The University of Gdańsk was the only university in Poland to receive funding for two International Research Agendas in the latest round of funding from among all four units that were awarded these funds. The establishment of one of them was supported by Nobel Prize winner prof. Anton Zeilinger.

‘International Centre for Quantum Technology Theory 2.0: B and R Industrial and Experimental Phase’ (ICTQT) and ‘Science for Social Good, Innovation and Effective Therapies (SWIFT)’ carried out at the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Research (ICCVS) are the two projects that received funding from the MAB competition organised by the Foundation for Polish Science.

The Foundation for Polish Science has announced the results of the MAB competition in call no. 2/2023. Out of 16 submitted applications, 4 received funding of a total amount of PLN 120 million. The funds will be allocated for the development of International Research Agendas (Polish: Międzynarodowe Agendy Badawcze, MAB) implemented in three scientific centres. Among the awarded projects are two that are being implemented at the University of Gdańsk.

‘We are the only university in Poland to have received significant funding in this round for the activities of as many as two MABs. This confirms the University of Gdańsk's leading position in both cancer vaccine research and theoretical quantum technology research,' says Rector prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski. ‘It is no coincidence that two Nobel laureates, Prof Anton Zeilinger and Alain Aspect, are among the ICTQT collaborators. In both units, the teams are international. I would like to thank the directors and scientific teams of both centres for their work and excellent scientific achievements to date.’

Top of the ranking list was the International Centre for Quantum Technology Theory 2.0: B and R Industrial and Experimental Phase, which received PLN 30 million.

‘The establishment of the ICTQT was supported in 2017 by the then-President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences prof. Anton Zeilinger (Dr H.C. UG, 2006). He sits together with Alain Aspect (both awarded the Nobel Prize in 2022) on the International Scientific Committee of the ICTQT (https://ictqt.ug.edu.pl/pages/about/). The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - Vienna (IQOQI-Vienna), established on Zeilinger's initiative, has been an official strategic scientific partner of ICTQT since 2018,’ emphasises ICTQT Director prof. Marek Żukowski, who has been working with prof. Zeilinger since 1991. Their greatest joint achievement is the operational theory of entanglement exchange, which made it possible to demonstrate experimental quantum teleportation and enabled Zeilinger's other Nobel Prize-winning experiments.

The funded project aims to develop new, out-of-the-box and breakthrough methods for quantum technologies and their new applications. The research will focus on the development of quantum devices such as quantum random number generators, quantum communication links or improved sensors, among others, as well as quantum software. The project will be carried out within the ICTQT centre of excellence at the University of Gdańsk. The research will be led by prof Marek Żukowski, an eminent Polish theoretical physicist who specialises in issues related to the foundations of quantum mechanics.

In turn, the second project 'Science for Social Good, Innovation and Effective Therapies (SWIFT)', which received funding of PLN 30 million, will be carried out at the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Research (ICCVS) at the University of Gdańsk. The researchers want to develop a comprehensive anti-cancer therapy that will be taken to the clinical trial phase and open up new research areas in oncology. The research is led by prof. dr hab. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska, an eminent immunologist specialising in the therapeutic application of cells of the immune system:

‘The SWIFT project will enable ICCVS to enter a new research path. We plan to start a clinical trial in the second half of its implementation. This will be a personalised therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this therapy, we use the patient's T lymphocytes to fight the cancer. These are so-called live drugs, which are referred to as advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP). The production of these types of drugs, however, requires a particularly stringent regime. We will work in a laboratory that meets good manufacturing practice (GMP) criteria. First, our manufacturing and quality control team will undergo months of training in such laboratories, which have been operating for many years at our strategic partners at the Technical University of Dresden (Germany) and Leiden University Medical Center (the Netherlands), and then at the laboratory in Gdańsk. Initially, we plan to rent space from GMP. However, we also have the construction of such infrastructure at the University of Gdańsk on the horizon. So please keep your fingers crossed that we will be able to put all the necessary elements together for this,’ added prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska.

According to the Director of the MAB, new, complementary ideas will also be developed in parallel. Teams coordinated by dr Sachin Kote (Clinical Peptidomics Group), dr Wojciech Siwek (Immune Memory and Cell Reprogramming Group) and dr Umesh Kalathiya (Structural Proteomics Group) will work on their implementation together with the Cancer Immunology Group led by prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska. The operation of the groups and the implementation of the project will as always be supported by the Management & Administration Team, headed by Izabela Raszczyk (MBA).

‘This is a very good and important decision for UG. We have been waiting for it for months. It ensures the continuity of funding for extremely important research conducted at both centres,’ adds the Vice-Chancellor for Research, prof. Wiesław Laskowski. ‘We are doubly pleased with the decision, as it also proves that at the University we have disciplines in which we can compete with the best. I congratulate the directors of both Centres: prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska and prof. Marek Żukowski!’

The International Research Agendas programme has been implemented by the Foundation for Polish Science since November 2015. The International Research Agendas Activity (MAB FENG) supports the establishment or development of specialised, world-leading research teams and organisations where scientific excellence and international competitiveness of research can be achieved. Under the MAB action, funding can be obtained for R&D work, including industrial research or experimental development work, carried out in cooperation with at least one foreign research unit and covering a thematic scope falling within the list of National Intelligent Specialisations (NIS).