On 31 October, Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak was appointed as the new Director of the National Science Centre. Prof. Jóźwiak is a former NCN Council member who knows the National Science Centre very well.
Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak is a professor of pharmaceutical sciences involved in molecular pharmacology and drug chemistry. He is the Head of the Department of Biopharmacy and Chair of Chemistry at the Medical University of Lublin. Between 2018 and 2022, Prof. Jóźwiak was a member of the Scientific Council of the Maj Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow.
“I am determined to do my best to push for an increase in the NCN grant-in-aid. I believe it to be the most urgent task and hope the Ministry of Education and Science will understand that concern. Without decent quality-oriented science and education funding, we will not be able to create a modern knowledge-based economy in Poland”, says the new NCN Director.
Prof. Jóźwiak knows the National Science Centre very well. He is a former member of the NCN Council (2012-2020) and former Head of the Council’s Life Sciences Committee.
“[Prof. Jóźwiak] is one of those who were involved in the formation of the agency and understands its mission very well. I am convinced that under his leadership the NCN will use the opportunities the nearest future will bring”, says prof. Zbigniew Błocki about his successor.
Prof. Jóźwiak had to wait nearly eight months for his appointment as NCN Director although he should have started his work at the beginning of March 2023, when Prof. Błocki’s term of office ended.
An open call for NCN director was held at the turn of the year. The NCN Council accepted Prof. Jóźwiak’s candidacy in middle of February 2023. Over the next few months, everyone waited for Minister Przemysław Czarnek to officially nominate Prof. Jóźwiak as NCN Director. According to the Act on the National Science Centre, Prof. Zbigniew Błocki has acted as an interim Director.
The new Director was officially appointed on 31 October, at the headquarters of the National Science Centre. Minister Czarnek was represented by Prof. Włodzimierz Bernacki, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Science.
Prof. Włodzimierz Bernacki, Prof. Krzysztof Jóźwiak, Prof. Zbigniew Błocki
NCN’s operation over the past two years and condition of Polish science and research institutions after the election are discussed in episode 9 of our podcast.