Popular sciences

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Description

The „Academia” magazine was founded on the initiative of Professor Andrzej B. Legocki, a President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2003 – 2006. In the beginning it was published only in English as a reply to the growing demand for a current information on the Polish Academy of Sciences` activities, expressed by foreign scientists and Poles living abroad and interested in Polish science.

Since 2005 the magazine is published both in Polish and English.

The „Academia” is an exceptional - on the Polish market - scientific magazine for the general public, propagating achievements of Polish scientists here and abroad. Authors of articles in „Academia” explain their subject in a way that is accessible not only for all sorts of academics but also for students, pupils and all other readers interested in scientific topics for the general public.

ISSN

1731-7401

Publishers

Polish Academy of Sciences

Editorial Staff

Dariusz Jemielniak – Editor-in-Chief

Agata Kaźmierska, Wojciech Brzeziński – Journalists

Anna Bielec – Managing Editor

Andrzej Figatowski – Graphic Designer

Rafał Komorowski – Photo editor

Aneta Karwowska – Photographer

Dorota Chabiera – Project coordinator

Scientific Council

Marek Konarzewski, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Chairman)

Dariusz Jemielniak (Deputy Chairman)

Andrzej Buko

Patrycja Dołowy

Paweł Golik

Janusz Jurczak

Tomasz Kapitaniak

Marek Krawczyk

Krzysztof Nowak

Publisher:

Polish Academy of Sciences

Communication and Science Information Department

Defilad sq. 1,

00-901 Warsaw, Poland

e-mail: academia@pan.pl

The journal content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
ttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Volumes

Select number

Content

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition

1 Contents

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 2

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2 Editorial

Dariusz Jemielniak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 3

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Authors and Affiliations

Dariusz Jemielniak

Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences

3 The Roses of Polish Science Are Already There, They Just Need to Be Notice

Marek Konarzewski

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 4-7

Keywords: Polish Academy of Sciences science biology Nobel Prize Polish Academy of Sciences Scientific Award National Science Centre islands of excellence Poland's scientific potential research funding middle-income trap

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Abstract

APolish Nobel Prize will not emerge from a single breakthrough discovery. It will be the result of a system that allows outstanding scientists to do their best work, says Prof. Marek Konarzewski, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS). In this interview, he discusses the Academy’s new award, Poland’s strongest areas of research, and why investment in science may soon become an economic necessity rather than a political choice.

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Authors and Affiliations

Marek Konarzewski

President of the Polish Academy of Sciences

4 We Invest More in Buildings Than in Scientists

Andrzej Jajszczyk

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 8-11

Keywords: Polish Academy of Sciences science engineering sciences Nobel Prize National Science Centre concentration of funding researcher mobility scientific excellence academic competition

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Abstract

Why does Poland struggle to build a world-class research system? According to Prof. Andrzej Jajszczyk of AGH University of Kraków, former Director of the National Science Centre and former Vice-Chair of the European Research Council Scientific Council, the problem is not simply a lack of money. It is also a system that spreads resources too thinly, sustains too many mediocre institutions and rewards survival more often than excellence.

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Authors and Affiliations

Andrzej Jajszczyk

GH University of Kraków

5 Polish Science Is Afraid to Demand Excellence

Anetta Undas

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 12-15

Keywords: science medicine Nobel Prize National Science Centre centers of excellence international cooperation scientific leaders generational gap scientific strategy

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Abstract

Scientific excellence is, by its nature, selective. You cannot fund everything and everyone equally, says Prof. Anetta Undas of the Jagiellonian University Medical College, a physician, researcher, and member of the Council of Poland’s National Science Centre from 2016 to 2024, serving as its chair in 2024. In an interview with Academia, she explains why Poland needs centres of excellence, stronger international collaboration, and the courage to set higher expectations.

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Authors and Affiliations

Anetta Undas

Jagiellonian University Medical College

6 Great Science Begins with Big Questions

Tomasz Dietl

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 16-19

Keywords: science physics Nobel Prize Foundation for Polish Science ERC grants concentration of excellence

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Abstract

The Nobel Prize captures the public imagination, but according to Prof. Tomasz Dietl, a theoretical physicist affiliated with the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and formerly with the University of Warsaw, as well as a recipient of the Foundation for Polish Science Prize, it is a poor measure of the quality of a country’s scientific system. Nobel Prizes are rare, unpredictable and heavily influenced by what he calls the “law of small numbers.” A better measure, he argues, is whether a country consistently produces excellent research and wins competitive international grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

Tomasz Dietl

Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

7 Excellence Is Not Built on Metrics

Jacek Kuźnicki

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 20-23

Keywords: science biology Nobel Prize expert evaluation laboratories of the future nurturing talent institutional culture

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Abstract

Why is it easier in Poland to count points than to produce a Nobel laureate? According to Prof. Jacek Kuźnicki, a neurobiologist at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and former Chair of the Council of the National Science Centre, the answer cannot be reduced to funding alone. The deeper problem lies in a system that does little to support people who rise above the average.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jacek Kuźnicki

International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw

8 You Cannot Engineer a Nobel Prize

Dorota Gryko

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 24-27

Keywords: science chemistry Nobel Prize National Science Centre basic research interdisciplinarity funding stability

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Abstract

When truly important research begins, nobody says, “This will lead to a Nobel Prize.” More often than not, researchers do not even know whether anything useful will come out of it. That is how Prof. Dorota Gryko of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences describes the reality of scientific discovery. In her view, Nobel Prizes cannot be planned, commissioned or strategically engineered. They emerge from fundamental research, often in unexpected ways, and almost always in hindsight.

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Authors and Affiliations

Dorota Gryko

Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences

9 Breakthroughs do not Follow Evaluation Metrics

Wojciech Fendler

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 28-31

Keywords: science medicine Nobel Prize National Science Centre high-risk grants scientific indicators research autonomy knowledge transfer

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Abstract

The problem is not a shortage of talented researchers. It is a system that rewards stability rather than risk, says Prof. Wojciech Fendler, a specialist in biostatistics and translational medicine and former president of Poland’s Medical Research Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

Wojciech Fendler

Medical University of Łódź

10 Mathematics in Poland: Potential and Crisis

Tomasz Łuczak

ACADEMIA. The magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences | 2026 | 1 (8) special edition | 32-35

Keywords: science mathematics Nobel Prize Fields Medal Abel Prize Foundation for Polish Science STEM education mathematics education future of science

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Abstract

Young Polish mathematicians are winning prestigious European prizes, publishing in leading journals, and working with top international research groups. Yet according to Prof. Tomasz Łuczak of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the broader situation surrounding the mathematical sciences in Poland is becoming increasingly worrying.

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