Instytut Agrofizyki im. Bohdana Dobrzańskiego PAN

Ogólne informacje

Institute of Agrophysics is a research institution of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IA PAS). IA PAS is an institute of Division II of Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the PAS. IA PAS is statutory financed from public budged of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Since 2012 the Institute has had category A.

The Institute promotes agrophysics as a part of agricultural sciences that uses knowledge and methods of basic sciences such as physics, biology and chemistry for solving contemporary problems in agronomy. In this context, IA PAS utilizes, develops new methods; experimental and numerical tools; product, technological and service innovations for agriculture and for exploitation of the agricultural resources.

Mission
1) Research – research and development in the field of agricultural sciences (agricultural environment, agri-food biomaterials, bio-energy) and dissemination of achieved results.
2) Education –research staff education for industry and science in order to make them capable of solving contemporary problems of agriculture and developing bio-economy.
3) Cooperation – organization and participation in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration with researchers, industry and public actors for ensuring sustainable exploitation of agricultural resources, and therefore, contributing to regional, European and world-wide bio-economy.

Research and Development:

R&D performed in the Institute of Agrophysics is inter- and trans-disciplinary. It involves the soil-plant-atmosphere system and the key value chain stages of agri-food production. Currently, R&D is distributed in three areas:

1) Agricultural Environment
- Ensuring sustainable management and exploitation of the soil-plant-atmosphere system.
- Development of new climate services and prediction of climate change.
- Mitigation of the impact of agriculture on the climate change.

2) Agri-Food Biomaterials
- Ensuring sustainable food security.
- Exploitation of agri-food biomaterials for designing new food and non-food products, and services.
- Waste valorization.

3) Bio-Energy
- Sustainable exploitation of agri-food biomass for bio-energy production.
- Optimization processes in production of bio-energy.

People and Career:

IA PAS staff counts about 100 persons, including 60 researchers. The Institute ensures attractive environment for personal development at various stages of individual career. In particular, IA PAS offers training at PhD level, internships and fellowships.

- IA PAS employs excellent researchers: physicists, chemists, biologists, biotechnologists and engineers for ensuring critical mass necessary to R&D in agricultural sciences.
- IA PAS has rights to award doctoral degree and habilitation degree in agronomy-agrophysics.
- IA PAS runs PhD Studies.
- IA PAS has been awarded the logo of HR Research Excellence and recognizes the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment Academics.

Infrastructure:

The Institute of Agrophysics has new and complete infrastructure for R&D in agriculture. It is attractive place for research project realization and personal career development. R&D is performed in 22 laboratories. Labs are equipped in modern devices for studying agriculture environment, greenhouse gas emission, agri-food biomaterials and designing and optimization new technologies for bio-products and bio-energy from agricultural biomass. Labs are distributed according to their profiles in 6 Departments:
- Physical Properties of Plant Materials
- Physical Chemistry of Porous Materials
- Soil and Plant System
- Metrology and Modelling of Agrophysical processes
- Microstructure and Mechanics of Biomaterials
Natural Environment Biogeochemistry

Moreover, at IA PAS there are horizontal units for research support and technology transfer.
- Centre of Excellence AGROPHYSICS
- Regional Laboratory of Renewable Energy
- Centre of Research & Innovation
- Interdepartmental Laboratory of Numerical Modeling.