„Science is global and the laws of physics here in Poland are no different than anywhere else. This is why I believe young people should be part of the global scientific community as early as possible through mobility activities. Exchange visits give them the opportunities to learn other ways of doing things, conducting research, and working in groups with different interpersonal dynamics than their home group. (…) Additionally, mobility for conferences is of great importance – seeing how people give presentations, ask questions, finally what it is like to be on the stage oneself” – that’s what Michał Borysiewicz, PhD, says about sending his grad students to exchange stays at MIT after the vacation season this year.

Michał himself has done his postdoc at MIT: „I learned a few things there: I got into the habit of using cloud-based notes. I have all my notes from projects, research, and meetings in it and it facilitates the discussion and cooperation on the results. The second thing I learned is to reply to e-mails as soon as possible and not to leave people hanging. Third – the openness for criticism that is almost never regarded as offensive, by pointing out problems, sometimes in quite a harsh language, but not lashing out against people. And finally, I managed to expand my scientific network, which I can use now to do interesting collaborations – for example, Patrycja Barańczyk, our Olympian, prepares samples that we send to one of the Max Planck Institutes, where my colleague, a former MIT lab-mate, leads her group and uses our materials in her chemistry.

Talking about Patrycja, it’s worth mentioning that she is a mathematics olympiad winner from last year. As she wanted to combine physics and mathematics, she decided to study nanoengineering at the Faculty of Physics University of Warsaw and joined Łukasiewicz – IMiF as an intern. As Patrycja told us, she receives real support here, trying to be as independent as possible at the same time. She performs her duties just like other regular employees of Łukasiewicz – IMiF. Want to start your career with us? Let us know!