National Science Centre Awards presented in Kraków

Winner of the NCN Award, awarded to scientist below the age of 40, receives 50 thousand zlotys. The award is given in acknowledgement of the greatest single scientific achievement (and not lifetime achievement) in basic research.

The awards were given in three separate categories, and the ceremony was held in the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall in Kraków.

The NCN conferred the awards for the second time. "It is a cash prize, but most of all - an award that gives prestige. It complements the system of grants that the National Science Centre offers to scientists" - told PAP Prof. Andrzej Jajszczyk, director of the NCN. He explained that the winners may used the awarded amounts for any purpose.

Winner in the field of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences was Prof. Marcin Miłkowski from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology PAS. He was awarded for proposing the computational theory of the mind, which he discusses in the work published by the prestigious MIT Press.

Philosopher from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology PAS emphasised that since the age of 14 he had been passionate about the mechanisms of the human mind. "In my work I would like to explain what it means that our mind is literally a kind of computer, it literally processes information" - Miłkowski told PAP.

The Award in the field of Life Sciences was given to Prof. Janusz Bujnicki from the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, for designing innovative bioinformatic methods for the research of RNA-protein complexes.

Understanding the structure of RNA molecules may contribute to the development of new drugs and biotechnological tools. "It is my dream as a scientist to make a major discovery or invent something that will benefit all humans" - emphasised Bujnicki.

The winner of the third category - Physical Sciences and Engineering - was Prof. Michał Horodecki from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, University of Gdańsk. The jury conferred the award in recognition of his "discovery of the quantum state of bound entanglement and for his investigations into the non-additiveness of quantum channels’ capacity". "What gives me most joy in my job is that it is about the basics of quantum mechanics, in fact the very basics of physics" - noted the winner.

In addition to cash prizes, the winners received commemorative steel statues in the shape depending on the field represented by the winner: ball (humanities), cube (life sciences) and pyramid (science).

According to the organizers, cash prizes have been funded entirely by three private companies: Adamed, EDF Polska and Meble Vox. "It is particularly important to us that for the first time (in the history of NCN awards), private capital became involved in supporting basic research. Research, which may, but do not have to lead to financial benefits" - said Chairman of the NCN Council, Prof. Michael Karoński.

Ministry of Science and Higher Education is the honorary patron of the NCN Award. PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland is a media partner of the Award.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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