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Moving to new headquarters, structural changes and rebranding with the effect of the ‘InLife’ logo are an opportunity for the Institute to open up anew and look boldly to the future, according to the Director of the Institute, Prof. Mariusz K. Piskuła, who is completing his term of office after 13 years.

The Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences has a new logo – ‘InLife’. What is behind this term?

Literally translating: ‘In’ – from institute, innovation, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation. ‘Life’, on the other hand, refers to the broad spectrum of our activities, which revolve precisely around life – after all, we deal with food, animal and human reproduction, and health.

The new logo is intended to help us show our activities in a universal way, because although we formally deal with two disciplines: food and nutrition technology and zootechnics and fisheries, our research is very often at the interface of many disciplines. For example, exploring the causes of human infertility is not de facto zootechnics, while studying food in the context of metabolic disorders is already entering medicine.

An important argument for creating a logo was also the issue of facilitating communication with other research centres and the socio-economic environment – both in Poland and abroad.

The full name of our Institute – which of course still applies – is long and complicated. Few people can repeat it correctly the first time. This is why we regularly encounter more or less distortions. For example, it has happened – and in documents! – to present us as the Institute for Animal Reproduction or the Institute for Food Reproduction Research. The abbreviation ‘InLife’ will help avoid such situations.

Does the creation of the new acronym involve any changes to the scope of the Institute’s activities?

Along with creating a whole new visual identity, we also carried out a rebranding process for our Institute. We rethought who we are, what our goals are, which direction we want to head in, how we want to be perceived and so on. ‘InLife’ thus corresponds to the profound changes within our Institute.

At this point, I would like to briefly outline our 36-year history, as it is crucial to understanding this story and directly explains the flow of my thinking.

To illustrate, I am finishing my term of office as a representative of the second generation of the Institute’s management. For the first generation, narrow specialisation was important – which is why for a long time there was a formal division of the unit into two departments: animal reproduction and food research. This resulted, among other things, in the budget for the purchase of research equipment being divided equally, 50-50, regardless of whether anyone needed more. The aftermath of this thinking has been apparent to date – each department was based in a different location in Olsztyn, and on top of that we have two medical-oriented facilities in Białystok. Eventually, after many years, we merged everything.

Shortly after I took over as director 13 years ago, we started preparations for the new headquarters. At that time, we had already reached a consensus that we should merge, and the new, shared headquarters would be an opportunity to do so. With this, we started to look at the Institute as a whole – not as two separate departments. I have gone even further, we are moving away from this division, we are abolishing the branches. The formalities in this direction are already underway.

So the move to the new premises is supposed to be a kind of opening up of the Institute for the new?

There will be a new mission for the Institute associated with the move, but I leave that to Professor Monika Kaczmarek, who will take over the leadership of the Institute from me at the beginning of January 2025. She is a representative of the ‘third generation’ of staff.

Looking further inside the Institute, you have also made structural changes. What kind of changes?

One of the biggest changes is the elimination of research departments in favour of smaller but still flexible teams – as is happening in the world. I have given a chance to those scientists who are ready to do independent research, have an idea for funding and have gathered the right human capital around them – so that they do not have a glass ceiling above them. Now they can start their own team, focusing on their chosen topic.

We currently have 18 research teams identified. There is still interest, so perhaps more will emerge. In my opinion, this is also a way for such healthy competition between researchers and a way to learn how to build consortia around a common goal with other teams/units.

We have also created specialised laboratories, or so-called core facilities, which focus on our most expensive and advanced technologies. Access to these will be open to all researchers – under the guidance of competent staff operating these laboratories, of course.

Does the proximity of the Institute’s new headquarters to the Olsztyn Science and Technology Park mean that it is more open to cooperation with business?

Definitely. This is due to two reasons.

Firstly, one of the conditions for obtaining funding for the construction of the new premises from EU funds under the Regional Operational Programme for the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship 2014-2020 was that we should be open to cooperation with the wider business community and make some of the rooms available to them; this will generate additional income for us, which is an important argument.

I would like it to be clearly stated that current funding for PAS institutes from the state budget is scandalously low in comparison with how universities are treated. Therefore, in order to be able to conduct world-class research, we need to find additional funding, for example from the aforementioned cooperation with business, from national projects and from funds straight from Brussels. We have to look at our institutes as business units.

Coming to the end of your role as Director of the Institute, are you satisfied with the state you are leaving the Institute in?

Yes, I am completing my term of office with satisfaction – especially the fact that I have led the construction of a new shared headquarters and carried out an internal restructuring with the rebranding of the Institute.

And what, in your opinion, is the biggest challenge facing the Institute’s new director?

