Research in Poland

09/10/2026

🌌 Did you know that Warsaw is set to become home to a new European Space Agency (ESA) centre?

🛰️ Announced in July 2026, the planned facility will focus on civil security, crisis management and the use of space technologies to strengthen resilience here on Earth.

The project could also open up new opportunities for Polish researchers, engineers and technology companies, while strengthening Poland's role in European space activities.

But what exactly will the new ESA centre do? When could it begin operating, and what might it mean for the future of Polish science?

We've explored these questions in our latest article on Research in Poland!

Read the full story here 👇

The new ESA centre in Warsaw will focus on civil security and space technology. Discover what it could mean for Polish science and innovation.

09/10/2026

🌌 It's still World Space Week, but today we're coming back down to Earth… and going even deeper!

What if thunderstorms could help scientists see what's hidden beneath our feet?

It might sound like science fiction, but an international research team, including Polish geophysicist Dr Rafał Czarny, has demonstrated that thunder can be used to investigate structures beneath the Earth's surface!

⚡ How does it work?

When lightning strikes, it rapidly heats the surrounding air, creating the sound waves we hear as thunder. These waves not only travel through the atmosphere but can also cause tiny vibrations in the ground.

🔬 Using a highly sensitive fibre-optic sensing system, researchers were able to detect these vibrations and analyse how seismic waves travelled through the subsurface.

By studying these signals, researchers were able to investigate underground structures at depths of approximately 100 metres!

🔎 Why does this matter?

Traditional seismic surveys often require specialised equipment to generate vibrations in the ground. This approach explores how naturally occurring sounds, such as thunder, could provide an alternative source of seismic energy.

In the future, techniques like this could contribute to geological investigations and subsurface monitoring, although further research is needed.

📷 Illustrative photo: Ryan Heuer / Unsplash.

08/10/2026

🌌 World Space Week 2026 is still going strong — and so is Poland's space sector!

This year's theme, “Rocket Revolution”, highlights how new technologies, reusable rockets and international cooperation are transforming access to space.

But the space revolution isn't just about rockets. It's also about the satellites, technologies and brilliant minds that make space activities possible.

And Poland is playing an increasingly important role in this transformation!

At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026) in Türkiye, Poland is presenting its growing capabilities in satellite technologies, Earth observation and space security.

🔬 Here are some exciting examples of Poland's space ambitions:

🛰️ PIAST — a Polish programme developing optical Earth observation capabilities using satellite technologies.

🌍 POLSARIS/MikroSAR — an initiative focused on developing radar-based Earth observation capabilities, strengthening access to satellite data.

🤝 European cooperation — Poland is expanding its involvement in European space programmes, including the IRIS² secure satellite communications initiative and projects developed through the European Space Agency (ESA).

And there's another milestone ahead!

In 2027, Poland will host the 78th International Astronautical Congress in Poznań, from 27 September to 1 October, welcoming the international space community to discuss the future of space exploration, research and technology.

From developing satellite capabilities to strengthening international research and technology partnerships, Poland is investing in its future in space.

Because exploring space isn't only about reaching the stars — it's also about improving life here on Earth. 🌍

📷 Image credit: NASA.

08/10/2026

🌌 It's World Space Week 2026!

Every year, from 4 to 10 October, the world celebrates space science, technology and the discoveries that bring us closer to understanding the Universe.

And what better way to celebrate than by highlighting an exciting Polish contribution to the search for new worlds? 🇵🇱

🌍 Could there be another Earth somewhere in the Universe? A Polish scientist is helping us find out!

Dr Radosław Poleski from the University of Warsaw is contributing to NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission by developing software to analyse astronomical data and help scientists discover distant planets.

🪐 The telescope is expected to transform the search for exoplanets — planets orbiting stars beyond our Solar System. Using a technique called gravitational microlensing, scientists expect to discover around 1,500 exoplanets, including worlds that are difficult to detect using other methods.

🇵🇱 Interestingly, Polish astronomers have played a pioneering role in developing this method. Professor Bohdan Paczyński was among the first to propose gravitational microlensing as a way to detect otherwise invisible astronomical objects, laying the groundwork for discoveries being made today.

🔬 This ambitious mission brings together researchers from around the world, including Polish scientists whose expertise is helping advance modern astronomy.

Artist's illustration of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / Conceptual Image Lab.

01/10/2026

🧬 267 proteins, 93 links to genetic diseases. Researchers in Warsaw have mapped an important part of the cellular machinery that controls the fate of proteins.

Scientists from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB) systematically analysed 267 substrate receptors of cullin–RING ligases — components that help cells identify proteins to be modified or removed.

Their catalogue shows that 93 of these receptors are already linked to genetic diseases, many involving neurodevelopmental or neuromuscular symptoms.

