The National Science Centre (NCN) has just announced the winners of the OPUS 27 and PRELUDIUM 23 competitions, and five researchers from the Jagiellonian University Medical College are among them, including two from our Faculty! Thanks to the grants received, they will be able to carry out basic research projects (OPUS 27) and scientific projects funded by the PRELUDIUM 23 competition, addressed to young researchers who have not yet obtained a doctoral degree.

The OPUS and PRELUDIUM competitions are well-known among scientists in Poland. They are organized by the NCN and enable the implementation of basic research in Polish units. OPUS is a competition with a broad formula, in which researchers at any stage of their scientific career can apply for funding for basic research projects. PRELUDIUM, on the other hand, is a competition that enables researchers to gain experience in conducting research independently at a very early stage of their careers, even before obtaining a doctoral degree.

A total of 4359 applications were submitted to the NCN in both competitions, for a total amount of over 3.67 billion PLN. In the OPUS competition, grants were awarded to 357 projects worth over 603.6 million PLN, and in PRELUDIUM – 362 projects for the amount of 61.2 million PLN.

Among the winners of the OPUS 27 competition are:

• Prof. Karolina Pytka (Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacodynamics) – Dual biased agonists of 5-HT1A and 5-HT7 receptors activating the sigma-1 receptor in search of an innovative selenium drug with rapid antidepressant and procognitive action – funding amount: 3,015,840 PLN.
• Dr. Iwona Bielska (Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Health Policy and Management) – Improving patient-centered care for frequent users of the emergency department through a better understanding of the patient pathway – funding amount: 2,090,238 PLN.
• Prof. Joanna Pera (Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology) – Determination of the impact of volume-regulated anion channels (VRACs) on the neurovascular unit under ischemic conditions – funding amount: 2,538,660 PLN.
  
  The list of PRELUDIUM 23 competition winners includes:
• Jan Lazur (Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Biotechnology of Medicinal Plants and Fungi) – Anti-neuroinflammatory and antidepressant activity of mycelial in vitro cultures of selected edible mushrooms enriched with zinc – funding amount: 209,023 PLN.
• Thomas Kuncewicz (Faculty of Medicine, Children’s Diseases Clinic of the Department of Pediatrics) – Search for computational biomarkers and mechanisms of brain injury in newborns through digital morphometric analysis of magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system – funding amount: 188,410 PLN.

Congratulations to all the scientists from the Jagiellonian University Medical College! We wish you fruitful research!