Professor Jacek Kuźnicki appointed new President of the NCN Council

On 21 December, the NCN Council composed of the new members held its first meeting during which Professor Jacek Kuźnicki was appointed its new President. The meeting was attended by Dr Anna Budzanowska, Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Professor Kuźnicki has been a member of the NCN Council since 2018. During the last term of office of the Council, he chaired the Committee for International Cooperation. Professor Kuźnicki is the Head of the Laboratory of Neurodegeneration at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw. Since 2004, he has been a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. His research interests are focused on neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, calcium dyshomeostasis and the role of STIM proteins in store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) in neurons. He is a winner of many awards and prizes, such as the Officer’s and Knight’s Crosses of Polonia Restituta, Professorial Subsidy Program Award from the Foundation for Polish Science (2004-2007), Prime Minister’s Award for Scientific Achievements and Crystal Brussels Prize for outstanding FP7 achievements in the individual category. He has been a  member of many organizations and societies in Poland and abroad, such as the International Advisory Board of the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology at the Jagiellonian University, COST Action BM1406 Management Committee, International Expert Council of the Research and Education Centre in Ukraine, Society for Neuroscience, PTBioch. A honorary Head of the Program Board at the Centre for Innovative Bioscience Education (BioCEN) and Board of the BioEducation Foundation.

The new President has established the following committees within the Council: Committee for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (K-1) chaired by Professor Krystyna Bartol, Committee for Physical Sciences and Engineering (K-2) chaired by Professor Grzegorz Karch and Committee for Life Sciences (K-3) chaired by Professor Jakub Fichna.