe program. In the latter, the Łukasiewicz – PORT Life Science and Biotechnology Center team received a grant of EUR 1.5 million for the SAME-NeuroID project related to the study of neuropsychiatric diseases. Our Institute is the coordinator of a consortium composed of prestigious European scientific and research institutions: the Paris Brain Research Institute, the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, and the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. Read more about the project.

In 2022, the implementation of eight projects acquired in December 2021 began, in which the total amount of funding for Łukasiewicz – PORT is PLN 8.5 million.

New Research Groups

In 2022, the Łukasiewicz – PORT Research Centers expanded by three more research groups: the Biobank Research Group at the Life Science and Biotechnology Center (leader: Dr. Patrycja Gazińska), the Photonics Materials Research Group at the Materials Science and Engineering Center (leader: Dr. Muhammad Danang Birowosuto) and the Epigenetics of Infectious Diseases Research Group at the Center for Population Diagnostics (leader: Dr. Heng-Chang Chen).

Gardens of Experiences

Last year, the PORT Technological Education Center – Gardens of Experiences started operating at our Institute. It invites children and teenagers to educational workshops in the field of chemistry, physics, biology, nature, and ecology. In 2022, Gardens of Experiences conducted nearly 140 hours of workshops attended by about 1,500 participants from 35 educational institutions. Read more.

Industry Contact Point

In 2022, the Industry Contact Point for Medical Technologies and Health was launched in Łukasiewicz – PORT. It supports scientists and entrepreneurs from the medical technology and health industry in obtaining funds from the Horizon Europe program for innovative research and implementation of innovative technologies. Read more.

Doctoral school

Łukasiewicz–PORT has started cooperation in the field of doctoral student education with Medical University in Wrocław. Thanks to this, young scientists from a medical university will be able to combine their studies at the doctoral school with work in Research Teams and participation in applied research and projects conducted by international research teams Łukasiewicz – PORT.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to these successes!