Author: Marcin Powęska

There are places in Poland that operate at a genuinely world-class level – but they do so in conditions that make it systematically hard to build anything that lasts. In a Candela Foundation podcast, Anna Pawlus, Managing Director of ICTER, speaks candidly about the problem: Poland still lacks a clear definition of what “Centres of Excellence” really are within the national system; funding often ends before an institution can fully mature; and bureaucracy can drain motivation faster than a tight budget.

As the Horizon Europe programme enters its final phase, research institutions across Poland are sharing their experiences on how to successfully obtain and implement European research grants. One such event was the InfoDay “The final stretch of Horizon Europe – seize your opportunity!”, held in Warsaw on 3-4 February 2026. Joanna Kartasiewicz from ICTER participated as a speaker in a panel discussion dedicated to Widening instruments.

New sequencing technologies, artificial intelligence in medicine, and single-cell data analysis are now at the core of modern biology and precision medicine. At the center of this international discussion were ICTER researchers Dr. Stefania Robakiewicz and Dr. Aleksandra Kornacka-Stackonis, who took part in The Festival of Genomics and Biodata 2026 in London.

Two days of conversations, presentations, and meetings that remind us that science is, above all, about people and their ideas. During the IChF Microsymposium, ICTER researchers showcased the diversity and ambition of their projects – from optical brain imaging to the structure of proteins essential for vision.