The 5th PhD Student Conference was held on 14-15 October at our Institute. After last year’s break caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we resumed this yearly event that aimed to provide the students with the opportunity to share their results and exchange ideas with colleagues of different scientific backgrounds.

We had the great pleasure to host two outstanding group leaders who have recently established their laboratories. Dr. Tomasz Kościółek from Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology gave an opening lecture entitled “Understanding and shaping the human gut microbiome for health using bioinformatics and machine learning”. Karolina Szczepanowska from The International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines Polish Academy of Sciences (IMOL PAS) closed the conference with a talk entitled “Safeguarding a beautiful beast. The quality control of respiratory Complex I”. The closing session was followed by the barbecue in the courtyard of the Institute.

This year, over 100 PhD students presented their results in the form of a talk or a poster.

Best “long talk” prizes were awarded to:

Gabriela Dzięgiel-Fivet (1st prize)

Paloma Alvarez-Suarez and Kamil Wojnicki (2nd prize each)

Best “speed talk” awards were received by:

Justyna Wiśniewska (1st prize)

Łucja Doradzińska and Natalia Ochocka-Lewicka (2nd prize each).

“Best poster” prizes were awarded to:

Adria Jaume Canaldes (1st prize)

Laura Turos-Korgul and Natalia Rutkowska (2nd prize each)