Structure Polish Academy of Sciences

One group that is particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 is children and adolescents. Although they are less succeptible to the severe physical manifestation of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the psychological and educational effects of the pandemic can be very serious for them, sometimes lasting much longer than the pandemic itself.

An international consortium will be established under the leadership of the Institute of Human Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences to deal with pioneering research in the field of hemato-oncology. Three leading European institutions, together with the PAS institute will examine the origins of hematologic neoplasms, such as leukemia and lymphomas.

International team of researchers, led by Alberto García-Rodríguez from the PAS Institute of Nature Conservation, collected data about the number of different plant species eaten by brown bears. Scientists analyzed diet of 96 bear populations from Europe, Asia and North America. Their findings have been recently published in Scientific Reports.

An international team of scientists has developed new colloidal nanomaterials capable of giant photon avalanche upconvertion. This remarkable basic science breakthrough, in which the research group of Prof. Artur Bednarkiewicz from the PAS Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research in Wrocław took part, has been described in the latest issue of Nature journal.

During the current pandemic our well-being has deteriorated. This is confirmed by an international survey conducted among 13 thousands inhabitants of 12 different countries. The Polish contribution to this study has been made by scientists from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology.

Science team from the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences will design and build an instrument for NASA’s mission, the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). The PAS Center and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Poland signed the agreement on this matter on January 13th.

Since the publication of our “Scenarios for 2021” we have received numerous questions about which of these scenarios is the most likely. However, it is not possible to provide a clear-cut answer. One of the reasons is that the probability of each of these scenarios becoming a reality depends not only on actions over which we have some influence (i.e. the efficiency of the vaccination system and people’s behavior), but also on factors over which we have little influence.

Dr. Michał Wandel and Dr. Piotr Gerlach have won the EMBO Installation Grants. Thanks to the funding they will be able to establish independent laboratories at the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The European Molecular Biology Organization awards funding to young scientists carrying out high-quality research.

Scientists from the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences are the authors of groundbreaking works in the field of cancer genetics. The analysis appeared in the journal "Nucleic Acids Research".

The year 2020 has just drawn to a close. This is a good time to take stock and to plan for the new year we are now entering. Herein we present hypothetical scenarios for the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and beyond. From a scientific point of view, each of them could become a reality, so we should be prepared for them all.

The vaccine was created based on the mRNA technology developed by the German company BioNTech, which it had already began working on in January 2020, immediately after the publication of the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

COVID-19 has been devastating the health of millions of people around the globe and causing untold damage to the economy for many months. Teams of researchers have been working tirelessly on developing an effective vaccine since the outbreak of the pandemic, and we are on the threshold of a breakthrough. However, a large proportion of our society has been expressing concerns about the vaccine. In this statement, we discuss the possible risks and explain why vaccination is the only rational choice which will help us emerge from the pandemic, save the lives and health of countless people and limit the damage already inflicted on the economy.

President of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), prof. Jerzy Duszyński established a new PAS International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines. It will conduct scientific research, research and development work and provide training in the field of biological, chemical, medical, biotechnological, pharmacological and related sciences, and disseminate the outcomes of such research. The Institute starts operating today, December 14.

327 scientists have been awarded the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants worth in total EUR 655 million. With this support, experienced scientists from 23 countries will be able to make a team and carry out their ambitious and far-reaching projects. Three Poles are among the winners. Congratulations!

The European Federation of Academies of Sciences (ALLEA) has prepared a publication devoted to outstanding women and the role they have played in the history of European academies of sciences. The book “Women in European Academies – From Patronae Scientiarum to Path-Breakers” will be published by the German publishing house De Gruyter. Among the profiles of women, whose accomplishments have changed the face of science, there was also a Polish physicist and chemist.

On December 2, the general assembly of the Young Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS) elected Dr. Jacek Ł. Kolanowski, delegate of the Polish Young Academy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, as the first president. YASAS, a European initiative bringing together young academies, was born in July 2020.

Polish researchers planning to apply for ERC Starting or Consolidator grants will have the unique opportunity to participate in the upcoming Key Innovations workshop. Free of charge ERC training, organized by the PAS Excellence in Science Department is scheduled for early December 2020.

How do disease-causing processes begin at the molecular level? The international LifeTime consortium, which includes the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, has taken the challenge to investigate the genesis of five groups of diseases by looking at the condition of individual cells. The innovative strategy, presented in the Nature journal, has the potential to revolutionize European healthcare system.