The International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB) is one of the most modern country´s research institutes in its field. The IIMCB´s research topics cover the wide area of cancer biology, neurobiology, protein structural biology, intracell comunication, dendritic tree formation, bioinformatics/computer modelling, etc. The International Advisory Board, the rules of recruitment of all faculty members through international competition and lack of tenure employment make it unique among Polish research institutions.

Created with the support of UNESCO and the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), the Institute started its activity on January 1, 1999, and is located at the building loaned to IIMCB by PAN. The principles of organisation of the Institute are distinct and differ from other research institutes in the country: an important body of the Institute is the International Advisory Board, acting as the Scientific Council; the leader of each research team of the Institute is selected in an international competition; group leader’s initial employment is limited to a five-year contract; three years after beginning the research work, progress of research is assessed by the International Advisory Board. The professor’s contract may be either terminated or extended.
The International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology is directly subordinate to the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who supervises the organisation and activities of the Institute. The President of PAN nominates members of IAB and the Institute’s Directors. An important link between the Institute and the President of PAN is the 2^nd Department of Biological Sciences of PAN, to which the Institute belongs together with sixteen institutes of PAN. The Institute is financed in part from the national budget (statutory subvention; budgetary subvention via PAN) and in part from other sources (Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Foundation for Polish Science, UNESCO, Framework Programs of EU, Max Planck Society, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, European Molecular Biology Organisation, National Institutes of Health, etc.). About 60% of funds arrive as competitive grant awards received by the group leaders.

The building belongs to the Polish Academy of Sciences of the Institute. It offers 16,820 m3 of cubic space, with 4,032 m2 of internal surface. It is divided into seven floors and a basement. The administrative sector is located on the ground floor (Directors’ offices, the lecture hall for 60 people, the Institute‘s library/meeting room, other offices and social rooms). Five floors, from the 1st to the 5th, are arranged as a typical laboratory space, a “Faraday - cage“ lab for sensitive electronic measurements (e.g. electrophysiology), a cold-room, a dark room, several offices, social rooms and common space for heavy laboratory equipment (see: http://www.iimcb.gov.pl/equipment.php). On the 4^th floor, there is a computer facility for the Institute (including servers), and on the 5^th floor, a part of the laboratory space is prepared to accommodate a cell and molecular biology school (training laboratory for 18 students).

The growing number of foreign researchers working here additionally justifies the name of this institute. The research equipment of the Institute together with shared resources of neighbouring institutes of the whole Ochota campus set the high technical standard of research conducted here. Welcome to the IIMCB!