The resource, developed by Natalia A. Szulc and Prof. Wojciech Pokrzywa, brings together information on the receptors’ functions, tissue expression and disease associations. It could help researchers interpret genetic variants and identify new directions for rare-disease research.

🔬 The work was published in Trends in Cell Biology.

22/09/2026

☄️ What can a visitor from another star system tell us about the Universe?

3I/ATLAS is the third confirmed interstellar object ever observed. It offers scientists a rare opportunity to study material from another star system.

An international team including researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Sofiia Mykhailova, Prof. AMU Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Prof. AMU Dagmara Oszkiewicz, studied the comet during its approach to the Sun.

Using observations collected between July and September 2025, the scientists analysed the comet’s gas, dust and coma. They found that 3I/ATLAS maintained a stable reddish colour and showed a depletion of carbon chain molecules, with CN being the only prominent molecular emission detected. The observations also revealed a persistent jet directed towards the Sun.

According to the researchers, these characteristics point to an object that formed in a distinct protoplanetary environment.

The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

📷 Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, observed by the Hubble Space Telescope on 21 July 2025. Credit: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI).

18/09/2026

🏺 What can a Roman site on the Danube still reveal after nearly 2,000 years?

Archaeologists from the Uniwersytet Warszawski have reported new discoveries from this year’s excavations at Novae in northern Bulgaria, an important Roman military centre and the base of the legio I Italica.

The researchers are uncovering a monumental building covering more than 3,000 m², which is believed to have been a wealthy residence. This season brought further discoveries, including pools belonging to a luxurious bath complex, fragments of painted plaster and an intricately crafted floor.

Among the finds are also a head of the god Mithras, a fragment of a marble imperial portrait, two inscribed altars and a rare bronze figurine of Priapus.

Polish-Bulgarian archaeological excavations at Novae have been conducted continuously since 1960.

📷 Illustrative photo: The archaeological site of Novae in Bulgaria. Photo: Alexander D. Hristov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

18/09/2026

🔬 Can the way we observe a chemical reaction actually change its course?

Researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polska Akademia Nauk (IFJ PAN) have shown that at the nanoscale, it can.

The scientists studied the same chemical reaction using two different imaging techniques – one based on X-rays and the other on electrons. Surprisingly, the different imaging beams led to the formation of different nanostructures.

The findings show that at the nanoscale, the beam used to observe a chemical reaction may not be just a passive observer, but can actively influence how the reaction unfolds.

The research was published in the scientific journal Small.

Illustrative photo: transmission electron microscope (TEM). Photo: Johannes Schneider / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

09/09/2026

🤖 Polish students reach the podium at the European Rover Challenge!

Huge congratulations to AGH Space Systems from Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza w Krakowie University of Krakow for an outstanding achievement at this year’s European Rover Challenge! 🇵🇱

🥈 The Polish team finished 2nd overall, competing against rover teams from around the world. AGH Space Systems also took 3rd place in the Creativity Challenge, a special task organised by the Honda Research Institute Europe.

💡 What is the challenge all about? Teams design and build advanced planetary rovers, robotic vehicles inspired by those used in space exploration. During the competition, the rovers must tackle realistic mission scenarios, including scientific exploration, sample collection, navigation through difficult terrain, maintenance tasks and other challenges inspired by the exploration of the Moon and Mars.

🤝 These competitions bring together young students and engineers to test ideas, develop new technologies and gain experience that could help shape the future of space exploration.

Congratulations to AGH Space Systems on this fantastic success! Polish engineering is reaching for Mars!

04/09/2026

WHAT DOES A BABY SMELL LIKE? 🔍

Apparently, something worth studying. Polish scientists just won an Ig Nobel Prize for asking that very question.

This year, the Ig Nobel Prize in Olfaction went to an international team including Prof. Agnieszka Sorokowska and Dr Tomasz Frąckowiak from Uniwersytet Wrocławski together with Ilona Croy and Thomas Hummel.

Their research, ‘Babies Smell Wonderful to Their Parents, Teenagers Do Not’, asked a wonderfully simple question:

Why do parents love the smell of their babies, and why does that seem to change as children grow up?

The researchers found that parents overwhelmingly rated the smell of infants as pleasant or very pleasant. As children approached and passed puberty, those ratings became less positive. In other words: something happens between the baby years and the teenage years, and hormones may have something to do with it. 😅

Our sense of smell plays an important role in social relationships, and the pleasant scent of babies may be part of the biological mechanisms that help strengthen the parent–child bond. So behind the seemingly quirky question lies a fascinating piece of research about human behaviour, development, smell and parental bonding.

The aim of the Ig Nobel Prizes is to ‘honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think’.

We couldn't agree more.

Congratulations to our Polish scientists and their fellow laureates! 🇵🇱🔬