A researcher from the Gdańsk Tech in a team awarded a prestigious NASA prize | Gdańsk University of Technology

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Date added: 2026-04-29

A researcher from the Gdańsk Tech in a team awarded a prestigious NASA prize

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Wojciech Wojnowski, PhD, Eng., from the Faculty of Chemistry at the Gdańsk University of Technology, is among the recipients of the prestigious NASA Group Achievement Award. The award was presented to the team behind the international scientific mission ASIA-AQ – Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, dedicated to comprehensive research into air quality in Asia. The award is one of NASA’s highest honours for teams that have made an exceptional contribution to the agency’s missions and the advancement of scientific research.

ASIA-AQ was a groundbreaking international research initiative focused on air quality in Asia. It aimed to compile the most comprehensive dataset to date on atmospheric pollution, using measurements taken from aircraft, satellites and ground-based stations. The research covered four countries: South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. The mission itself took just over two months – from February to April 2024.

Dr Wojciech Wojnowski took part in the mission as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo, working in the research team there. He participated in research flights aboard a NASA DC-8, where he operated the PTR-ToF-MS instrument to measure volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere in real time.

Once the mission was completed, the data collected was analysed and processed over the following year during Dr Wojnowski’s research visit to the University of Innsbruck, as part of the AMERICIUM programme funded under the IDUB programme.

 “The most significant long-term outcome of my involvement in this project was the compilation, with the support of other team members, of data on the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the troposphere over the Asian continent,” explained Dr Wojnowski. “This data has already been published as open access on the NASA website and will form the basis for further analyses and scientific publications. So far, two publications utilising my findings have been released, and according to the latest reports, four more are in preparation.”

The scientist emphasises that participating in ASIA-AQ was not only an important research and organisational experience, but also an example of international scientific collaboration at the highest level. The award from NASA highlights the importance of joint efforts by scientists, environmental agencies and space agencies in gaining a better understanding of air quality and atmospheric processes occurring in one of the world’s most dynamically developing regions.

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