Budget, budget, budget. The subsidies received have practically come to a standstill, and expenditure continues to rise due to, among other things, the rising cost of living and statutory increases for academic staff, although we have not received additional funds, apart from incidental cash injections, for this. Well, and at least the continued success in obtaining EU funding from Brussels. I would add that our successes in this area resulted in our nomination to the  Crystal Brussels Prize, as 1 of 5 out of a total of 69 institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and we certainly beat all those doing science in the region.

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„InLife” – is the new logo of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It refers to the research conducted at the Institute, which focuses on life – food, animal and human reproduction, and health. It is also intended to facilitate communication both in Poland and abroad.

– This one word defines our entire activity. „In” – from the institute, innovation, interdisciplinarity and internationalization. In turn, „Life” refers to the wide spectrum of our activities, which focus precisely on life – after all, we deal with nutrition, reproduction, and broadly understood health – explains the director of the Institute, Prof. Mariusz K. Piskuła.

The reason for the creation of the „InLife” logo is the commencement of the Institute’s activity in its new headquarters – at 18 Trylińskiego St. in Olsztyn, in the neighbourhood of the Olsztyn Science and Technology Park.

– The new facility integrates all units of the Institute (the Food Sciences Division and the Reproductive Biology Division in Olsztyn and two departments in Białystok), and the “InLife” logo is to emphasize this interdisciplinary, new chapter in the Institute’s history – adds the director.

The new brand is also to facilitate communication with other research centers and the socio-economic environment – ​​both in Poland and abroad.

– The full name of our Institute, which of course is still in force, is long, complicated and difficult to remember. Hence, we regularly encounter its – greater or lesser – distortion, which is not conducive to building the visibility of our activities. The “InLife” brand will allow us to avoid such situations – says Iwona Kieda, who heads the Communication and International Affairs Office at the Institute.

The entire visual identification refers to the new logo. The logo is based on the shape of a hexagon symbolizing a cell – the basic unit of life. It is a metaphor for natural perfection, precision, cooperation and modularity – the foundations on which research on reproduction, nutrition and health is based on.

THE „HOUSEWARMING PARTY”

The presentation of the new logo and new visual identification of the „InLife” Institute was combined with a „housewarming party”, i.e. the inauguration of operations in the new headquarters. The spaces of the new Institute are filling up with equipment and furniture. Most of the scientific and administrative staff have already moved to the new location, and the laboratories are being launched.

The ceremony, which took place on 17 December, was attended by invited guests – representatives of the governmental, academic and business stakeholders from the region and beyond. They included the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Marek Konarzewski; Voivode of Warmia and Mazury, Radosław Król; Vice-President of Olsztyn, Justyna Sarna-Pezowicz; Member of Parliament, Dorota Olko; Senator of the Republic of Poland, Gustaw Marek Brzezin; Rector of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Dr. Jerzy A. Przyborowski, Prof. UWM; Rector of the European Academy of Applied Medical and Social Sciences, Dr. Agnieszka Górska, Prof. EAMiSNS; Director of the Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Habil. Monika Stanny, Prof. IRWiR PAN.

President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Marek Konarzewski, congratulated us on the new headquarters and the new logo. He admitted that the official name of the Institute is complicated, and the new logo will gradually improve the communication. – From today on, I will refer to the new brand, to this new, very accurate name – said the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

– This new opening is incredibly important both for you and for the entire Polish Academy of Sciences – we are developing as an institution and this Institute is the best example of this – added Prof. Marek Konarzewski.

Participants of the „house-warming” party also had the opportunity to tour the building, including the new laboratories.

ABOUT THE NEW HEADQUARTERS

The new headquarters of the Institute has six floors (five administrative and laboratory floors and one technical floor), and its volume is over 25 thousand m3. Inside there are specialist laboratories, so called  „core facilities”, rooms for conducting biomedical research and necessary facilities typical of the Institute’s profile of activity. An animal laboratory was also created, meeting the strictest EU requirements for such units.

The facility was created as part of the project „Environmental Research Center and Innovative Food Technologies for the Quality of Life”, co-financed by the Regional Operational Program of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship for the years 2014-2020. The investment cost is over PLN 109 million, of which the subsidy amounts to over PLN 79 million, and PLN 30 million is the Institute’s own contribution.

You can read more about the construction HERE ​and HERE.

LOGO HISTORY

Work on the new logo and visual identification system lasted several months. For this purpose, the Institute announced a competition, in which 7 creative agencies from Olsztyn, Warsaw and Krakow took part 2Kropek Studio, Pigalopus, Kot Bury, Brandy Design, Renton, Gravite Design and Bury Design. A total of 10 logo proposals were submitted to the competition.

