More than 8 million PLN from National Science Center for two projects led by CMMS PAS scientists

Nearly PLN 8.2 million was awarded to our scientists under the 14th edition of the Sonata BIS program of the National Science Center.

The purpose of the Sonata BIS competition is to provide financial support to young research teams conducting basic scientific research. In the 14th edition, the total budget for all funded projects was nearly 206 million PLN, with a success rate of 15.11%. In the field of science and technology, two scientists from CMMS PAS have received substantial funding for their research projects:

Dr hab. Kacper Druzbicki (Assistant Professor in the Department of Structural Chemistry) – head of the research project “Structural transformations on chemical stabilization pathways in intercalated hybrid perovskites (STARSHIP)”.

The author of the project and his new team will create an innovative research platform to better understand and control the properties of materials key to future technologies. The STARSHIP project is an innovative approach in the search for solutions to understand at the atomic level what makes certain modifications of perovskite materials* more stable and show high resistance to degradation. Perovskites have a good chance to replace silicon in modern solar cells, allow the creation of environmentally friendly cooling technologies, or find application in the production of modern detectors and optoelectronic devices.

Dr. hab Kacper Druzbicki’s team will be able to conduct advanced experimental research, which will contribute to the development of new, more efficient energy materials in the future.

Dr hab. inż Marek Brzezinski. (Professor at the Institute, Department of Functional Polymers and Polymeric Materials) – head of the research project “Supramolecular nanoparticles capable of blocking calcium channels in cancer cells”.

The goal of the project is to develop novel drug delivery systems that are resistant to gastric pH, can effectively penetrate the gastric epithelium and overcome drug resistance of cancer cells. This novel approach of combining anticancer drugs with calcium channel blockers is expected to play a key role in tumor suppression. The change in extracellular calcium ion concentration along with mild hypothermia is expected to result in effective elimination of cancer cells.

The team of dr hab. inż Marek Brzezinski, Professor at the Institute, will study the optimization of the size and stability of the obtained supramolecular carriers so that the carriers, through the use of combination therapy, will be able to deliver active substances to the stomach and thus be effective in treating its cancers.

The leader of the project is the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The project will be carried out jointly with the University of Lodz and the Medical University of Lodz.

We congratulate the awarded scientists and wish them success in achieving their research goals!

*Perovskites are synthetic materials that effectively absorb sunlight. Perovskites can be used relatively easily to coat surfaces, creating low-cost solar cells to extract solar energy and convert it into electricity.