Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology

Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Congress BIO 2014 in Warsaw
2014-10-06
The 1st Congress of the Polish Biochemistry, Cell
Biology, Biophysics and Bioinformatics BIO 2014
took place in Warsaw from 9th till 12th September
2014, at the main campus of the Warsaw University,
adjacent to the Old Town district. It was Poland's first
such large-scale meeting of scientific communities
dealing with biosciences. This formula proved to be
very attractive, as constant progress in science
increasingly requires interdisciplinary cooperation.
The Congress BIO 2014 brought together almost 800 researchers and over 100 company
representatives working in various fields of biosciences. The official language at the Congress
was English.
The number of submitted abstracts and interest of the exhibitors in the Congress significantly
exeeded the most optimistic expectations of the Organizers. Plenary lectures were given by
Profs. John Gurdon (Nobel Prize laureate of 2012), Ewan Birney (Associate Director of
EMBL-EBI), Graziella Pellegrini (Director of the Cell Therapy Program in the Centre for
Regenerative Medicine of the University of Modena) and Dr. Benedykt Wladyka (laureat of
the Jakub Karol Parnas Award presented by the Polish Biochemical Society for the best
experimental paper in the field of biochemistry published by a Polish laboratory in 2013).
Other presentations were given by 170 speakers including 71 eminent invited lecturers
originating from Poland, from 12 European countries and from the USA. Furthermore , the
scientific program of the Congress consisted of 15 main sessions, the symposium ‘EMBO and
Poland’, 3 satellite sessions: ‘Science and Business’, ‘Women in Science’, and an open
popular session addressed to the general public ‘Science and Society’. A number of poster
sessions, as well as company workshops, and equipment exhibitions made up another
important part of the Congress. The Congress BIO 2014 was highly ranked by the most
prominent representatives of Polish Science and by the participants.
The involvement of the Nencki Institute in the Congress was substantial. The chairperson of
the Scientific and Organizing Committees, Prof. Urszula Wojda, the co-chairperson of the
Organizing Committee, Dr. Agnieszka Strzelecka-Kiliszek, as well as many members of the
Scientific and Organizing Committees, and many volunteers are affiliated with the Nencki
Institute. Scientific sessions chaired by the scientists from the Nencki Institute: ‘Bioenergetics’
(Adam Szewczyk, Jerzy Duszyński, Lech Wojtczak), ‘Cellular Neurobiology’ (Witold
Konopka), ‘Development and Ageing’ (Ewa Sikora), ‘Metabolic Disorders: External and
Internal Signaling (Prof. Agnieszka Dobrzyń, Dr. Dorota Włoga). Prof. Leszek Kaczmarek
organizered a special symposium ‘EMBO and Poland’, Profs. Agnieszka Dobrzyń and Dr.
Halina Waś, organized and successfully promoted an open popular science session ‘Science
and Society’, and Adam Ciuk chaired a satellite session ‘Science and Business”. All these
sessions attracted a lot of attention and significantly contributed to the Done it! big success of
the Congress BIO 2014.
Moreover, during the General Assembly of the Polish Biochemical Society Prof. Adam
Szewczyk, the Director of the Nencki Institute, was elected for the function of the VicePresident of the Society, Dr. Monika Kusio-Kobialka received the Witold Drabikowski Award
of the Polish Biochemical Society and Merck-Millipore company for the best doctoral thesis in
biochemistry defended in Poland in 2013 (supervisors: Dr. Habil. Katarzyna Piwocka and
Prof. Ewa Sikora), and Piotr Sunderland, a PhD student from the laboratory of Prof. Ewa
Sikora, was awarded by the Polish Society for Cell Biology and Bentley Polska for the best
poster presentation during the Congress BIO 2014.
Congratulations!