The President of the Republic of Poland, as motioned by the Rada Doskonałości Naukowej (Polish Council for Scientific Excellence), has conferred the title of professor in science to dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Kowalczyk-Gajewska from the IPPT PAN. The President of the Republic of Poland has signed the decision, previously countersigned by the Prime Minister of Poland, on 21st December 2022.
Prof. dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Kowalczyk-Gajewska received her degree in Theory of Structures from the Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering. Since 1997, she has been working at the IPPT PAN. In 1997-2001 she attended the IPPT PAN Doctoral School. In 2001, she received her PhD with honors for the thesis “Evolution of plastic anisotropy of strongly deformed metals” under the supervision of W. Gamin. In 2001, she was appointed to the position of assistant professor at the Department of Theory of Continuous Media, and later at the Department of Mechanics of Materials, IPPT PAN. In 2012, she received a postdoctoral degree of doktor habilitowany for her thesis “Micromechanical modelling of metals and alloys of high specific strength”. Professor Kowalczyk-Gajewska did research stints in Texas A&M, US (2019, 2022), University Carlos III, Madrid, Spain (2016, 2019), University of Lorraine, Metz (2012–2019), and ONERA Chatillon (2007) in France. Since 2015, she has been a member of the Scientific Council IPPT PAN, and since 2023 – its vice-chair. Expert in the field of mechanics of materials, especially in micromechanical modeling of heterogeneous materials, crystal and polycrystal plasticity, and the anisotropy of mechanical properties.
In 2022, prof. Kowalczyk-Gajewska chaired an international conference “IUTAM Symposium on Enhancing Material Performance by Exploiting Instabilities and Damage Evolution”. She has given many keynote lectures at international conferences, including Sweden (“Composites’2021”), Canada/US (“Plasticity'2006”, “Plasticity’2016”), France (“NanoSPD6`2014”), Austria (“ECCOMAS'2012”), and Poland (“SolMech'2010”, “SolMech'2014”, “SolMech’2016”).
She has won many scientific awards, including: 2012 award of Division IV: Engineering Sciences PAS for her habilitation monograph, and 2002 – II Committee on Mechanics Awards for Young Scientists. She has served many positions, including, since 2016 – member of the Committee on Mechanics, PAS, since 2016 – editor-in-chief of the “Engineering Transactions” science journal, and since 2022 – she has been a member of the editorial team of the "International Journal of Plasticity".
Prof. Kowalczyk-Gajewska has been leader of research teams in two international projects from the European Commission competitions: 1) since 2023 – “DIAGONAL – Ductility and Fracture Toughness analysis of functionally graded materials” (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01), 2) 2018-2023 – “Unraveling the role of anisotropy in material failure” (Marie Curie/H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017).
Prof. Kowalczyk-Gajewska has also headed national research projects, including three NCN Polish National Science Centre OPUS projects and one of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education: 1) since 2022 – the NCN project: „Rozwój pustek i ewolucja uszkodzenia w metalach i stopach o niskiej symetrii sieci - modelowanie wieloskalowe i analiza doświadczalna” (Void growth and damage evolution in metals and alloys of low lattice symmetry - multiscale modelling and experimental analysis); 2) 2017-2021 – NCN project: Optymalizacja mikrostruktur w materiałach niejednorodnych – modelowanie mikromechaniczne i numeryczne w zakresie nieliniowym (Microstructures optimization in heterogeneousmaterials – micromechanical and numerical modeling in nonlinear regime; 3) in 2014-2017 – the NCN project: “Wieloskalowe modelowanie materiałów niejednorodnych: opis ewolucji mikrostruktury i efekty skali” (Multiscale modeling of heterogeneous materials: description of microstructure evolution and scale effects); 4) in 2008-2010 – the Ministry of Science and Higher Education project, titled “Mikromechaniczny model polikryształów metali i stopów o wysokiej wytrzymałości właściwej – opracowanie sekwencyjnego przejścia mikro-makro ze sprzężeniem mechanizmów deformacji plastycznej” (Micromechanical modeling of metals and alloys of high specific strength – development of a sequential micro-macro transition with the coupling of elastic deformation mechanisms).
She is also a member of research teams at three European Union projects: the 7FP EU Matrans project (2010-2013), the IE OP KomCerMet project (2008-2013), and the 6FP EU KMM NoE project (2004-2009).
Prof. Kowalczyk-Gajewska authored and co-authored over 50 publications indexed in the Web of Science, and three monographs. She has supervised two doctoral theses, defended with honors at the IPPT PAN.
