The Centre of Biosafety Research and Molecular Biomedicine (BIOMOBIL)
is formed by research groups originating from the University
of Gdańsk (Faculty
of Biology, Geography and Oceanology) and the Medical
University of Gdańsk (Faculty of Medicine , Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of
Maritime and Tropical Medicine), and the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology. The
Centre is co-ordinated by the Intercollegiate Faculty of
Biotechnology and associated with Centre
of Technology Transfer in Gdansk.
The organisation of this
unique Faculty, founded in 1993 as a joint unit of University of Gdańsk
and Medical University of Gdańsk, was built upon international
experience thanks to support of the program TEMPUS 07191-94, granted
for years 1994-1997. The Faculty was founded to promote the integration
of scientific environment in the academic community of the Tri-City,
which is an agglomeration of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. Creation of the
BIOMOBIL Centre will further support the interdisciplinary research by
the integration and cooperation of various research groups originating
from different faculties of the two universities. The staff of the
Centre includes scientists recognized as national experts in several
fields of molecular biology and biotechnology, such as DNA replication,
tumour cytogenetics, restriction enzymes, chaperone proteins,
heterologous protein expression, recombinant vaccines, pathogenic
parasites, plant-pathogen interaction, plant biotechnology, and others.
Basic and applied research performed in the units involved in the
Centre covers the areas of molecular biotechnology, biomedicine and
environment protection. The laboratories of the Centre are well
equipped and thus can employ novel techniques of molecular biology and
biotechnology. The research groups focused in the BIOMOBIL Centre were
classified within the top rank (category 1) by the State Committee for
Scientific Research (KBN, Poland), which is a Polish ministerial agency
dealing with science and technology affairs, now being reorganized into
the Ministry of Science and Informatization. The projects performed in
the Centre are supported by grants coming from various competitive
sources such as Polish State Committee for Scientific Research,
Foundation for Polish Science, INCO-Copernicus and Framework Programs
of the European Union, Swiss National Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, Polish-US Skłodowska-Curie Fund, European Molecular Biology
Organization, Wellcome Trust, and others. Several research units of the
Centre were also awarded with major investment grants from Polish State
Committee for Scientific Research and from Foundation for Polish
Science. Among others, these grants allowed a construction of new
laboratory facilities accommodating research groups of the
Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology opened in 1997 as well as a
construction of a modern animal facility respecting the demanded safety
and ethical standards, to be opened in 2004.The scientific and
educational activity of the Centre is also presented to the national
and regional community by the organisation of a series of summer
schools of biotechnology, student?s scientific conferences as well as
by the involvement of our scientists and managers in the initiatives
promoting technology transfer in the region such as conferences,
seminars and study projects. The staff of the Centre is active in the
designing and implementation of projects involving authorities of the
Pomeranian Region and cities of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia aiming at a
creation of infrastructure for technology transfer in the Tri-City
agglomeration. This information book presents current and planned
activities of the research units of the Centre.
Dr. Jacek Bigda, Assoc. Prof.
Dean, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG,
Co-ordinator of the BIOMOBIL Centre
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