On May 15–16, a reporting session summarizing the activities of the IBCH PAS in 2024 was held. All members of the Institute’s scientific division participated in the session. For the first time, we had the honor of hosting members of the International Advisory Board (IAB) in its new composition:

• Prof. Paola B. Arimondo, The National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris, France
• Prof. François Chaumont, Louvain Institute of Molecular Science and Technology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
• Prof. Sandrine Etienne-Manneville, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
• Prof. Janez Plavec, Slovenian NMR Centre, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The session was also attended by Prof. Szweykowska-Kulińska, a representative of the Board of Curators of Division II – Biological and Agricultural Sciences PAS, as well as members of the Institute’s Scientific Council, including Prof. Bartnik from the University of Warsaw, Prof. Nawrot from the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies PAS in Łódź, and Prof. Jędryczka from the Institute of Plant Genetics PAS.

The session was opened by the Director of the Institute, Luiza Handschuh, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof., who presented a report on the activities of IBCH in 2024. Robert Pękal, Director’s Plenipotentiary for PSNC, briefly summarized PSNC’s activities over the past year.

As in previous years, the best published scientific papers and outstanding doctoral dissertations were presented. The IBCH PAS Director’s Award for the best experimental work was given to the team led by Witold Andrałojć, PhD, for their publication titled “DNAzyme can operate in a single active structure regardless of metal ion cofactor,” published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. Daniel Fochtman, Anna Wojakowska, PhD, DSc, and Łukasz Marczak, PhD, were awarded for the best review article, “Challenges of MS-based small extracellular vesicles proteomics,” published in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. The Director’s Award for an outstanding doctoral dissertation was presented to Angelika Andrzejewska-Romanowska, PhD.

The reporting session was accompanied by a poster session showing research results from all Departments and Specialized Laboratories. Out of 54 posters, a vote involving all Institute employees selected the best poster, created by the team of Mikołaj Podlewski, Karolina Zielińska, Karol Pasternak, Grażyna Leszczyńska, and Witold Andrałojć, titled “Influence of a pathogenic A37 → G37 mutation on the structure of hmt-tRNAMet anticodon loop.” The authors of the winning poster will receive a prize in the form of Institute-funded attendance at a scientific conference of their choice.

On the second day of the reporting session, members of the International Advisory Board held meetings with various groups of scientific staff and PhD students. The discussions focused on the challenges and opportunities of contemporary scientific work, with particular attention to early-career researchers.

The session concluded with a meeting between the IAB experts, the Institute’s Management, and the Chair of the ICHB PAS Scientific Council. The session was summarized, and the IAB members shared their positive impressions from their visit to the Institute, along with recommendations and comments following their meetings with individual research groups.