The 20th birthday of the Biotechnology Centre at the Silesian University of Technology
On June the 19th, the Silesian University of Technology celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Biotechnology Centre The event was attended by the initiators of the establishment of the unit and the first employees. There was no lack of thanks for the work so far and memories.
On November 1st, 2006, an extra-faculty organizational unit of the Silesian University of Technology, the Biotechnology Centre, was established, which works for the development of biotechnology, in cooperation with the basic organizational units of the University and scientific centres in Poland and abroad. The basic task of the Biotechnology Centre was to organize the cooperation of three Faculties at the Silesian University of Technology: Faculty of Chemistry, Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, conducting a combined cross-faculty course of study “Biotechnology”, as well as coordinating cooperation with the Institute of Oncology Branch in Gliwice (today the National Institute of Oncology), which closely cooperates with the University in this field.
The Rector of the Silesian University of Technology, Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Marek Pawełczyk emphasized that the Biotechnology Centre does not lack determination and creativity to generate new ambitious projects and set new scientific challenges, which is a huge advantage of this place. At the same time, he addressed the employees of the unit with thanks and wishes for further fruitful work.
- Thank you for your efforts so far. To all the people who created this Centre, guided it for years with care for quality, to the hands of the director I would like to express my thanks and wish further determination, ideas, and perseverance in finding new partners for cooperation and increasing project activity. We need this at the university, - he added.
Dr Hab. Eng. Sebastian Student, director of the Biotechnology Centre admitted that it is difficult to summarize the 20-year activity of the unit, because in fact it is constantly developing.
- In biotechnology as a field that is linked to various problems, such as health, environmental protection or simply human assistance, there is still a lot to do, - he said. He pointed out that during the 20 years of activity, many ambitious projects were implemented in the Centre, including “Silesian BIO-farm”.
Its implementation was started in 2007 together with the University of Silesia and the Medical University of Silesia. The main objective of this project was to increase the competitiveness of the members of the BIO-FARM consortium in the field of biotechnology, bioengineering, and bioinformatics.
- It was one of the first big projects, thanks to which we could invest in all equipment. The Centre grew with further grants, including European ones, implemented by among others, by Dr Hab. Małgorzata Włodarczyk-Biegun, Prof SUT – he added.
Today, the Biotechnology Centre implements several projects at the national and international level. It cooperates intensively with the socio-economic environment. Cooperation with the National Institute of Oncology in Gliwice is very important here. Prof. Dr Hab. Joanna Rzeszowska was responsible for the beginning of this cooperation 20 years ago.
- I had the pleasure of working with Professor Batko years ago, who was the first in Poland to combine biology with computer science. He was a genius who worked in Warsaw on a daily basis but came to Gliwice for lectures. I wanted him to do his research here, at the then Institute of Oncology, but he died and all I had left was to save his research.
The research concerned, among others, searching for common features in cancer patients, like a possibility to predict, based on where they lived, whether they were more likely to have cancer.
- I came to the Silesian University of Technology, where I presented the opportunity to continue research in the field of cancer genetics. I was referred to Prof. Świerniak at the moment when the idea of creating a Biotechnology Centre was being considered, - she added.
Prof. Andrzej Świerniak, a retired professor of the Silesian University of Technology, calls Prof. Rzeszowska the mother of success, which after years turned out to be the Biotechnology Centre.
- She wanted to do something specific and she did it. When we started, we had nowhere to work. We got a piece of the building after the Faculty of Chemistry and that was it – he recalls.
Today, with a tear in his eye, he recalls the beginnings and proudly watches as the Biotechnology Centre develops and implements more and more ambitious projects. There is no doubt that in the structure of the Silesian University of Technology, the Biotechnology Centre is one of the most important scientific units.
During the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Centre, the guests and participants of the event saw a film with memories of the employees and founders of the place, and later met at a picnic, where in a friendly atmosphere the then and the present employees could exchange their experiences, and students and PhD students could learn about the extraordinary history of the Biotechnology Centre at the Silesian University of Technology.
fot. Maciej Mutwil
