Professor Jerzy Duszyński from the Nencki Institute, former President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, has been honored by the Japanese government with the Order of the Rising Sun. This honor is bestowed for special services to the country and recognizes Professor Duszynski's significant contribution to promoting scientific and technological exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries while he was President of the Polish Academy of Sciences and before he took up this position.

The Order of the Rising Sun was established in 1875 and was initially awarded for special military merits. After the Second World War, when the Constitution of the Land of the Blossoming Cherry did not allow the formation of an army, the role of the order changed, and it has since been awarded to civilians for special merits to Japan.