Dr Grażyna Dąbrowska from the Department of Genetics of the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (UMK) won in the 10th “Innovation is a woman” competition organized by the Women Science Foundation.

The winner was appreciated for the innovative solution “Method of obtaining a biological preparation of fungal origin accelerating the degradation of polymer materials and a biological preparation”, created jointly with Zuzanna Znajewska from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection and Dr Ewa Olewnik-Kruszkowska and Dr Grażyna Szczepańska from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.

The winning project is a preparation from fungi and other microorganisms occurring in Poland, which by about 20 percent accelerates the decomposition of plastics, even those biologically non-degradable. Importantly, the preparation is easy to reproduce and cheap to prepare.