Press notes

On 7th and 8th of October IPC PAS hosted an extraordinary conference Industrialization Potential of Optics in Biomedicine. Due to the pandemic restrictions the whole event had to be moved online, but it seemed only to enrich the panel of speakers, who came virtually (in more than one sense of the word) from all over the world, eager to share their knowledge, experience and passion. All lectures and talks had been streamed live on YouTube but also recorded for further reference.

If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, then thanks to the translucent corneas, we can look deep into that soul. And thanks to the work of scientists from the IPC PAS we can look into the depths of the cornea itself. And that without touching it! All thanks to the introduction of an innovative method of holographic optical tomography.

Scientists are curious by nature and often look where they should not. From such looking, discoveries are born that literally broaden the horizons. Working jointly, researchers from Professor Wojtkowski’s team at IPC PAS, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Baltic Institute of Technology and their US collaborators from UC Irvine have recently managed to make practical use of infrared vision and by designing devices based on this phenomenon improve diagnosis of retinal diseases.

We are very happy to announce that first results of the CREATE project were acknowledged by the European Commission as promising and described among the most recent success stories on DG Research portal.

"Keeping a closer eye on non-invasive microscopic bio-imaging" explains IPC approach to the ERA Chair project based on two pillars: excellent research and new research management policy.

On the 17^th of Sept., 2019 the Polish National Contact Point organized in Warsaw the training "Twinning and ERA Chairs for the advanced". On this occasion, Agnieszka Tadrzak, the CREATE project manager, had the pleasure to share experience on proposal preparation, the course of CREATE project and its major results. The event also gave the opportunity to promote this granting scheme, the CREATE project and our ERA Chair holder - prof. Wojtkowski.

A new issue of NCP_WIDE.NET Bulletin, which is an official bulletin of a network of National Contact Points, has just arrived. Inside (p. 11) there is a 4-pages article on the CREATE project.

"ERA Chairs: where innovation is CREATED" written by Agnieszka Tadrzak, CREATE Project Manager, explains the foreground of the project, describes research profile of the acquired ERA Chair holder - Professor Maciej Wojtkowski, and his contribution to closing excellence gap between the Institute of Physical Chemistry, PAS and the European Research Area. It also explains research conducted by Professor Wojtkowski and his team in popular science language. In particular, it shows potential impact of this research on health of Europeans - i.e. possibilty to elaborate new therapies against various visual dysfunctions, including age-related.

Polish physical chemistry is joining forces with Chinese medical and molecular biology and biochemistry. In Tianjin an agreement has been signed on long-term cooperation between the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Nankai University, one of the highest ranked research units in China.

Advanced methods of optical imaging will be the main topic of research of the Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems, cominginto being at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academyof Sciences under the prestigious European ERA Chairs grant.The new department will be headed by Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski, physicist and winnerof the “Polish Nobel Prize” – the Award of the Foundation for Polish Science.

Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski, physicist, head of the Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems Department currently coming into being at the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Warsaw and winner of the prestigious European ERA Chairs grant talks to science journalist Jarek Chrostowski.

World-class experts in the field of research on the borders of biology, chemistry and physics are being given the opportunity to create their own Chair in one of the best Polish research institutions.