New JIC tip of the lab-space iceberg

JUK first asked Colliers International to assess the level of demand for laboratory space in Polish technology parks among international and domestic companies. With many US companies in particular setting up research and design (R&D) centers in Europe, Jagiellonian University felt that there was a gap in the market that could be filled. American biotech companies said that good infrastructure, qualified personnel and a strong research environment determine where they locate their R&D centers, and 30 percent of the companies surveyed by Colliers said they would be interested in locating in Poland.

Jagiellonian University of Kraków has taken the bull by the horns and with help from the EU and commercial banks it is setting up the 5,000-sqm Jagiellonian Innovation Center (JIC), which should be finished in 2008. JIC hopes that it will be the yardstick by which other technological parks in Poland will be judged.

It will be the first venture of its type in Central Europe and is aimed at helping the creation and development of hi-tech firms and projects in the biotechnology and biomedical science sectors, as well as facilitating the commercial introduction of bio-products in association with industry.

The facilities will include A/B laboratories (i.e. wet and dry) with a total area of 2,200 sqm. The center will cost EUR 10 (zł.40) million. "Companies from the biotechnology sector are moving their research centers to the EU, with infrastructure, qualified workers and the high level research being the main attracting factors," say experts from Colliers International Poland.