Young face of Polish science with global range

This year’s holders of the Minister of Science and Higher Education’s scholarships, which means the best scientists under the age of 35, were awarded for their considerable scholarly achievements and high quality of conducted research. They each received a 5 thousand zloty monthly grant for next three years.

One of those rewarded is Doctor Joanna Kolniak-Ostek from the Department of Fruit, Vegetable and Cereals Technology, who treats prosaic activities such as making preserves with scientific passion of a researcher. – I make jams, juices and pastes myself, but in my research I focus on antioxidative compounds. I study them using mass spectrometry with liquid chromatography in order to check how to store fruits and vegetables best and which process of processing influences their most valuable compounds – explains Joanna Kolniak-Ostek, laughing that she mainly deals with chemistry in a glass canning jar.

Doctor Zbigniew Lazar is proud of one more scholarship: Mobility Plus will allow him to conduct research in the Bioinformatics and Metabolic Engineering LAB at the MIT in the USA. – I deal with the production of lipids by Yarrowia lipolytica yeast – says Doctor Lazar, whom upon seeing an inquiring look immediately explained – These are yeasts isolated from the soil surrounding car washes. The soil is polluted with oils, which are an ideal food for these yeasts. Their potential for synthesizing and storing large amounts of fats is truly surprising. We can additionally increase it using genetic engineering methods and the fats may be used to produce biodiesel and theoretically they may replace vegetable oils in this respect.

Doctor Anna Gliszczyńska deals with structural modifications of natural compounds, mostly isoprenoids and phospholipids. Her project is interdisciplinary and includes research from the borders of chemistry, biotechnology and pharmacology. – The aim is one – facing the global increase of civilization diseases it is necessary to create the next generation of nutraceuticals with anticancer and antioxidant activities – she says.

Doctor Witold Rohm from the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics in collaboration with scientists from the Department of Climatology and Atmosphere Protection of the University of Wroclaw has been working on the construction of a system for monitoring the content of water vapour in the troposphere. The project is to produce a tomographic model of the troposphere – for practical use by meteorologists and increasing the quality of generated weather forecasts. The scientist emphasizes that the software, which he is working on, should be also useful for supporting systems for early monitoring of anti-flood warning.

Doctor Krzysztof Sośnica also works in the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics. He defended his doctoral thesis in the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern in Switzerland and returned to the University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław with the European Geosciences Union reward. What does satellite geodesy tell us about the Earth? – It says that our planet is very dynamic and undergoes many processes. There are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate movements, sea and ocean levels rise, glaciers melt, particularly in Greenland and Western Antarctica. Satellite geodesy provides us with many precise tools for monitoring such processes – said Doctor Sośnica shortly after his return to Poland.

Doctor Krzysztof Grzymajło, connected with the Department of Veterinary Medicine, studies adhesion proteins of Salmonella. – These proteins allow bacteria to join to the intestine, which is the beginning of the organism infection – explains Doctor Grzymajło and adds that he is particularly interested in the specificity and strength of the protein bond and characteristic differences between particular kinds. Why? Because the aim of the research conducted is mostly prevention, so stopping the infection before it has a chance to spread. It has been a very successful year for Doctor Grzymajło. He has been using a grant and he has received a scholarship from the minister as well. He also went to Stanford in the USA as a part of the TOP 500 Innovators programme.

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