More than 380 PhD students pursue their degrees at following six Polish Academy of Sciences institutes which together form the PAS Ochota BioCentre Consortium: Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Nencki Institute.

Guests were welcomed by Prof. Piotr Zielenkiewicz, Director of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS, current President of the Institutes Board of Directors. Prof. Michał Kleiber, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Stefan Malepszy, Chairman of the PAS Supervisory Board and directors of institutes forming the Consortium were in attendance.

Next Prof. Michał Kleiber wished all PhD candidates to pursue even their most challenging goals and achieve success.
PAS President and Institute Directors awarded the best PhD theses defended in the last academic year with diplomas and commemorative statuettes of the Ochota BioCentre. Among the recognized were the following students from the Nencki Institute:

Aneta Kwiatkowska – thesis supervisor – Prof. Bożena Kamińska-Kaczmarek,
Gabriela Mochol – thesis supervisor – Prof. Daniel Wójcik,
Dominika Malińska – thesis supervisor – Prof. Adam Szewczyk, co-advisor – Prof. Wolfram S. Kunz,
Łukasz Słomnicki- thesis supervisor – Prof. Wiesława Leśniak,
Dorota Wypych – thesis supervisor – Prof. Paweł Pomorski,
Wojciech Grajkowski – thesis supervisor – Prof. Andrzej Kubalski,
Marzena Stefaniuk – thesis supervisor – Prof. Katarzyna Łukasiuk,
Monika Lewandowska – thesis supervisor – Prof. Elżbieta Szeląg,
Elżbieta Dudek – thesis supervisor – Prof. Andrzej Kasprzak.

Dr. Adam Sobczak from the Ochota BioCentre Technology Transfer Office awarded scholarships, co-funded from the Operational Program Human Capital to winners of a contest for PhD students conducting application research. Katarzyna Wierzbicka from Nencki received one of the stipends.

Next the assembled guests heard a talk by Prof. Andrzej Kajetan Wróblewski entitled “When shall our civilization perish?” which stimulated a heated discussion. The ceremony closed with a social meeting of PhD candidates.