W. Szafer Institute of Botany, PAS
Name: W. Szafer Institute of Botany, PAS
Address: ul. Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland
Website: https://botany.pl/index.php/en/
Description:
It all began in 1953. That was the year when W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences was founded. Over the next 67 years IB PAS has grown in reputation as an important point on the map of Polish scientific institutions focused on different fields of botany and plant science. Today, with a team of 45 researchers, it is a modern institution dedicated to a wide range of research carried out within inter and cross-disciplinary cooperation, in below mentioned fields of activity and focused on vascular plants, bryophytes, algae, fungi (including lichens) and protists. Our researchers are keenly interested in ecological phenomena occurring at various levels of the organization, ranging from the molecular, through the individual, population and ecosystem level, to those observed throughout the entire biosphere. In its activity, IB PAS combines the tradition of botanical collections with the up-to-date currents of research, including molecular and ecochemical research conducted using contemporary scientific tools, such as next-generation sequencing, bio- and geoinformatics, chemical quantitative and qualitative analyses of plant tissues, soil and water. It cares about high quality of research and scientific education implemented at the doctoral school for 20 years. Institute is one of the important European biodiversity research centers. Among its strategic objectives is to document biodiversity of the world through holding country’s largest botanical collections. IB PAS offers a range of research in a variety of science subjects, allowing to explore individual interests and passions.
Discipline: biological sciences
Fields of activity:
- molecular biogeography and systematic;
- evolution and organism interactions;
- functional and evolutionary ecology;
- palaeo-, archaeobotany and palaeoenvironments
Latest achievements:
Only last year our researchers published over 80 scientific articles in the internationally recognized journals. These publications concerned e.g.: phylogeny, phylogeography of mountain and xerothermic species; impact of global warming on annual growth of spruce in the Carpathians; changes in forest ecosystems under invasive species; ecological relevance of non-trophic plant–animal interactions for forests functioning; impact of foragers and agrarian societies on vegetation; evolution of European Mesozoic flora; palaeoclimatic implications arising from changes in the composition of the vegetation. The following recent achievements of IB PAS are also considered important: (i) inclusion of botanical collections, containing 1.5 million units, on the road map of the strategic research infrastructure of Poland as the National Biodiversity Collection of Recent and Fossil Organisms (NBC IB PAS), e.g undefined; (ii) recognition with the ‘HR Excellence in Research’ logo confirming commitment to create friendly environment and conducting research in line with professional standards undefined.
Research facilities: labs/field station/ modern and fossil scientific collections
Contact person:
Professor Agnieszka Wacnik
Vice Director for Research
a.wacnik@botany.pl
(+48 12 42) 41 729
