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Our Research
The fourth division (BP4) of The Fundamental Research Department (Departament Badań Podstawowych) deals with research in astrophysics and astronomy, mainly their observational aspects. The BP4 division is located in Warsaw at 7 Pasteura street.
The research conducted at the Astrophysics Laboratory includes:
- Cosmology: CMB, large structures of the Universe, dark matter, non-standard cosmology and gravitational lensing
- Gravitational waves: Multi-messenger astronomy, new tools for cosmology
- Physics of galaxies: Formation and evolution of galaxies, AGN, quasars and gamma-ray burst
- Interstellar medium: Star formation, neutron stars and white dwarfs
The BP4 division is also involved in several international projects. Check our Scientific Projects page for more information.
Seminars
Upcoming seminars for all of NCBJ can be found here.
The seminar archive for NCBJ can be found here.
Latest News
Scroll down for the latest news about the research done by our division or click here.
VISTULA Workshop
The workshop is organized as part of the project CLEVER: Cosmology & GaLaxy EVolution In The New ObsErving ProgRammes. Project founded by the Strategic Partnership project BPI/PST/2024/1/00019 by NAWA – Polish National Agency For Academic Exchange.
The rationale
Machine learning and modern statistical methods are becoming central tools in astrophysics and cosmology, from survey data reduction and photometric redshifts to time‑domain discovery, image classification and parameter inference. This workshop offers a structured introduction to statistical foundations and machine learning concepts.
The goal of this workshop is to provide a structured, beginner‑friendly entry point to machine learning and advanced statistics in astrophysics, while progressively reaching more advanced topics. The format will combine morning lectures with afternoon hands‑on sessions in which participants work through concrete astrophysical use cases under the guidance of the invited speakers and local tutors.
The workshop is aimed at Master’s students, early‑stage PhD students and junior researchers from NCBJ, the University of Warsaw, and the CLEVER partner institutions. It will explicitly welcome participants with limited prior exposure to machine learning, provided they are comfortable with basic programming (e.g. Python) and standard statistical concepts. By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to: understand the main families of machine learning methods used in current astrophysical research; critically assess when a machine‑learning approach is appropriate; implement and evaluate simple models on real data; and recognise common pitfalls such as overfitting, data leakage and biased training sets.
The invited speakers span a broad range of applications including galaxy formation and evolution, large‑scale surveys, time‑domain and transient astronomy, exoplanets and cosmology.
Hosted in Warsaw as part of the CLEVER-NAWA partnership , the workshop will strengthen training and collaboration across the network by bringing together students, junior researchers, and invited experts for a hands-on introduction to machine learning and advanced statistics in astrophysics.
Invited speakers:
- Ting-Yun Cheng (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in Groningen)
- Antonio La Marca (Leiden Observatory, European Space Agency)
- Alex Razim (Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Nova Gorica)
- Carlo Schimd (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille)
- Will J. Pearson (National Centre for Nuclear Research)
For more info, or to register for the workshop, CLICK HERE
Conference Participation
BP4 participate in many national and intersectional conferences. We share our cutting edge research and enthusiasm with other astronomers across the world. Below are pictures from our trips across the globe over the last year or so.
Poznań, Poland
6-10 July 2026
Lausanne, Switzerland
29 June - 3 July 2026
Tenerife, Spain
22-26 June 2026
Cambridge, UK
22-26 June 2026
Paris, France
22-26 June 2026
Dublin, Ireland
8-12 June 2026
Florence, Italy
8-12 June 2026
Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, India
15-18 January 2026
Paris, France
22-26 September 2025
Poznań, Poland
15-19 September 2025
SOC chair: Agnieszka Pollo
SOC co-chair: Nandini Hazra
SOC members: Katarzyna Małek,
William Pearson
LOC members: Subhrata Dey,
Katarzyna Małek,
William Pearson, and
Agnieszka Pollo
Latest News
Barely visible galaxies are the key to understanding the Universe
When we look at the night sky, we cannot free ourselves from questions. We wonder if it is possible to count the stars. We imagine how great a distance separates us from them. When we realize what a light year actually is, we are surprised to discover that we are actually looking into the further or closer past. Scientists from the National Center for Nuclear Research experience a similar fascination, looking for answers to these and other questions about how the Universe looks and works. In the coming years, this search will be able to be more effective thanks to the project „ Barely visible: low surface brightness galaxies in the LSST era” under the supervision of Prof. dr hab. Agnieszka Pollo financed by the National Science Center under the MAESTRO program.
Smashing galaxies into dust
Dr William James Pearson will investigate how we can more reliably identify galaxy mergers using their morphologies and how mergers influence their dust content, dust attenuation, and metallicity. This will be done by combining artificial intelligence (AI) with more traditional methods to detect galaxy mergers as well as use state of the art. observations and techniques to study the galaxies’ dust and metal. Exploration of this fascinating topic will be possible thanks to a grant from the National Science Center under the SONATA programme.
NCBJ scientists elected as members of the Astronomy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On 14 May, nominations for members of the Committee on Astronomy of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the term 2024-2027 were announced. Among the members were scientists from the NCBJ's Astrophysics Division. Prof Katarzyna Małek was also elected to the Presidium of the Committee.
Can dust evaporate in harsh interstellar environments?
Dust represents an important component of the interstellar medium of galaxies and is involved in various physical processes. As a consequence, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence its formation and destruction. In a recent study, a team of scientists led by dr Ambra Nanni of the NCBJ’s Astrophysics Division analysed the effect of photo-evaporation on the survival of dust in the interstellar medium of galaxies.
In the Universe, appearance matters: Dusty shapes of colourful galaxies
Can we see what is hidden in a cloud of dust without the aid of infrared vision? Scientists involved in the largest optical survey of the sky this decade, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), led by a group from the NCBJ’s Astrophysics Division, in a paper published in April in Astronomy & Astrophysics, propose a novel method to extract information about dust in galaxies without actually observing its infrared light.
New observations of the outer Milky Way help to understand the star formation process
Having an accurate understanding of the star formation process is essential to comprehend the formation and evolution of galaxies, and this requires to unveil the impact of environment on star formation. In a new study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, scientists used a new survey of the outer Galaxy to refine the distance and properties of star-forming clumps and study how star formation behave in comparison with the inner Galaxy.
