10 A niversary of IIMCB

Directors’ note
This year marks the end of the first decade of IIMCB
activities. We ourselves are somewhat surprised that it’s
already been 10 years… On the other hand, it almost feels
like we have always been here and that whatever we do
here has been going on forever. Simply, perhaps, relativism
in the perception of time. In fact, for some of us who are still
present here, our adventure with the IIMCB had begun at a
much earlier time – in the mid-1990s – at the early stages
of its construction and organization. We recall those times
and those problems with slightly misty eyes.
Even on the occasion of a jubilee as modest as a 10 th
anniversary during an economic crisis, it is a natural thing to
draw up a balance sheet of achievements and failures. We
are aware of the fact that we have succeeded in creating
a new organizational standard in Polish science. With
no false modesty we can claim that this translates into
quality of scientific research, and it is a simple relationship.
We know that in a relatively short time we became an
important centre of biological sciences in our country,
even though we are not always popular with everyone. The
organizational rules promoted by us, which still represent a
novelty in the Polish scientific research community, remain
in line with the government reform plans for the sector.
We have succeeded in attracting, as research team leaders,
a group of exceptionally talented young scientists who –
were it not for the welcoming IIMCB environment – would
undoubtedly have become part of other excellent research
teams in distinguished laboratories, albeit with no Polish
affiliations. We have succeeded in building a team with a
very low average age – and to watch the enthusiasm of all
these young people is a pleasant sensation in itself.
We keep the research we carry out at IIMCB focused
on the latest issues, yet we deliberately avoid uncritically
8 Annual Report 2008
following fashionable trends of no lasting value. Various
aspects of protein research have become the leading
theme of our activities: from the analysis of molecular
ultrastructure to functional research in nervous
transmission, carcinogenesis, signal transduction, etc.
The equipment we have in our laboratories matches the
state-of-the-art equipment at research facilities around
the world and the working conditions often surpass
those offered elsewhere, even at renowned research
centres.
With the most recent competition decided, we have now
practically filled up the whole building – and it is no small
one. We can boast a large number of various grants , which
account for more than half of the Institute’s budget. We
have developed a very skilled group of administrative staff
we can be proud of. Also, due to an increasing number of
people working at IIMCB, we are expanding and upgrading
our seminar hall.
However, we are still aware of our own shortcomings, and
this continually stimulates us to proceed with our efforts. We
would like to make the IIMCB even more international than
it currently is – our long-term experience to-date has shown
that it still is not easy to recruit foreign scientists for research
positions in Poland. We believe that various European
programmes which facilitate effective hiring practices will
be one of the mechanisms which will turn the Institute into
a truly international organization. We would like, of course,
to obtain more government funding for research, though
nowadays such expectations are hard to meet.
We constantly think about the direction in which the
IIMCB should be developed in the future. We have to
work out a reasonable mechanism of turnover among
researchers, to enable the influx of new blood, while
providing the feeling of well-earned stability to the best
and brightest. We are considering the idea of expanding
beyond our building and beyond Warsaw: setting up
research units associated with the IIMCB at other research
institutes or universities may be one of the ways leading to
further development. With all this in mind, we look forward
to the second decade with the certainty that it will bring
us new challenges, though the nature of these is hard to
predict at the moment. We will do our best not to let these
challenges take us by surprise.