Current issue:
Institute of Nuclear Physics
The Institute of Nuclear Physics, located at Bronowice, now within the Krakow city area, was established in 1955 by Professor Henryk Niewodniczański, a leading Polish physicist whose scientific interests ranged from atomic optics to nuclear physics. Over the last 53 years of the Institute’s existence, physicists who followed in the footsteps of this outstanding person, branched out into several areas, nuclear physics remaining the core of their research. Presently, the Institute has five scientific Divisions, three of which study elementary objects such as quarks or nuclear particles, their structures: atomic nuclei, atoms and different types of crystal structures, ending with stars and galaxies (Division 1: Particle Physics and Astronomy; Division 2: Nuclear and Strong Interaction Physics; Division 3: Condensed Matter Physics). Division 4: Theoretical Physics, closely collaborates with experimental physicists within the Institute, while Division 5: Interdisciplinary and Applied Research deals with environmental physics and biology, dosimetry, medical and radiation physics, biophysics, nuclear geophysics, radiochemistry, materials engineering and econophysics.
With a staff of about 460, including 37 State – Nominated Professors, 30 Associate Professors and over 130 post-doctoral researchers, the Institute is presently the largest Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The Scientific Council of the Institute consisting of 41 elected staff members and 4 external members has the right to confer Ph.D. degrees in physics and relatd disciplines and to initiate and conduct habilitation and professorship procedures.
The International Post-Graduate Course at the Institute presently trains some 70 Ph.D. students from universities from all over the world.
The research staff of our Institute yearly contributes some 700 publications. This number includes articles in peer-reviewed journals, reports, books, reviews, chapters in scholarly textbooks and conference contributions. Over 300 of these publications appear in major Philadelphia Institute for Scientific Information-listed international journals.
Among several national and international prizes, the Institute was twice awarded (in 2004 and 2006) the National Crystal Brussels Prize for its outstanding activity in EU research projects.
Most of the Institute’s research is carried out within large international co-operation projects coordinated by the largest international organizations, such as CERN in Geneva – Switzerland, IAEA in Vienna – Austria, or JINR in Dubna – Russia, and with a great number of research institutions in 26 countries, such as the French IN2P3 institutes.
Interdisciplinary research in biophysics, medical and environmental physics, geophysics and nano-materials engineering is carried out in Division 5 within two Centers of Excellence: ADREM (Advanced Methods of Physics for Human Health and Reduction of Environmental Hazards) and IONMED (Krakow Research Centre for Ion Engineering) which act within the European Union.
Three EU-accredited Laboratories providing individual and environmental dosimetry, calibration of radiation protection instruments and radiation monitoring, operate at the Institute.
Exploiting its AIC144 isochronous cyclotron which accelerates protons to the energy of about 60 MeV, the Institute is developing a Centre of Proton Radiotherapy. The first eye-ball melanoma patients of the Ophthalmology Department of the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University will be treated in 2009. In future, this Centre will be further developed and equipped with a new 230-250 MeV proton cyclotron enabling radiotherapy of other sites to be performed for patients of the Centre of Oncology.
Every two years the Institute is freely accessible for one day to outside visitors, mainly scholars and students at all levels of education. Some 25 lectures intended for this broad audience are given on that day, with open access to research laboratories whose work is presented by exhibits, posters and films. Each year the Institute also actively engages in the Festival of Science and Physics Fair organized for young students and schoolchildren by the Krakow universities and by the Polish Physical Society.
With a staff of about 460, including 37 State – Nominated Professors, 30 Associate Professors and over 130 post-doctoral researchers, the Institute is presently the largest Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The Scientific Council of the Institute consisting of 41 elected staff members and 4 external members has the right to confer Ph.D. degrees in physics and relatd disciplines and to initiate and conduct habilitation and professorship procedures.
The International Post-Graduate Course at the Institute presently trains some 70 Ph.D. students from universities from all over the world.
The research staff of our Institute yearly contributes some 700 publications. This number includes articles in peer-reviewed journals, reports, books, reviews, chapters in scholarly textbooks and conference contributions. Over 300 of these publications appear in major Philadelphia Institute for Scientific Information-listed international journals.
Among several national and international prizes, the Institute was twice awarded (in 2004 and 2006) the National Crystal Brussels Prize for its outstanding activity in EU research projects.
Most of the Institute’s research is carried out within large international co-operation projects coordinated by the largest international organizations, such as CERN in Geneva – Switzerland, IAEA in Vienna – Austria, or JINR in Dubna – Russia, and with a great number of research institutions in 26 countries, such as the French IN2P3 institutes.
Interdisciplinary research in biophysics, medical and environmental physics, geophysics and nano-materials engineering is carried out in Division 5 within two Centers of Excellence: ADREM (Advanced Methods of Physics for Human Health and Reduction of Environmental Hazards) and IONMED (Krakow Research Centre for Ion Engineering) which act within the European Union.
Three EU-accredited Laboratories providing individual and environmental dosimetry, calibration of radiation protection instruments and radiation monitoring, operate at the Institute.
Exploiting its AIC144 isochronous cyclotron which accelerates protons to the energy of about 60 MeV, the Institute is developing a Centre of Proton Radiotherapy. The first eye-ball melanoma patients of the Ophthalmology Department of the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University will be treated in 2009. In future, this Centre will be further developed and equipped with a new 230-250 MeV proton cyclotron enabling radiotherapy of other sites to be performed for patients of the Centre of Oncology.
Every two years the Institute is freely accessible for one day to outside visitors, mainly scholars and students at all levels of education. Some 25 lectures intended for this broad audience are given on that day, with open access to research laboratories whose work is presented by exhibits, posters and films. Each year the Institute also actively engages in the Festival of Science and Physics Fair organized for young students and schoolchildren by the Krakow universities and by the Polish Physical Society.
Information published at 26 May 2008
