The Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

The aim of the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences is to create and deepen our knowledge in the field of physics. The Institute is particularly interested in selected problems of contemporary condensed matter physics, including the impact of quantum interactions, dimensionality and electronic correlations on the properties of matter and the processes of energy transfer, in its various forms, in atoms, molecules and crystal structures.

The Institute also conducts extensive research in the field of biophysics, including the application of nanotechnology to medicine, in the field of spectroscopy and material characterization, including optically active materials and nanomaterials with potential applications in the energy and electronics industries.

Current work includes, among others, understanding in one, two and three-dimensional crystal structures the mutual influence of different phases of electron arrangement, such as magnetic, superconducting and other phases, on electrical, thermodynamic and optical properties. These works are of fundamental cognitive importance, but they are also used to model phenomena and to design devices and functional systems for potential applications in optoelectronics and digital technologies.

The specialty of the Institute is research on topological insulators, low-dimensional semiconductor-magnetic hybrid structures, research on thin films and metallic, magnetic, semiconducting and superconducting structures. An important part of the research activity of the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences is also the research of materials and devices applicable in the field of obtaining and storing renewable energy, such as new types of photovoltaic cells and optoelectronic materials with special properties.

The tasks of the Institute also include educating researchers and specialists with qualifications related to the conducted research directions and applied research methods; cooperation in the didactic process carried out at universities; transferring the results of scientific work for practical use, disseminating knowledge in the field of work carried out at the Institute and popularizing science. As part of the latter form of activity, the Institute organizes demonstration lessons in physics for schools, and actively participates in Young Physicists Tournaments, Science Picnics, Warsaw Science Festivals, Physics Olympiads and similar events. The Institute is one of the founding members of the Warsaw Doctoral School in Exact and Biomedical Sciences and educates about 80 doctoral students. Numerous seminars, lectures and reports on the Institute's scientific activity are available as videos on the YouTube channel of the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Organization of the Institute

The Director of the Institute is Professor Roman Puźniak. The management also includes two Scientific Directors Professor Magdalena Załuska-Kotur and Professor Piotr Deuar, Administrative and Technical Director Dr. Paweł Głód, and the CFO Mr. Grzegorz Dudek. The Scientific Council chaired by Professor Tomasz Story sets the directions of research and oversees the quality of scientific work. The Council is legally empowered to grant PhD and DSC degrees in physics.

The organization of the scientific part of the Institute includes six Scientific Departments and four Environmental Laboratories divided thematically into research teams.

Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in numbers

At the end of 2021, 285 scientists, engineering and technical employees, and 107 employees in administrative and technical roles worked in the Institute's Scientific Departments and Laboratories. Of the scientific and technical employees, 83% declared physics as their field of science. For the rest, the fields declared together with physics include chemistry and biology. materials engineering, engineering and technical sciences and biomedical engineering. The scientific staff of the Institute includes, among others (data as at the end of 2021), three members of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 45 titular professors, 38 professors of the Institute and 51 assistant professors. Among scientists and technical workers, foreigners account for 12%.

The Institute doctoral students come from Poland and several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America (currently 62% of doctoral students are foreigners). In 2021, the employees of the Institute carried out a total of 86 research projects. Over 60% are projects financed by grant programs of the National Science Centre. The others are projects financed by the National Center for Research and Development, the Polish Science Foundation, the EU Commission, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the NAWA agency, the Polish Academy of Sciences, the NATO SPS Program and from other domestic and foreign sources. In 2021, the employees of the Institute published 278 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, over 95% of them articles in peer-reviewed international scientific journals in English. During this period, the Institute was granted 12 patents and protection rights, and the employees of the Institute filed 10 further patent applications. The employees of the institute participate in about 100 international scientific collaborations, including about 30 formal consortia. The Institute is also the publisher of the English-language open access scientific journal in the field of physics Acta Physica Polonica A, in which 205 scientific articles have been published.