Dr Joanna Bernacka from the Neurophysiology of Oncology Research Group at Łukasiewicz – PORT has recently returned from a three-week stay at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon, where she participated in the highly regarded Cajal course “Interacting with Neural Circuits.”

Olga Pietrzyk from the Neuroplasticity and Metabolism Research Group, led by Dr. Witold Konopka, has been awarded the Fulbright Junior Research Award for 2025–2026. She will spend 10 months at Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States, carrying out a research project at one of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the world.

Dr. Łukasz Pietras, a member of the Cancer Neurophysiology Group at Łukasiewicz – PORT, has just defended his doctoral dissertation focused on the study of mitochondria – the structures responsible for energy production within cells. His research sheds new light on the role of the enzyme FBP2, which may be crucial not only for sugar metabolism but also for the proper functioning of mitochondria.

The MINIATURA competition, organized by the National Science Centre, is a program aimed at researchers at an early stage of their careers. It represents a first step toward scientific independence and applying for larger national or international grants. In the latest edition of the competition, the research of Dr. Daria Hajka from the Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration Group, led by Dr. Agnieszka Krzyżosiak, was recognized and funded. The awarded project is titled “Validation of a novel human research model for ALS in the context of energy metabolism.”

With a determination that has driven him since childhood and a passion unshaken by setbacks, Dr. Mateusz Kucharczyk, Head of the Cancer Neurophysiology Group at Łukasiewicz – PORT, is now recognized as one of the most promising young scientists in Poland. A recipient of the Minister of Science’s Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists, former Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, lecturer, mentor, and leader of an interdisciplinary research team

The final seminar in the SAME-NeuroID project series will focus on the treatment of congenital deafness in children. Genetic and biochemical research may, in the future, enable the assessment of which pediatric patients are most likely to benefit from cochlear implantation.

Although neuroscience is advancing at an impressive pace, the brain remains one of the least understood organs. In response to the need for a deeper understanding of this complex system, two innovative research projects have been launched at the Łukasiewicz – PORT, both recently awarded funding by the National Science Centre (NCN).

On June 26 at 2:00 PM, Łukasiewicz – PORT will host the next seminar in the SAME–NeuroID project series. The guest speaker will be Prof. Renaud B. Jolivet from Maastricht University – a renowned expert in neural engineering and computation.

In the latest episode of PORTfolio: Stories, Science, and Success, we speak with Dr. Paweł Sega from the Population Diagnostics Center about science that transcends disciplinary boundaries and about the evolving role of the scientist as a leader, communicator, and innovator.

Last weekend, the Łukasiewicz – PORT campus turned into a game board full of scientific adventures. Family teams faced puzzles and experiments, discovering the secrets of science in an unusual form of a field game.