New accreditation for the IFB UG and MUG Research and Implementation Laboratory

The Research and Implementation Laboratory of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and MUG, headed by prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska, was granted extended accreditation by the Polish Centre for Accreditation (PCA) on January 19, 2024.

The extended accreditation No. AB1760 concerns the performance of biological, biochemical and microbiological testing of agricultural products, testing of water and water for human consumption, and analysis in the field of water microbiology under the PN-EN ISO 6222:2004, PN-EN 7899-2:2004, and PN-EN ISO 9308-1:2014-12 standards.

For the implementation of testing procedures based on the given standards, the Research and Implementation Laboratory received funding from the Innovation 4.0 Incubator project, financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (POIR 2014-2020). The Technology Transfer Office of the University of Gdańsk was responsible for coordinating the project.

‘It is worth noting that the IFB UG and MUG Research and Implementation Laboratory is the first and only laboratory at the University of Gdańsk to be accredited by the PCA,’ says the Head of the IFB UG and MUG Research and Implementation Laboratory, prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska.

The laboratory was previously accredited on October 20, 2020, to perform biological, biochemical and microbiological tests on agricultural products under ISO 17025 (Quality Management System). This accreditation was an acknowledgement of the competence, impartiality, and consistency of the laboratory's staff and testified to the high quality of the analyses carried out and the reliability of the results obtained.

To extend the scope of accreditation, members of the IFB UG and MUG Research and Implementation Laboratory team, i.e. dr Wojciech Śledź, dr Natalia Kaczyńska, dr Agata Motyka-Pomagruk and mgr Weronika Babińska-Wensierska, took part in proficiency tests organised by an external entity for analyses based on the PN-EN ISO 6222:2004, PN-EN 7899-2:2004, and PN-EN ISO 9308-1:2014-12 standards.

‘Researchers employed at the UG and MUG Research and Implementation Laboratory strive to continuously develop their competencies and expand service offerings to meet current market demand and the directions set by the socio-economic environment. Extending the scope of accreditation to include microbiological testing of water is particularly important due to our region’s demand for microbiological analyses of inland and marine waters. The obtained accreditation fits in with the University of Gdańsk's priorities regarding research related to the sea, especially microbiological pollution of seawater,’ adds prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska.