Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, PhD, Eng., winner of the "Polityka" Scientific Award

Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun PhD, Eng., from the Centre of Biotechnology of the Silesian University of Technology was among the elite five winners of the “Polityka” Scientific Awards 2022. These awards are granted to talented young scientists.

Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, PhD, Eng., received the award in the category of exact sciences.

"This is a great appreciation not only for my work, but above all for the work of my young team. It is also the merit of many of my mentors and people who have accompanied me in my scientific career. It is also an appreciation of the field of 3D bioprinting, which is not yet very popular in Poland and is just developing” – said the laureate.

Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, PhD, Eng., in her scientific work focuses on 3D bioprinting in order to develop modern implants.

­– “I deal with 3D bioprinting to create models of tissues and artificial organs. In laboratories, we create mini organs, and check how cells behave there, how tissues can develop. We are looking at whether such materials could be useful in the future for patients to create personalized implants, or whether we could help people who have, for example, some injuries or wounds difficult to heal. We are investigating whether we could use our materials that we develop in laboratories to support such a person” – explains Dr. Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun.

“The Scientific Award of” Polityka” is a great success of the Silesian University of Technology, but above all a huge success of young science implemented at our University” – emphasized Tomasz Trawiński, PhD, Eng., Prof. SUT, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Promotion. – “The issues dealt with by Dr. Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, i.e., tissue printing using 3D techniques, are crucial. This is an area that will develop intensively. Imagine printed organs, such as the heart, liver, pancreas, lungs, or skin implants, that integrate into the body without side effects. This is the technology of the future that is being developed at the Silesian University of Technology” – said Tomasz Trawiński, PhD, Eng., Prof. SUT, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Promotion.

Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, PhD, Eng., conducts her research at the Centre of Biotechnology of the Silesian University of Technology. – “These are interdisciplinary studies at the interface of engineering and medicine. (...) They show how important the role of the Silesian University of Technology is in science” – said the director of the Centre, Dr. Sebastian Student.

This year, the “Polityka” Scientific Awards were awarded for the 22nd time. They aim to support financially the most talented scientists, but also to popularize their research.

– “We want to show our readers that these young people are doing a fantastic, very interesting job, unfortunately we have nowhere to find out about it. (...) That is why we want to use both Polityka and our scientific portal Pulsar to present these people so that they can talk about themselves and what they do” – said Jerzy Baczyński, editor-in-chief of Polityka.  

This is not the first Scientific Award of "Polityka" for employees of the Silesian University of Technology.  In previous editions, it was awarded to: Prof. Andrzej Chydziński (in 2007), Prof. Jerzy Respondek (in 2008), Dr Eng. Arch.  Agnieszka Labus (2014 ) and Dr. Eng.  Jakub Nalepa, Prof. SUT (2020).