priority research area: MoleculeTech
Scientific achievements
Marcin Sypka, MSc Eng., from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences at Lodz University of Technology is a doctoral candidate at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School of Lodz University of Technology and a collaborator of the Institute of Molecular and Industrial Biotechnology. His scientific output includes 6 publications, which have received 81 citations, and his h-index is 3. He is also a co-author of a patent application concerning a method for producing bioferment from fruit waste.
Research profile and research directions
His scientific interests focus on the bioprospecting of extremophilic microorganisms, especially Antarctic psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria, and their potential application in biotechnology, medicine, the agri-food industry, and environmental protection. Marcin Sypka conducts research on the molecular mechanisms of keratin waste degradation using Antarctic bacteria and on the characterization of bioactive products generated in this process.
Among his most important achievements is the characterization of more than 50 new keratinolytic Antarctic bacterial strains isolated from soil samples collected near the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station. His research indicates that some of the isolates may represent previously undescribed microbial species, opening new opportunities for the search for extremoenzymes, secondary metabolites, and antimicrobial molecules. He currently leads the PRELUDIUM 24 project funded by the National Science Centre, entitled “ANTARCTICKER: Molecular mechanism of keratin waste degradation using Antarctic bacteria and characterization of its bioactive products”.
Honours and recognition from the scientific community
Marcin Sypka has been recognized for his scientific and conference activity. He received an award for the best-publishing doctoral student in 2025 in the discipline of food technology and nutrition, as well as awards for the best oral presentations at the 7th Session of Young Microbiologists of the Łódź Scientific Community and the 1st Polish Yeast Conference. He completed a research internship at the Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, where he studied the antibiofilm potential of bacterial biosurfactants against multidrug-resistant pathogens. He is also involved in science communication and biotechnology promotion, including as a co-creator of the educational escape room “Race Against the Pathogen: Mission Antidote” and as one of the originators and authors of the successful proposal under the Social Responsibility of Science III programme entitled “Summer School of BIOinnovation and Summer BIOscience Festival of Lodz University of Technology”.