LIVING MATERIALS PACZESNY LAB
Team
We are using chemistry, biology, and physics mixed together to obtain a new quality of research on bio-inspired, functional nanomaterials.
Our Work
Our lab aims to establish a two-way connection between the biology and chemistry of materials. We attempt to be clever in our work to answer important questions and not to be “equipment oriented”. For team members, the work in the lab should be a way to reach scientific excellence.
Job offers
We are always looking for students who are willing to work hard on their bachelor's or master's thesis in our group. There are also open positions for internships.
News and Succeses

August 2023
We welcome new PhD student to the group! Bartosz Kamiński joined our new OPUS project and will work on novel antiviral agents.
July 2023
Enkhlin joined Professor Vincent Rotello group at Department of Chemistry, UMass Amherst for six months internship within NAWA/NCN project. We are waiting for fascinating results! Enkhlin - no pressure! :)

July 2023
Our PhD student Mateusz Wdowiak participated at 10th Congress of European Microbiologists FEMS 2023 in Hamburg, Germany (9-13.07.2023). The scientific poster he presented discussed a novel design for the usage of silver nanoparticles synthesized with tea extracts (TeaNPs) against emerging bacterial and fungal pathogens".

July 2023
We welcome new interns in the lab! Magdalena Tomczyńska and Aleksander Piasecki joined the group for the summer internship.

July 2023
We got a new cover - ACS Omega!
June 2023
Our PhD student Mateusz Wdowiak participated at XXII Krajowa Konferecja Elektroniki in Darłowo, Poland (11-15.06.2023). His talk entitled "Wykorzystanie warstw światłowodowych i bakteriofagów do wykrywania bakterii patogennych" was awarded in the session "Optyka zintegrowana - modelowanie, technologie i charakteryzacje".

June 2023
Enkhlin Ochirbat went for a short internship to Gdańsk to work in Phage Consultants labs.

June 2023
With a slight delay we inform that our wonderful undergrad student is no longer an undergrad student! Natalia Szczepańska defended her engineering degree at Warsaw University of Technology (supervisor Professor Izabela Madura),
Natalia is now conducting research work as a foundation for the master degree.

May 2023
Aleksandra Ferenc - Mrozek joined IPC PAS as a lab manager. Ola shares her time between three groups. Welcome!

May 2023
New press released about our paper "Heteroaggregation of virions and microplastics reduces the number of active bacteriophages in aqueous environments" published in Journal of Environmental Quality is out! You can read it here!

May 2023
Paper accepted!
Stimuli-responsive Langmuir Films Composed of Nanoparticles Decorated with Poly(N-isopropyl Acrylamide) (PNIPAM) at the Air/Water Interface
Rafał Zbonikowski, Michalina Iwan, Jan Paczesny
ACS Omega, just accepted

May 2023
Conference time! Jan Paczesny attended The 21st Annual Meeting of Society of Nano Science and Technology in Hakodate, Japan. He talked about stabilization of viruses.

April 2023
We invite everyone to check the new series of lectures - "Breaking barriers - physical chemistry in biological systems".
09.05.2023, 13:00, Prof. Rienk Eelkema, Delft University of Technology
16.05.2023, 11:00, Prof. Lee Cronin, University of Glasgow
23.05.2023, 12:00, Prof. Petra Schwille, Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry
30.05.2023, 11:00, Prof. Alex Evilevitch, Lund University
30.05.2023, 16:00, Prof. Vincent Rotello, University of Massachusetts Amherst
06.06.2023, 11:00, Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski, IChF & ICTER
More details and links are available here!

March 2023
Our PhD student Mateusz Wdowiak was selected to present a scientific poster at the upcoming 10th FEMS Congress of European Microbiologists in July 2023 in Hamburg.
FEMS2023 is the biggest event in Europe dedicated to showcasing the latest developments across the broad scope of microbiology.

March 2023
Jan Paczesny went to Japan to work with Professor Shigeori Takenaka at Kyushu Institute of Technology! The visit is funded by The Matsumae International Foundation, Japan.

March 2023
We are hining! Post-doc within OPUS 2019/35/B/ST5/03229 (nanosynthesis, nanocharacterization, thin films, physical chemistry, organic physical chemistry) wanted!
More details here!

March 2023
Coffee Seminars are back on! Coffee Seminars are semi-informal meetings (with coffee) that aim to allow us to keep up to date with the most active research areas while, at the same time, facilitating networking in our Institute. Organizers - Alexandra Siklitskaya (Team 20 - CoopCat) and Jan Paczesny invite you to join on Fridays, 1 pm.

March 2023
Our paper was highlighted on the cover of the journal issue!
Congo red protects bacteriophages against UV irradiation and allows for the simultaneous use of phages and UV for membrane sterilization
Mateusz Wdowiak, Patryk A. Mierzejewski, Rafał Zbonikowski, Bartłomiej Bończaka and Jan Paczesny*
Environmental Science Water Research & Technology, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/d2ew00913g (IF=5.82)
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/ew/d2ew00913g

March 2023
Yet another paper coming from the group (fifth this year already!)
Heteroaggregation of virions and microplastics reduces the number of active bacteriophages in aqueous environments
Enkhlin Ochirbat, Rafał Zbonikowski, Anna Sulicka, Bartłomiej Bończak, Magdalena Bonarowska, Marcin Łoś, Elżbieta Malinowska, Robert Hołyst, Jan Paczesny
Journal of Environmental Quality, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20459

March 2023
New paper coming from our group!
Adaptive 2D and Pseudo-2D Systems: Molecular, Polymeric, and Colloidal Building Blocks for Tailored Complexity
by Rafał Zbonikowski, Pumza Mente, Bartłomiej Bończak and Jan Paczesny
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(5), 855; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13050855
February 2023
With the end of the month we say "thank you" to Pumza Mente and Bartek Bonczak, who are starting work in new places. Bartek is a post doc fellow in Professor Serena Arnaboldi group in Milan, Italy. Good luck!
February 2023
Konrad Gizynski and Tomasz Andryszewski (from the Soft Matter group at IPC) are popularizing science! This time they prepared the chemical show for students.
January 2023
Pumza Mente coauthored recently published paper. Congrats!
Catalyst Design: Counter Anion Effect on Ni Nanocatalysts Anchored on Hollow Carbon Spheres
Ryan O’Connor,Joyce B. Matsoso, Victor Mashindi, Pumza Mente, Lebohang Macheli, Beatriz D. Moreno, Bryan P. Doyle, Neil J. Coville and Dean H. Barrett
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(3), 426; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030426 [IF= 5.08]

January 2023
Our PhD student Mateusz Wdowiak was appointed a regular member of the Polish Society of Microbiologists. PSM is a founder-member of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS), the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS), and the member of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

January 2023
New paper has been accepted for publication!
Congo red protects bacteriophages against UV irradiation and allows for the simultaneous use of phages and UV for membrane sterilization
Mateusz Wdowiak, Patryk A. Mierzejewski, Rafał Zbonikowski, Bartłomiej Bończaka and Jan Paczesny*
Environmental Science Water Research & Technology, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/d2ew00913g (IF=5.82)
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/ew/d2ew00913g