When we launched The Polish Science Voice, I was convinced this would be not only a useful periodical but also one of huge interest to readers. Science, including research, and the economy are of prime importance in the modern, complex world. These topics are vital for an understanding of any country or society. Our publishing house, Warsaw Voice SA specializes in providing information about Poland, and The Polish Science Voice naturally complements the range of information we offer.

Reading this new edition of our monthly, I was happy to conclude that the reports it contains are fascinating for me as well. I thought I was well informed about Poland, but it turned out that my knowledge was vague in terms of the links between science and the economy, ongoing projects, achievements and prospects. If The Polish Science Voice is a trip into a new, almost unknown Poland for me, then I hope it will be an even more interesting expedition for our readers.

The special guest of this issue, Andrzej Siemaszko, Ph.D., head of the National Contact Point for Research Programmes of the European Union, has prepared and carried out 50 European projects in 11 years. He is creating the infrastructure for a knowledge-based economy in the form of Centers of Excellence, Centers for Advanced Technology and Technology Clusters. He is also an initiator of the Polish Technology Platform system. His comments reveal the scale of work underway to integrate Poland into a modern world characterized by globalized competition.

Poland's Aviation Valley is an important part of this picture and it has caught the attention of our writers in this issue. Several articles on this hotbed of innovation in the aviation industry reveal the importance of the Valley as a home to Polish scientists and entrepreneurs. This and subsequent issues of The Polish Science Voice will provide readers with contacts for people and units that could become their partners in business and in scientific research.

We also report on the first beneficiaries of the Technology Initiative, run by the Ministry for Science and Higher Education, on academic business incubators, and on innovative achievements such as producing plastic from flax. The list of breakthroughs by Polish scientists is set to grow. Read about them in The Polish Science Voice.