Joanna Śmietańska

Areas of expertise

• Protein crystallography

• Aperiodic crystals and quasicrystals

• Modulated crystal structures

• Macromolecular crystals

• Energy storage systems

• Molecular dynamics

Education

• PhD in PhysicsAGH University of Krakow, Cracow, Poland

• Jagiellonian University, Cracow, PolandMaster’s degree in Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

• Jagiellonian University, Cracow, PolandBachelor’s degree in Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

Professional background and credentials

Joanna discovered her passion for physics and mathematics in high school, making further education at the Faculty of Physics of Jagiellonian University, Poland's oldest university, a natural progression. For her Bachelor's thesis, Joanna worked on developing new self-cleaning and antibacterial photocatalytic materials. In her Master's thesis, she developed a method for synthesizing carbon nanomaterials for supercapacitors and batteries from starch and conducted successful cell tests using these materials. While still pursuing her Master's degree, Joanna participated in the final of the Polish Crystallography Olympics, which led her to continue research in this field after completing her studies. Her latest research interests include protein crystallography, particularly the unique modulated crystals derived from St. John's wort, which have high medical potential. Joanna analyzed these systems as part of her PhD work and developed a program dedicated to working with similar models in the future. She also received a grant for her research project. She participated in remote synchrotron measurements conducted on the equipment at Diamond Light Source in Oxford, UK, and completed an internship at the Institute of Physics in Prague, Czech Republic. Since her university days, Joanna has been active in the Nanotechnology Student Research Club. She has participated in science outreach projects like the Researchers' Night and the Science Festival in Kraków. Currently, in addition to her research work, Joanna regularly teaches physics and mathematics classes at AGH University. Her students have recognized her excellent teaching skills and awarded her the Rector's Award for Best Academic Teacher in 2024.

Achievements

Joanna is a contributor to the OPUS grant "Structural Studies of Decagonal and Icosahedral Quasicrystals - Atomic Disorder, Cluster Structure, and Physical Properties", funded by the Polish National Science Centre. She's also the Principal Investigator in the PRELUDIUM grant "Pushing the Boundaries of Crystallography: Understanding Structure Modulation in Macromolecular Systems", funded by the Polish National Science Centre. She's organized the 45th Congress of Polish Physicists in Kraków, held from October 13-18, 2019. Since January 2019 she's a member of Polish Biochemical Society, and she participated in over ~20 national and international conferences.

Awards

• Scholarship for outstanding achievements for undergraduate and Ph.D. students funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education

• Award from the Polish Crystallographic Association for the best poster, "Protein Crystal with Ninefold Structure Modulation and 36 Protein Molecules in the Asymmetric Unit"

• Award for the best presentation at the ECMetAC Days 2021 conference, "Looking at the Modulated Structure of Pathogenesis-Related Protein (Hyp-1) Complex with ANS within the Higher Dimensional Superspace Approach", December 2021

Publications

• Wolny J, Buganski I, Strzalka R, Smietanska-Nowak J, Wnek A. 25 Years of Quasiperiodic Crystallography in Physical Space using the Average Unit Cell Approach; Israel Journal of Chemistry; Apr 2024

• Smietanska J, Kozik T, Strzalka R, Buganski I. Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Phenolic Oxidative Coupling Protein Hyp-1 Derived from Hypericum perforatum; Crystals; Jan 2021

• Smietanska J, Sliwiak J, Gilski M, Dauter Z, Strzalka R, Wolny J, Jaskolski M. A new modulated crystal structure of the ANS complex of the St John's wort Hyp-1 protein with 36 protein molecules in the asymmetric unit of the supercell; Acta Crystallographica; Jul 2020

• Strzalka R, Buganski I, Smietanska J, Wolny J. From a single slit to periodic, modulated, and quasiperiodic crystals – a physical space diffraction analysis of aperiodic systems; Journal of Physics Conference; Jan 2020

• Strzalka R, Buganski I, Smietanska J, Wolny J. Structural disorder in quasicrystals; Archives of Metallurgy and Materials; Jan 2020

• Interdyscyplinarne Środowiskowe Studia Doktoranckie "Fizyczne, Chemiczne i Biofizyczne Podstawy Nowoczesnych Technologii i Inżynierii Materiałowej " (FCB) – dr Joanna Śmietańska - Nowak; Sep 2017