The jury evaluated the submitted works based on the criteria of aesthetics, innovativeness and respect towards the vision  behind the „InLife” brand. Points were also awarded in relation  to the cost of the proposed project. The weight of the criteria was 70/30. The jury members were employees of the Institute and Dr. Arkadiusz Karapuda, Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, invited to the jury as an external expert.

The winner of the competition was „Gravite Design” from Olsztyn. In accordance with the regulations, a contract was signed with the winner of the competition to create Institute’s logo and the Visual Identity Book. The winning logo is hexagonal, elegant and simple in its form. In the basic full-color version, the hexagon is lime green and the name is navy blue.

The new visual concept will be gradually implemented in all communication channels.

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The role of dendritic cells (a special type of immune cell) in regulating the inflammatory microenvironment, investigating inter-individual differences in vitamin D-triggered immune responses, the effect of ulipristal acetate (a drug used, among other things, in emergency contraception) on liver mechanisms, analysis of the foraging ability of perch larvae and finding new ways of assessing the quality of European perch spermatozoa – these are the five topics that the Institute’s researchers will investigate as part of OPUS 27 and PRELUDIUM 23 grants from the National Science Centre (NCN).

SET THE BAR HIGH

OPUS 27 is a competition aimed at researchers at all stages of their scientific career. This year, 2255 applications were submitted, of which 357 received funding for a total of PLN 603.6 million. The success rate was 15.8 per cent.

Funding was awarded to a project entitled: “The molecular dialog between dendritic cells and endometrial microenvironment during equine endometrosis”.

The project leader is Dr Agnieszka Sadowska from the Team of Team of Reproductive Pathology and Translational Medicine.

– The information gained from the project is extremely important because of its potential to prevent and treat endometrosis in mares, as well as to improve equine breeding rates by reducing financial losses due to embryo loss. In the future, the results of the project may also point to a new direction in the search for treatment of fibrotic diseases in humans – concludes Dr Agnieszka Sadowska, awardee of the OPUS 27 competition.

Budget: PLN 3 569 232

Funding from the OPUS 27 competition has also been awarded to the project entitled: “Impact of vitamin D on the epigenetic programming of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from human cord blood”.

The project leader is Prof. Carsten Carlberg from the Nutrigenomics Team.

– Our immune system protects us against various types of microbes that may cause infectious diseases. However, in order to fulfill this function perfectly, the cells forming the immune system need to be trained as good as possible. This training takes place during hematopoiesis, which is a differentiation process happing inside our large bones. In this project, we aim to understand how hematopoiesis is influenced by vitamin D and its receptor VDR – concludes Prof. Carlberg.

Budget: PLN 3 351 340

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

A further three projects received funding through a competition aimed at researchers at a very early stage of their career. For PRELUDIUM 23, 2104 proposals were submitted, of which 362 received funding. The success rate in this case was 17.2%.

Funding was awarded to a project entitled: “Molecular mechanisms underlying the liver injury induced by ulipristal acetate treatment”.

The project leader is Aleksandra Natalia Łupińska, M.Sc., from the Biology and Pathology of Human Reproduction Team.

– In clinical trials, patients treated with ulipristal acetate (UA) were observed to have reduced uterine myoma volume, less heavy bleeding and significant improvements in well-being. These studies showed no significant side effects, but some patients treated with UA were diagnosed with severe liver damage. The causes regarding drug-induced liver damage remain unclear – explains Aleksandra Łupińska, M.Sc.

Budget: PLN 210 000

Another project implemented at our Institute within the PRELUDIUM 23 competition is entitled “To eat or not to eat? Zootechnical and transcriptomic exploration of foraging performance in Eurasian perch larvae”.

The project leader is Rossella Debernardis from the Fish Development and Reproduction Team.

– During the first few days of their independent life, the larvae do not need to take food from the external environment; the necessary nutrients are provided by an internal storehouse – the yolk sac. As they grow, these stored nutrients become depleted, forcing the larvae to actively begin searching for food (called foraging – ed.). Unfortunately, a high percentage of the larvae, never begin to take up food, which eventually leads to them dying of starvation – explains Rosella Debernardis.

Budget: PLN 140 000

The third PRELUDIUM 23 awarded project is entitled “Small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs): Novel biomarkers for assessing sperm fertilizing ability in Eurasian perch”.

The project leader is Abhipsa Panda from the Fish Development and Reproduction Team.

– Currently, numerous morphological, biochemical and physiological parameters are taken into account when assessing semen quality, including motility, viability, sperm concentration and the integrity of their DNA. In our study, we have shown that none of these parameters correlate directly with fertilisation success in European perch (Perca fluviatilis), hence the need to identify new indicators of sperm fertilisation capacity in this species – concludes Abhipsa Panda.

Budget: PLN 70 000

Congratulations to all the laureates!

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