Dr habil. Łucja Kowalewska – Winner of the 2025 NCN Award in Life Sciences

16 10 2025

Dr habil. Łucja Kowalewska from the Institute of Experimental Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology UW has been awarded the 2025 National Science Centre (NCN) Award for her research on the nanomorphology of biological membranes. The awards ceremony took place on 15 October 2025 at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków.

The NCN Award is the most prestigious Polish distinction for researchers within 12 years after obtaining their PhD, recognizing outstanding achievements in basic research. The key criteria guiding the award committee are scientific excellence and international recognition.

In her research, Dr habil. Kowalewska focuses on one of the least understood aspects of cell biology — the functional significance of the complex geometry of biological membranes. Using an interdisciplinary approach, she investigates the relationship between the spatial organization of plastid membranes and their function in plant cells.

Dr habil. Kowalewska has characterized the mechanisms of transformation between cubic and lamellar membrane phases. For the first time, she demonstrated that the physical parameters of these structures — such as local curvature and global topology — are not merely consequences of membrane self-organization but actively influence processes like chloroplast biogenesis and electron transport pathways. She also discovered that spatial reorganization of membranes serves as an autonomous adaptive mechanism enhancing photosynthetic efficiency under variable light conditions.

Beyond their fundamental importance, Dr habil. Łucja Kowalewska’s studies hold significant application potential. The paracrystalline, cubic structures formed by plastid membranes inspire the design of innovative biomimetic nanostructures with controlled transport properties. Her findings open a new direction in the design of functional nanomaterials.