JAN DLUGOSZ UNIVERSITY IN CZESTOCHOWA CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP IN EUROPEAN POLYSACCHARIDE NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE

From August 25th to 28th, I will be participating as a member of the Scientific Committee in the 9th EPNOE International Polysaccharide Conference, organized by Mid Sweden University, which takes place in Sundsvall, Sweden. Participating in this conference is of particular significance to me personally, but also to the entire Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, as this year marks the 10th anniversary of our University's membership in this international association. I believe this is a good time to introduce this organization to younger University staff, doctoral candidates, and students, and to remind them how JDU's involvement in EPNOE has developed. The European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE) was established in May 2005 as a "Network of Excellence (NoE)" and received funding from the European Commission (EC) under a contract within the FP6-NMP program (ID: 500375). Following the termination of EC funding, EPNOE was registered as a non-profit association in December 2007. EPNOE is a collaborative organization based on its members' goals, promoting research, development, and educational projects, and stimulating innovation in the field of polysaccharides. EPNOE stands for: world-class, multidisciplinary polysaccharide research, innovation, a focus on applied research across all sectors (new resources, materials science and engineering, food and nutrition, and biomedicine), education and training of young scientists, and dissemination of knowledge about polysaccharides to society. Currently, EPNOE has 50 regular members, including 38 research institutions from Austria (Graz University of Technology; University of Graz; University of Innsbruck; University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Belgium (KU Leuven), Finland (Åbo Akademi University, Turku; VTT Technical Research Centre, Espoo; University of Helsinki; Aalto University), France (Armines – Mines Paristech, Centre for Material Forming (CEMEF), Sophia Antipolis; C2MA – IMT Mines Alès; Centre des des researches sur les macromolécules végétales CERMAV; INP-LGP2-PAGORA, Grenoble; French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE); Laboratory of Agro-Industrial Chemistry, Toulouse; Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies (BIA) Research Unit, Nantes; Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens; UTA site Artois, Université d’Artois), Germany (Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, Potsdam-Golm; Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry; Thuringian Institute of Textile and Plastics Research Rudolstadt e.V. (TITK), Italy (Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli Federico II), Iceland (University of Iceland), the Netherlands (Utrecht University; Wageningen University and Research Agrotechnology and Food Sciences), Poland (Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa; Institute of Agrophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Lukasiewicz – Lodz Institute of Technology), Portugal (University of Aveiro; University of Algavre), Romania (“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi), Slovenia (University of Maribor; University of Ljubljana), Spain (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC); Universitat de Girona), Sweden (Chalmers University of Technology; KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Mid-Sweden University, Sundsvall), Switzerland (ETH Zürich), Great Britain (University of Nottingham) and 12 companies.
Our University was accepted as an affiliated member of EPNOE during the association's General Assembly, held in Paris in July 2015. The 4th International EPNOE Conference, "Polysaccharides and polysaccharide-based advanced materials: from science to industry," was held at the National Stadium in Warsaw from October 19-22, 2015. Prof. Janusz Kapusniak was a member of the International Scientific Committee, and staff and doctoral students from the Institute of Chemistry, Environmental Protection and Biotechnology presented their research results in the form of an invited lecture, an oral presentation, and six posters. The active involvement of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in organizing the conference at the National Stadium was reflected in the unanimous acceptance of our University as a regular member of EPNOE by the General Assembly, held in Sophia-Antipolis (France) in December 2016. At the same meeting, Prof. Janusz Kapusniak was elected a member of the association's governing board. Employees of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and subsequently the Faculty of Science and Technology, actively participated in subsequent EPNOE conferences in Jena (Germany) in 2017, Aveiro (Portugal) in 2019, and Nantes (France) in 2021. A member of the EPNOE Scientific Committee of the latter was Prof. Janusz Kapusniak. Junior employees of the Faculty actively participated in Junior Scientists Meetings organized by EPNOE: Dr. Arkadiusz Zarski and Dr. Sandra Zarska in Sophia-Antipolis (France) in 2016, Malwina Wojcik, M.A. in Kortrijk (Belgium) in 2021, Dr. Kamila Kapusniak, Univ. Prof., Dr. Arkadiusz Zarski, and Malwina Wójcik, M.A. in Aveiro (Portugal) in 2022. Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, together with the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC, Spain), formed the host consortium, and Dr. Kamila Kapusniak, Univ. Prof., and Dr. Arkadiusz Zarski were the vice-chairs of the Organizing Committee of The 5th EPNOE Junior Scientist Meeting in Aveiro (Portugal) in 2022. In 2018, prof. Janusz Kapusniak participated in the conference "Polysaccharides as sweet spot for innovation", combined with a meeting of EPNOE national representatives with representatives of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and a discussion on the possibilities of cooperation between EPNOE and EIT Food and EIT Health. In 2022, prof. Kapusniak represented EPNOE at the 5th EU Starch Value Chain conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Prof. Janusz Kapusniak served as vice president and member of the EPNOE Executive Board for the 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 terms, responsible for issues related to education. Prof. Janusz Kapusniak is a co-author of The EPNOE Research Roadmap 2040 – a study published as a monograph, as well as an article in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121633). Prof. Janusz Kapusniak is also a co-author of the study Upskilling of Professionals for a Sustainable Europe (https://www.epnoe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/EPNOE-Skills-Roadmap.pdf).
The current representatives of Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa at EPNOE are: 
Prof. Janusz Kapusniak - Main Representative 
Dr. Piotr Rychter, Univ. Prof. - Vice Representative 
Dr. Kamila Kapusniak, Univ. Prof. - Vice Representative 
Dr. Arkadiusz Zarski - Junior Representative 
Malwina Wojcik, M.A.-Junior Vice Representative 

We encourage all employees, PhD candidates, and students to join EPNOE activities!