Michał Świrski, MSc, awarded the Ministry of Science and Higher Education scholarship for outstanding young scientists

02 07 2026

Michał Świrski, MSc, from the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, has been awarded the scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists. In the 21st edition of the competition, 1,640 applications were evaluated, and 230 recipients representing 54 scientific and artistic disciplines were selected. Among them were 20 researchers affiliated with the University of Warsaw. The scholarship was awarded for three years and amounts to PLN 5,390 per month.

In his research, Michał Świrski combines bioinformatics and genetics, focusing on the process of translation, particularly on how ribosomes read genetic information outside classical, well-characterised protein-coding regions. He develops tools for the large-scale analysis of ribosome profiling data, including the RiboCrypt platform (https://ribocrypt.org/). These tools make it possible to detect unusual translational events, such as alternative translation initiation, reading-frame shifts, stop codon readthrough and the translation of short, frequently overlooked genomic regions.

Michał Świrski’s research contributes to a better understanding of the hidden complexity of the proteome—the complete set of proteins produced in cells. It also helps improve genome description and annotation and identify regions that remain undetected in conventional bioinformatic analyses. An important aspect of Michał’s work is the organisation of scientific terminology, exemplified by the proposal of the term “translon” as a general name for a region undergoing translation, as well as the Ribosome Decision Graph model, which describes the interactions between translons sharing a specific transcript. The results of Michał Świrski’s work are frequently used in international research initiatives.

Michał Świrski is a member of the research group led by Prof. Joanna Kufel at the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Warsaw. Under her supervision, he is preparing a doctoral dissertation entitled “Identification of hidden translational events using ribosome profiling and large-scale data reanalysis”. His research uses extensive collections of publicly available high-throughput data to detect and characterise rare and non-canonical translational events.

In previous years, Michał Świrski received other prestigious scholarships, including the START scholarship awarded by the Foundation for Polish Science (https://www.uw.edu.pl/stypendia-start-fnp-przyznane/) and a scholarship under the “Roots of the Future” programme of the CRIDO Foundation (https://www.biol.uw.edu.pl/doktorant-michal-swirski-laureatem-stypendium-w-ramach-programu-korzenie-przyszlosci/).

We warmly congratulate him on receiving another scholarship and wish him continued scientific success!

Full information about scholarships for outstanding young scientists is available on the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: https://www.gov.pl/web/nauka/stypendia-dla-mlodych-naukowcow