For the 33rd time, the Council of the Foundation for Polish Science honored Polish researchers for outstanding scientific achievements. Of this year's four recipients of the FNP Prize, two are scientists directly using ACC Cyfronet AGH's supercomputers provided as part of the PLGrid infrastructure.
Prof. Krzysztof Sacha from the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Jagiellonian University (Atomic Optic Department) was awarded in the field of Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences for the formulation of the theory of time crystals. Asked to give a brief overview of the subject, Prof. Sacha explained:
- We are all familiar with spatial crystals, in which atoms are regularly distributed in space. The formation of such crystals results from the self-organization of interacting atoms in space. Time crystals are formed similarly, as a result of the self-organization of interacting particles, but in time - periodic motion spontaneously emerges, a crystal structure spontaneously forms in time.
The scientist also presented the extent to which Cyfronet's computer resources support the team's research work:
- We use supercomputers to conduct numerical calculations in the field of time crystals. This is crucial especially in the final phases of projects, when the numerical requirements become enormous and it is not possible to carry out calculations on the computers we have at our disposal at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Jagiellonian University.
Asked to assess the PLGrid's infrastructure in terms of resource availability and speed of results, Prof. Sacha replied:
- The system's reliability and high performance met our expectations, and the support team was always ready and helpful in solving any problems. We are fully satisfied with the services offered by PLGrid and look forward to further cooperation.
Prof. Sebastian Glatt from the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University was awarded in the field of Life Sciences for the determination of the structure and function of the Elongator complex, which affects the accuracy of protein biosynthesis. The scientist brought the subject matter closer as follows:
- In my research group we use structural biology to understand fundamental processes that guarantee the proper production of all cellular proteins. The Elongator complex introduces small chemical modifications in so called transfer RNAs (tRNAs), which are responsible for translating the information stored in our genomes into functional proteins.
Our work aims to determine atomic structures of these biomolecules, which provides us with ideas of how these cellular machines execute their function. Mutations in the Elongator complex are associated with server neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, our work not only provides a molecular basis to understand the role of these mutations for the enzymatic activity of Elongator, but also allows us to come up with novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to tackle these severe human pathologies.
Prof. Glatt emphasized the role of supercomputers in supporting ongoing research work:
- The Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH was instrumental in achieving our results. We are using cryogenic electronic microscopy to image the macromolecular complexes and each measured dataset contains around 4-8 Terabytes of data. It is essential to have access to the excellently managed supercomputing infrastructure to analyse such large datasets. The close ties between Małopolska Center of Biotechnology, National Synchrotron Radiation Centre SOLARIS and ACC Cyfronet AGH provide a unique opportunity for us that is rare anywhere else in the whole world.
Just like prof. Sacha, prof. Glatt also positively assesses the access to resources offered within the PLGrid infrastructure:
- The PLGrid infrastructure is very well managed and it allows researchers from many institutions to access hardware that would be otherwise impossible to purchase or to maintain. We have worked close with several staff members to install all necessary software suits and a constant information exchange with the helpdesk allows us to resolve any newly arising technical issues in very short time. We are very happy with the partnership and I can only recommend to anybody that is in need of strong computational power, to get in contact with PLGrid as soon as possible.
We direct all interested parties to the PLGrid infrastructure website. Prof. Sebastian Glatt is currently pursuing a grant under the EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) program. Details are available at the Glatt Lab website.
Two remaining laureates of the FNP Prize were:
Prof. Janusz Lewiński from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology and the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences was awarded in the field of Chemical and Materials Sciences for the development of mechanochemical methods for the synthesis of perovskites, improving their photovoltaic properties.
Details of the study and a profile of Prof. Lewiński's team are available at The Lewiński Group website.
Prof. Marcin Wodziński from the Tadeusz Taube Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Wrocław was awarded in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences for an innovative study of Hasidism that explains the role of culture, politics, and geography in shaping religious identities and interethnic relations.
Congratulations to all the awarded!
For more information, please see the announcements about: the awarded prizes and the broadcast of the award gala on the website of the Foundation for Polish Science.
