A conversation with Kazimierz Murzyn, Director of the Life Science Klaster in Kraków.
• What position does the Klaster have in the building of a bioregion in Małopolska?
• We do a lot so that it is crucial. A number of activities taking place in the area of regional innovation strategies have been initiated thanks to the activities associated within the cluster of institutions of authority, science and business. For many years, we have triggered activities in various fields, participated in the creation of Polish bioregions, organized trips abroad. The creation of a team for innovation is an example of our activity. Its members are specialists from technology transfer centres, research units and hospitals in Kraków. The main objective of the team is to develop common standards for the commercialization of research in the field of life science. The main idea is to use the experience of the leading institutions in the field and boost the activity of the other ones. It is all beginning to bear fruit resulting in political decisions and investment.
• How can you help people who have good ideas in the field of life science?
• The Jagiellonian Centre of Innovation (JCI), whose sole shareholder is the Jagiellonian University, was entrusted with the task of administering the Klaster. As a cluster supported by the JCI we have the opportunity to apply for grants for our actions. At the moment, we are realizing two projects worth 2 million PLN.
• Are there any research priorities that the Klaster strongly supports?
• Absolutely! Specialization is determined by the potential of science and economy in Małopolska on the one hand, and ambitious aims of both on the other. We attach a lot of attention to development of technologies in the fields of drug discovery, medical diagnostics, e-health, advanced-non-drug therapies and to other complementary food, cosmetics or environmental technologies applied with the single goal to improve ‘a quality of individual life’.
• Kraków’s universities educate a lot of experts in life science. Do you feel the abundance of ideas that come to you from them yet?
• There is more and more of them every year. The Klaster aims to promote innovation and to prepare the infrastructure necessary to implement ideas. Our task consists in, among others, organization of meetings, lobbying, providing information. On the substantive plane, that is the joint implementation of projects, our partners form consortia. Besides, there are seed funds, which deal with the introduction of specific projects into economic practice, among the partners making the LifeScience Klaster.
• How does your way of action compare what happens in this area in the world?
• We do not move against the current. If you look at initiatives like ours, three main operational objectives always appear: coordination of actions, their integration and delivery of information. We are for example a founding member of the European Diagnostic Custer Alliance (EDCA) with headquarter in Brussels. Its main purpose is to enable and easy collaboration at the European level for small and medium-sized enterprises developing innovative diagnostic products and services at local cluster level.
• Let’s assume that several years have passed since our conversation. What will give you a significant professional satisfaction from this perspective?
• The strategic objective is to build a position of Małopolska as the leader amongst the bio-regions in Central and Eastern Europe. We believe that our Region is able to reach such a position soon. This means that Kraków and Małopolska will be recognized for a dynamic knowledge based economy and for developments in life science technologies. The measure of its strength will be determined by a number of companies operating in the industry, products and services marketed effectively, employed people, amount of taxes paid, and money invested both – in R&D and in start-ups.
• What position does the Klaster have in the building of a bioregion in Małopolska?
• We do a lot so that it is crucial. A number of activities taking place in the area of regional innovation strategies have been initiated thanks to the activities associated within the cluster of institutions of authority, science and business. For many years, we have triggered activities in various fields, participated in the creation of Polish bioregions, organized trips abroad. The creation of a team for innovation is an example of our activity. Its members are specialists from technology transfer centres, research units and hospitals in Kraków. The main objective of the team is to develop common standards for the commercialization of research in the field of life science. The main idea is to use the experience of the leading institutions in the field and boost the activity of the other ones. It is all beginning to bear fruit resulting in political decisions and investment.
• How can you help people who have good ideas in the field of life science?
• The Jagiellonian Centre of Innovation (JCI), whose sole shareholder is the Jagiellonian University, was entrusted with the task of administering the Klaster. As a cluster supported by the JCI we have the opportunity to apply for grants for our actions. At the moment, we are realizing two projects worth 2 million PLN.
• Are there any research priorities that the Klaster strongly supports?
• Absolutely! Specialization is determined by the potential of science and economy in Małopolska on the one hand, and ambitious aims of both on the other. We attach a lot of attention to development of technologies in the fields of drug discovery, medical diagnostics, e-health, advanced-non-drug therapies and to other complementary food, cosmetics or environmental technologies applied with the single goal to improve ‘a quality of individual life’.
• Kraków’s universities educate a lot of experts in life science. Do you feel the abundance of ideas that come to you from them yet?
• There is more and more of them every year. The Klaster aims to promote innovation and to prepare the infrastructure necessary to implement ideas. Our task consists in, among others, organization of meetings, lobbying, providing information. On the substantive plane, that is the joint implementation of projects, our partners form consortia. Besides, there are seed funds, which deal with the introduction of specific projects into economic practice, among the partners making the LifeScience Klaster.
• How does your way of action compare what happens in this area in the world?
• We do not move against the current. If you look at initiatives like ours, three main operational objectives always appear: coordination of actions, their integration and delivery of information. We are for example a founding member of the European Diagnostic Custer Alliance (EDCA) with headquarter in Brussels. Its main purpose is to enable and easy collaboration at the European level for small and medium-sized enterprises developing innovative diagnostic products and services at local cluster level.
• Let’s assume that several years have passed since our conversation. What will give you a significant professional satisfaction from this perspective?
• The strategic objective is to build a position of Małopolska as the leader amongst the bio-regions in Central and Eastern Europe. We believe that our Region is able to reach such a position soon. This means that Kraków and Małopolska will be recognized for a dynamic knowledge based economy and for developments in life science technologies. The measure of its strength will be determined by a number of companies operating in the industry, products and services marketed effectively, employed people, amount of taxes paid, and money invested both – in R&D and in start-ups.
