Our Team

Dr. Tomasz Poprawka

e-mail: tomasz.poprawka@polsca.pan.pl

Since June 2020 he is a Director at the Polish Science Contact Agency (PolSCA) in Brussels. Tomasz is a graduate of the Poznan University of Life Sciences where he obtained his master’s degree in biotechnology. In the years 2002–2003 he participated in the ‘Advances Studies in Molecular Biotechnology’ program at the University of Ghent in Belgium. In 2004, he started his four-year doctoral studies at the John Innes Center in Norwich in Great Britain. After receiving his PhD from the University of East Anglia, he moved to the National Institute of Basic Biology in Okazaki (Japan) as part of the JSPS scholarship. In 2010, he returned to Poland and joined the team of the Foundation for Polish Science, where he was involved in overseeing the implementation of programs financed from FNP own funds and programs financed under the ERDF, i.e. he coordinated the work of two teams implementing projects financed under EU structural funds for years 2014-2020. Since November 2018, he has been part of the PolSCA team in Brussels, where as an expert he was involved in monitoring science, research and innovation policy at the European Union level.

Magdalena Dobrzyńska

e-mail: magdalena.dobrzynska@polsca.pan.pl

Since November 2021 she is an expert in the Polish Science Contact Agency in Brussels. Magdalena graduated in international relations and social policy from Warsaw University, she had scholarships at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris – Sciences Po (France) and Northeastern Illinois University (USA) and participated in the TransFormation.doc program by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education implemented by the University of Alberta (Canada).

She has gained over ten years of professional experience in Polish scientific and research institutions, being responsible for preparation, administration and settlement of R&D projects and dissemination of their results (framework programmes, structural funds). In 2020-21 she managed the task of state services of the fifth stage of the multi-annual programme “Improvement of safety and working conditions”, as part of which, among others, she initiated and co-implemented a study on the safety of remote working. She participated in the work of working groups on smart specialization of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship and expert consultations on the barometer of business impact on the Sustainable Development Goals.

As an expert of the PolSCA Office, she is responsible for monitoring EU research and innovation policies in the areas of health, social sciences and humanities (clusters 1. and 2. HE) and cross-cutting issues in Horizon Europe: cooperation between science and society (e.g. missions), gender equality, open science, scientific excellence and widening participation.

Izabela Maciejowska

e-mail: Izabela.Maciejowska@polsca.pan.pl

Graduated from English studies (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań and Poznan College of Modern Languages) and postgraduate studies in EU project management (Poznań University of Economics and Business).

For twenty years she has worked in Polish research institutions as a specialist in acquiring and implementing national and international research projects. She has supported researchers in applying, conducting and reporting of consortium projects starting from the 7th Framework Programme, through Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe, also in ERA_NET and COST initiatives.

For 15 years she was an associate editor of the Journal of Natural Fibers, now published by Taylor&Francis Group. In recent years, she has worked at the Poznań University of Economics and Business, where she led the Researchers’ Night and “Kadry ekonomiczne” projects, both aimed at popularizing science.

At the PolSCA Office, she will monitor EU research and innovation policies within the pillar I “Excellence Science” in areas such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as well as research infrastructures (INFRA), additionally she will take over tasks in the area of food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment research (Cluster 6 of the HE).

Our activities:

• close monitoring of EU R&D policy formulation and implementation, advising and assisting in the process of preparation and presentation of important R&I projects that feature Polish participation,
• providing relevant information and assistance in Brussels to visitors, Polish members of respective EU institutions and advisory bodies, politicians interested in Polish science development,
• co-operation with offices representing the R&I sector from countries participating in EU framework programmes, maintaining working relations with respective contacts and administration bodies of the European Commission (EC) and the European Parliament (EP),
• participating in the activities of advisory bodies to the EC, suggesting candidates to those bodies, and upon request representing their Polish members,
• co-operation with the Minister responsible for science in the Polish government, the National Contact Point for Research Programmes of the EU and other relevant national bodies, institutions and organizations acting in or for the R&I sector,
• organization of meetings and seminars in Brussels that support the fulfilment of the Office’s mission; participating in events key to the promotion of Polish science in the European Research Area.

Former colleagues

Jadwiga Olech-Kostka

In April 2021 she took up a position of a specialist in Polish Science Contact Agency in Brussels. She graduated in Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and completed postgraduate studies in European Administration at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht in Berlin. She has experience working in a public relations agency, a publishing house and in the implementation and promotion of cultural and scientific projects at the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity Institute. From 2016 to 2021 she was employed at the German Embassy in Warsaw in the Department of Science and Research, where she worked, among other things, in preparing reports, organizing events, receiving delegations and providing information on science-related topics in Germany. At PolSCA she deals with administrative and communication issues.

Joanna Komperda

Since June 2020 she was an expert in the Polish Science Contact Agency in Brussels. Joanna  holds a master’s degree in history of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She was a CLIOHRES.NET scholarship holder. For several years she was involved in a number of documentarian projects dealing with social history of Central Europe in the 20^th century, when she cooperated – among others – with The Foundation of the KARTA Centre and History Meeting House in Warsaw. Between 2012 and 2019 she was working for National Science Centre, one of Polish funding agencies, supporting basic research, where she was involved in two scientific networks: Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe and ERA-NET COFUND BiodivERsA. Since 2015 she was managing the POLONEZ mobility programme – under MSCA Cofund of Horizon 2020 – with a budget of approx. 21 M EUR. At the PolSCA Office’s activities, Joanna monitores EU R&I policy in areas such as: scientific excellence (European Research Council #ERC), regional policy and in the field of innovation (European Innovation Council #EIC). In addition, she is the leading expert at the PolSCA team in the areas of climate science and biodiversity, environment and bioeconomy (clusters 5 and 6 of Horizon Europe).