On December 30, 2024, the Director of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (IBCH PAS), Luiza Handschuh, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof., appointed Robert Pękal, MSc, Eng., as the Plenipotentiary of the Director of IBCH PAS for PSNC.

The Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC), established in 1993 and affiliated with the IBCH PAS in Poznań, currently employs 450 staff members. The mission of PSNC is to develop advanced information and communication technologies and to provide IT infrastructure for scientific purposes. The Center participates in numerous national and international projects, often playing a leading role. As part of one such project, EuroQCS-Poland, a new quantum computer will soon be installed at PSNC. This will be one of six such installations planned across Europe.

Robert Pękal has been associated with PSNC since 2009 and has served as the head of the Network Services Division since 2019. From July 2023 to September 2024, he also held the position of Deputy Plenipotentiary of the Director of IBCH PAS for PSNC. In the last quarter of 2024, he performed the duties of the Plenipotentiary for PSNC independently. During this period, a competition was held for the position of the Director’s Plenipotentiary for PSNC at the Institute. Robert Pękal’s candidacy was recommended by the Competition Committee.