In the latest overview entitled “Towards a sustainable future: transformative change and post-COVID-19 priorities” the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) presents the evidence that tackling climate change, loss of biodiversity and resource depletion requires taking urgent action. The authors warn that we are on the verge of exceeding the Earth’s regenerative capacity.
On November 6, 2020, during the general assembly, members of the Polish Young Academy of the Polish Academy of Sciences made a decision to join the Young Academies Science Advice Structure – YASAS.
French microsatellite TARANIS will observe and study mysterious electro-magnetic phenomena taking place in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. Researchers from the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences have designed the MEXIC Power Unit (MPU), which will run all the TARANIS payloads. The satellite is scheduled to be launched on Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
In our ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, how can we avoid following a “reconnaissance-by-fire” strategy? This statement discusses the need to find a new testing strategy.
Scientists from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB) in cooperation with researchers from the University of Groningen and the University of Leiden for the first time have studies in detail the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome structure. The results of this groundbreaking research could significantly accelerate the development of innovative RNA-targeted therapeutic strategies to fight SARS-related infections.
Professor Andrzej Jajszczyk, President of the Kraków Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, has been elected new Vice-President of the European Research Council (ERC). He will be in charge of ERC activities in the domains of physical and engineering sciences.
Prof. Andrzej Udalski from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw, ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, has been honored with the Chilean Government Award on the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan. The award is designated for recognition of significant contributions to the advancement of science.
Space Research Center, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences have received the prestigious RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) grants under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program. Thanks to the MSCA-RISE funds three far-reaching projects will be implemented.
A team of scientists led by astronomer, Prof. Grzegorz Pietrzyński, has won the most prestigious grant awarded by the European Research Council – ERC Synergy – worth almost EUR 14 mln. It is one of the largest research grants in the world and the first of this kind awarded to Polish researchers. The winner project, entitled “Precise calibration of the cosmic distance scale in the age of large-scale surveys” will be carried out in a consortium led by the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Prof. Bożena Czerny will act as the Principal Investigator for the PAS Center for Theoretical Physics.
Tomorrow, on November 5th, we would like to invite you to join us at online kick-off meeting, inaugurating the PASIFIC Program, at 14:00 (CEST). Thanks to the PASIFIC program, 50 most talented scientists from all over the world will have the chance to come to Poland to carry out their research at the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.
The pandemic is a major social problem, one which can only be solved through collaboration between the public authorities, a broad range of scientific experts, and the media.
Prof. Romuald Zabielski, vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences, presented PAS Medal to the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in Kajetany during the „Health of Poles” 2020 Congress. The Medal was awarded in recognition of Institute’s achievements in modern audiology and surgery, including the development of screening programs for patients with hearing, voice and speech disorders.
The castle in Kórnik near Poznań is one of the Poland’s most valuable historic monuments. It also houses the archives and the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. After eight years of thorough renovation, the Pearl of Wielkopolska region has just regained its former glory.
The kick-off meeting, officially inaugurating the PASIFIC Program, will take place on November 5th, 2020 from 14:00 to 16:00 (CEST). It is a postdoc fellowship program addressed to researchers from around the world, who wish to carry out their research at the PAS institutes. We invite you to attend our online event next Thursday.
We are all exhausted by our continual battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, on both the individual and social level, therefore the prospect of achieving herd immunity seems like an attractive goal. However, experts agree that in the long term, the only way of bringing the pandemic under control is to develop an effective vaccine or treatment for severe symptoms of COVID-19.
"Financial Morality of Poles" is a project that allows us to periodically analyze how we perceive financial fraud. We talk to Prof. Anna Lewicka-Strzałecka from the PAS Institute of Philosophy and Sociology about fraudulent activities we tend to tolerate and those that are the most difficult to us to justify.
On October 19, 2020, the COVID-19 Advisory Team headed by Prof. Jerzy Duszyński, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, presented its report – "Understanding COVID-19" – in the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Senators and the public had the opportunity to get acquainted with the experts’ guidelines. The meeting was held as part of the session of the Senate team "Health of the Poles".
Is it possible to "teach" computers to plan multistep organic syntheses? A group of scientists from the PAS Institute of Organic Chemistry, Northwestern University and Ulsan University in South Korea, led by Prof. Bartosz Grzybowski, has proven that automated synthetic planning at an expert level is feasible. Their groundbreaking program has been recently described in Nature.
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