In Poznań, there are about 40 scientific and research facilities, including 18 facilities of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS).
Their activity is focused on conducting research and implementation works, among others, in such areas as: information technology, genetic research, immunology, biotechnology, chemical energy sources, scientific and research equipment, new varieties of cultivated plants, logistics strategies. These institutions played an important pro-innovation role, and their number, research potential and quality of research determined the level of ability to create new technical and technological solutions.
Poznań has about 200 facilities, which have been classified by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) as conducting R&D activity. In 2016, they spent PLN 732 million on research and development, i.e. almost twice as much as in 2010, including PLN 201 million on research and development.
Poznań Science and Technology Park
The best-known units dealing with innovative activity in Poznań include the Poznań Science and Technology Park (PSTP), operating at the Adam Mickiewicz University. PSTP is the first park of this type established in Poland. For over 20 years it has been actively supporting entrepreneurs and scientists in their research and innovation activities.
The mission of the PSPT is to help commercialize the results of scientific and technological research, and thus to stimulate the development of the region. PSPT implements international projects, organises trainings and performs incubation functions, supporting the creation and development of small and medium enterprises operating on the basis of new technologies.
The PSPT is also – as the only technology park in Poland – a category A science entity, and holds the EU|BIC certificate, and is an accredited innovation centre.
The Poznań Science and Technology Park is the only technology park in Poland with the status of a scientific unit, thanks to which it can apply for research projects, both independently and in consortia with other scientific units or enterprises. It boasts a large scientific and technological heritage – the list of intellectual property includes, among others, 30 patents and patent applications, as well as over 40 developed technologies, some of which have been implemented in production.
Poznań Technology and Industry Park with Entrepreneurship Incubator
The City of Poznań, through its municipal company Wielkopolskie Centrum Wspierania Inwestycji Sp. z o.o. (Wielkopolska Investment Support Center Ltd.), operates the Poznań Technology and Industry Park with its Entrepreneurship Incubator (PTIP). Within PTIP, three interconnected zones are being created: office, incubation, and industrial and manufacturing zones.
PTIP’s objective is to foster effective transfer of innovations and technologies to the economy by creating cooperative links between companies, tenants of PTIP – and the research and development sector, existing science parks and high-tech centres. In 2017, approximately 90 companies were the customers of PTIP.
In the facility at ul. Za Bramką 1, which is a part of PTIP, the “+jeden” Co-working Space was established for start-ups. In the coming years, the last segment – “C” – is to be built on PTIP’s grounds, with an area of over 5 thousand m2.
NanoBioMedical Centre
Morasko is home to the NanoBioMedical Centre, a joint undertaking of the Adam Mickiewicz University, the Poznań University of Technology, the Poznań University of Medical Science, and the University of Life Sciences. The Centre’s activities are carried out in cooperation with the Institute of Molecular Physics in Poznań. It is currently one of the most modern facilities of its kind in Poland.
The NanoBioMedical Centre deals with nanometric structures which will help to create new drugs, electronic devices, or materials. The facility serves mainly students of master’s and doctoral studies, as the basic task of the Centre is to educate staff in the field of modern technologies.
Wielkopolska Centre for Advanced Technologies
The campus of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Morasko is also home to the Wielkopolska Centre for Advanced Technologies. The facility is a joint initiative of 5 Poznań universities: the Adam Mickiewicz University, the Poznań University of Economics and Business, the Poznań University of Life Sciences, the Poznań University of Medical Science, the Poznań University of Technology, and the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants, the Poznań Science and Technology Park. The Poznań City Hall is also a partner supporting the project.
The aim of the project, coordinated by the Adam Mickiewicz University, was to create a multidisciplinary research and technology centre, which would bring together the best specialists from technical, scientific, and natural sciences.
The Research Centre of Polish Optical Internet
In Poznań there is also the Research Centre of Polish Optical Internet , which serves as a foundation for the development of research and implementations in the field of e-infrastructure, information and communication technologies, and their applications. The Centre is also the seat of the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre (PSNC), affiliated with the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which is the operator of:
PIONIER – a nationwide broadband optical network for e-science
- the city’s optical fibre network (POZMAN)
- High Performance Computing Centre
- and the world’s leading research and development centre in the field of information and communication technologies.
The PSNC-Huawei Innovation Center operates in the building of the Research Centre of Polish Optical Internet. The Centre has a HPC Eagle cluster from Huawei, one of the fastest systems of its kind in the world.
Under PSNC, at ul. Zwierzyniecka, the PSNC Smart Space of Future Labs. was created, thanks to which Poznań’s innovators can become more active in relations with Polish and foreign companies, universities, and non-governmental organizations. It features, among others, so-called live laboratories, i.e. spaces equipped with the most modern ICT devices, in which Poznań-based companies and organisations can test or demonstrate innovative solutions.
Private technology parks
The private sector is also involved in pro-innovation activities. Since 2006, the first private technology park in Poland has been expanding its operations in Złotniki: YouNick Technology Park. It is the seat of companies engaged in, among others, designing advanced IT systems, IT outsourcing, biotechnology, logistics, consulting, service and production activities. So far, 21 companies have developed in YouNick, running innovative businesses in Poland and abroad.
The Eureka Technology Park operates in Dąbrowa near Poznań, while the INEA PARK Technology Park was established in Wysogotowo together with one of the largest modern data centres in Wielkopolska.
At Dąbrowskiego Street in Poznań, there is the Nobel Tower Centre for Advanced Technologies with conference and training facilities, whose investor is a private non-profit company, and at Obornicka Street – the Business and Science Incubator, whose purpose is to provide infrastructure for companies operating at the junction of science and business.
Commercial companies
In Poznań, Mobica has launched a software development centre, which is to specialise in the applications of C/C++, iOS, Android technologies, as well as embedded systems and test automation in projects for the automotive industry, financial institutions, and manufacturers of mobile devices.
The company Sii doubled the number of employees in the Poznań branch. The company executes projects in the field of IT services for companies from the banking, insurance, telecommunications, power engineering, and industrial sectors all over the world.