Janusz Bujnicki is a Professor of Biology and head of a research group at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw. His research combines bioinformatics, structural biology, and synthetic biology, and currently focuses on structure determination and design of RNA molecules. His scientific achievements include the development of methods for the computational modelling of protein and RNA 3D structures, the discovery and characterization of enzymes involved in RNA metabolism, and the engineering of proteins with new functions. He also recently participated in the determination of the SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA structure.
Janusz has served a member of the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors. He also represents Poland in the European Science Advisors Forum (ESAF) and has chaired the Science Policy Committee (KPN), an advisory body of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. He also chairs the University Council of the University of Warsaw, is a member of the Committee for the Evaluation of Science (KEN), a scientific advisor in the Polish Technology Development Centre (PORT), and an executive editor of the scientific journal Nucleic Acids Research.
Janusz is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and Academia Europaea. He has received numerous awards recognizing his work, including the EMBO/HHMI Young Investigator Programme award, an ERC Starting Grant, and the Young Academy of Europe’s André Mischke Prize. He has also been decorated by the President of Poland with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He has graduated from the Leadership Academy for Poland. For his activities in science and policy, he has been awarded.