Visit to a microbiology laboratory as part of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

14 05 2026

Do you remember the “iglo”? For the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, we put up an auction in which you could bid for a visit to a microbiology laboratory with the architect of the famous “iglo”, Stanisław Świeżewski, and the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs, Dr Takao Ishikawa.

The winners of the auction were Aleksandra Sojkowska, Emilia Brzozowska and Kacper Śniatkowski from the Alfred Lityński Bilingual Upper Secondary School No. 3 in Suwałki.

As Aleksandra Sojkowska says: “The story of winning the auction was actually quite spontaneous. I came across the Faculty of Biology’s Instagram story completely by chance, while waiting after school for the bus home. I saw the information about the opportunity to spend time in a laboratory and thought it sounded like an amazing opportunity.

First, I called my dad to ask whether I could even try to take part in the auction, and then I started looking for people who would be just as crazy as me, willing to spend part of their savings on the chance to visit a biology laboratory and support the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

In the end, we managed to put together a team of three and win the auction, and the trip itself turned out to be even more interesting than we had expected, especially the opportunity to see the laboratories ‘from the inside’ and talk about scientific work in such a normal and inspiring atmosphere.”

During the visit, the students, together with the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs, Dr Takao Ishikawa, got a behind-the-scenes look at the microbiology laboratory of the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, carried out PCR amplification of markers identifying specific plasmids and agarose gel electrophoresis of the PCR products, and also took part in the purification of a recombinant protein by affinity chromatography using fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) equipment. Through these experiences, they learned what scientific work really looks like.

The visit was auctioned for PLN 520, and the amount was donated to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, whose 26th Final this year was held under the slogan “Healthy bellies of our children”.