On November 13th, the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBCH PAS) and its affiliated institution, the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC), celebrated their respective jubilees: the 35th anniversary of IBCH PAS and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of PSNC. The event gathered distinguished guests and employees from both institutions.

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During the ceremony, Prof. Marek Figlerowicz, the Director of the Institute, provided a summary of the institution’s achievements and expressed special gratitude to the employees who contributed significantly to the establishment and development of the Institute over the years.

Recognized for their outstanding contributions, several professors received commemorative editions of Jędrzej Śniadecki’s book titled “Teoryja jestestw organicznych.” The honored professors include Prof. Wojciech Markiewicz, Prof. Mirosława Naskręt-Barciszewska, Prof. Ryszard Adamiak, Prof. Jan Barciszewski, Prof. Jerzy Boryski, Prof. Jerzy Ciesiołka, Prof. Mariusz Jaskólski, Prof. Adam Kraszewski, Prof. Ryszard Kierzek, Prof. Jacek Stawiński, Prof. Maciej Stobiecki, Prof. Tomasz Twardowski, and Prof. Jan Wrzesiński.

State orders and decorations, conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland by a decision made on October 27, 2023, were presented by Prof. Natalia Sobczak, Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

In recognition of their exemplary and conscientious performance of professional duties, Maciej Michał Brzeźniak, Radosław Szymon Januszewski, Marcin Ireneusz Lawenda, Bartosz Wojciech Lewandowski, Robert Tomasz Szuman, Krzysztof Turza, Paweł Wojciech Wolniewicz, and Marcin Andrzej Wolski were honored with the Silver Medal for Long-Time Service.

The Bronze Medal for Long-Time Service was awarded to Tomasz Kuczyński, Piotr Rydlichowski, Joanna Maria Urbaniak, and Maciej Jacek Wiśniewski.

In recognition of their merits in scientific research, the Golden Cross of Merit was awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland by a decision made on November 3, 2023, to Artur Binczewski, Krzysztof Stanisław Kurowski, Cezary Mazurek, Norbert Meyer, Marta Olejniczak, Anna Pasternak, and Jan Wrzesiński.

Silver Crosses of Merit were bestowed upon Paulina Jackowiak, Agnieszka Kiliszek, Anna Kurzyńska-Kokorniak, Magdalena Łuczak, Robert Pękal, Tomasz Bolesław Piontek, Miłosz Jacek Ruszkowski, and Anna Urbanowicz.

Bronze Crosses of Merit were awarded to Joanna Banasiak, Bartosz Belter, Krzysztof Kołat, Łukasz Marczak, Ariel Oleksiak, Tomasz Parkoła, Marcin Płóciennik, and Agata Tyczewska.

The Director of the Institute, Prof. Marek Figlerowicz, also presented medals of recognition and gratitude for contributions to IBCH PAS. Among those honored were: Magdalena Augustyniak, Elżbieta Adamczyk, Ewa Bartoszek, Jakub Barciszewski, Krzysztof Bąk, Julia Brzoska-Karwat, Małgorzata Dąbkiewicz, Agnieszka Konrad, Natalia Koralewska, Adam Kubasiński, Agnieszka Ławniczak, Dorota Nosal, Małgorzata Radwańska-Borucka, Agata Redmer, Anna Sarnowska, Paweł Stróżycki, Grażyna Wawrzyniak, Renata Wilnicka, Teresa Wojciechowska, Andrzej Wójtowicz, and Marcin Zieliński.

The awards and distinctions were presented with the assistance of “Bamberki” dressed in traditional holiday attire, representing the Society of Bambrów Poznańskich, who have a close affiliation with the Institute.

Respectful words and congratulations were conveyed by, among others, the Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Natalia Sobczak, a member of the Presidium of the PAS Poznań Division, Prof. Hanna Bogucka, the Director of the Institute of Environmental Engineering PAS in Zabrze, Prof. Marianna Czaplicka, as well as the directors of PAS Institutes in Poznań. During the ceremony, Dominik Górny, the Secretary of the Society of Hipolit Cegielski, also awarded the Golden Verba Docent-Exempla Trahunt Medal to the Director of IBCH PAS for promoting the ideals of organic work, conferred by the Chapter of the Society.

During the event, strategic projects implemented at ICHB PAN were presented:

• High-Throughput Screening Center Polopenscreen – Dr. hab. Jacek Kolanowski
• Center for Bioimaging – Dr. hab. Paulina Jackowiak
• European Center for Bioinformatics and Genomics – Genomic Map of Poland – Dr. hab. Luiza Handschuh
• European Center for Bioinformatics and Genomics MOSAIC – Dr. Natalia Koralewska
• Development of a universal fast-response platform, based on RNA technology, ensuring national drug and epidemiological safety – Dr. hab. Agnieszka Fiszer
• PCSS – PIONIER – An integral part of the European research space – Dr. Cezary Mazurek
• PCSS – EuroQCS-Poland: the first installations and applications of quantum computers in Poland – Dr. hab. Krzysztof Kurowski

The event was concluded with an excellent concert by soloists from the Grand Theatre in Poznań.

Scientific Conference “Understand and Describe Life”

The celebratory events were enhanced by the international scientific conference “Understand and Describe Life,” held on November 13th and 14th, 2023, at the Concordia Design conference center. Distinguished scientists from Poland and around the world, focusing on the study of life at various levels of organization participated in the conference.

The meeting was divided into six sessions:

• Life at the molecular level – chair: Jacek Kolanowski, speakers: Jonas Ries, Magda Konarska, Sebastian Glatt, Maksim Serdakov, Marta Szabat
• Life at the single cell level – chair: Paulina Jackowiak, speakers: Nikolaus Rajewsky, Bożena Kamińska-Kaczmarek, Agnieszka Chacińska, Agnieszka Ciesielska, Paweł Świtoński
• Life at the organismal level – chair: Michał Jasiński, speakers: François Chaumont, Ewelina Knapska, Wojciech Pokrzywa, Savani Anbalagan, Łukasz Przybył
• Life at the population level – chair: Luiza Handschuh, speakers: Liran Shlush, Tomasz Grzybowski, Krzysztof Pyrć, Piotr Ziółkowski, Katarzyna Klonowska
• Synthetic life – chair: Marta Olejniczak, speakers: Andrzej Dziembowski, Małgorzata Borowiak, Marcin Drąg, Katarzyna Tutak, Emilia Iłowska
• Digital and virtual life – chair: Tomasz Piontek, speakers: Rossen Apostolov, Aleksandra Pękowska, Cezary Kępka, Jacek Kwieciński, Mariusz Kruk, Derek Groen, Alexander Zelenka Martin

The conference also featured an artistic accent – the first day concluded with a performance by the Poznań Chamber Choir of the Polish Academy of Sciences, operating at the IBCH PAS since 2011 under the direction of Dr. Alicja Szeluga.