The ‘Primum Cooperatio’, or ‘Cooperation First’ award, presented by Employers of Pomerania (Pracodawcy Pomorza), was received by the Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemoinformatics at the Faculty of Chemistry of UG, prof. dr. hab. Tomasz Puzyn. The gala ceremony took place on Friday, June 7, at AmberExpo.
Employers of Pomerania is the largest and oldest employers' organisation operating in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, bringing together more than 1,000 enterprises from various industries. The association's awards are presented annually at the Employers of Pomerania Gala.
‘Our goal is to annually identify leaders among Pomeranian entrepreneurs, who, while achieving good financial and economic results, adhered to the principles of ethics and social responsibility, providing employees with appropriate working conditions and opportunities for development,’ inform the ceremony's organisers.
The special prize ‘Primum Cooperatio’ is awarded to an outstanding representative of the world of science who actively contributes with his or her knowledge, creative thought and experience to the support and implementation of innovative economic ventures. At the same time, this is a person who has proven through his or her actions that effective cooperation between both circles is possible, bringing tangible benefits to the economy and science.
The winner of this year's ‘Primum Cooperatio’ award was the Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemoinformatics at the Faculty of Chemistry of the UG, President and Scientific Director at QSAR Lab, prof. dr hab. Tomasz Puzyn. The award was presented by dr Zbigniew Canowiecki, President of the Association .
‘I have a great team. We were one of the first in the world to start working on the application of computer methods in studying the safety of nanoparticles. It all started with an idea we came up with together with my then mentor prof. Jerzy Leszczynski from Jackson State University when I was on a ‘post-doc’ in his team. The topic turned out to be an interesting one. Upon my return to Poland, thanks in part to the support of the then Rector, the late Prof Andrzej Ceynowa, and the authorities of the Faculty of Chemistry, I was able to form a new research group around the idea. Soon we published our first paper in ‘Nature Nanotechnology’ and thanks to this we became recognisable,’ said the Laureate about his work and the road to success in the interview ‘New methods of nanotechnology safety research - computer mouse instead of laboratory mouse’ (read here).
Prof. Tomasz Puzyn
Professor of chemical sciences, specialist in chemoinformatics and environmental chemistry. Co-inventor of the foundations of computational nanotoxicology. Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Chemoinformatics at the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk. President and scientific director at QSAR Lab.
Professor of chemical sciences, specialist in chemoinformatics and environmental chemistry, co-developer of the foundations of computational nanotoxicology. Since 2008, he has headed the Laboratory of Environmental Chemoinformatics at the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdańsk. His most important scientific achievement is the development of a set of original computer tools to describe the relationship between chemical structure and properties and biological activity for a number of new groups of chemical compounds and nanomaterials. Editor of 5 books, author and co-author of 16 chapters in books and more than 170 scientific papers in leading scientific journals. Ranked among the top 2% of highest cited scientists in the world according to Stanford University in 2023. He has given more than 30 overseas invited lectures (including in the USA, China, Korea, Ecuador, EU countries and Taiwan) and his papers have been cited more than 6,500 times. He and his team have carried out research under 11 projects funded by the European Union Framework Programmes; 6 grants from the National Science Centre and 3 projects from the National Centre for Research and Development. He is a member of numerous editorial and organisational committees, expert groups and has promoted 8 internationally awarded PhDs. Scholarship holder of the Japanese Society for the Support of Science and the Foundation for Polish Science, awarded the Prime Minister's Award for the best habilitation thesis and several awards of the JM Rector of UG. In 2016, he combined his passion for science with his business activities̨. He was a co-founder of QSAR Lab, which was made possible by the so-called ‘enfranchisement of scientists’: with the agreement of the JM Rector of UG, the copyright to the research results was transferred to the company, and the shares were also acquired by ‘TechTransBalt’ (now Univentum Labs), a special purpose vehicle owned by the University of Gdansk. QSAR Lab develops software and offers research services in the field of computer-aided prediction of the properties of chemical compounds and materials, supporting industry in the process of designing green and health-safe products. The in silico methods offered by QSAR Lab are a unique offering on the market to help companies build an image of socially responsible business. The recipients of the services are the chemical, agrochemical and cosmetics industries as well as public administration units in Poland, the EU, Canada and Asia.
Information about the gala and other award winners: www.trojmiasto.pl.
