The life and work of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, one of the world’s most esteemed female scientists, have been officially celebrated throughout 2011. This year is the centenary of when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of polonium and radium.

The Year of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, held to celebrate the accolade, is dedicated to the two-time Nobel Prize winner, who is, according to Albert Einstein, “of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted.”

From lectures and conferences to expos, concerts and banquets, the international community is embracing and commemorating the Polish-born scientist.

WBJ.pl takes you through the remaining events being held this year in Warsaw to celebrate one of Poland's most renowned scientists.

Expo at the Warsaw University of Technology

The Warsaw University of Technology, the university where Ms Skłodowska-Curie received an honorary doctorate in 1926, has a visual exhibition which displays her life story and scientific discoveries in a “fun and interesting way,” Dariusz Tkacz, the expo curator, told WBJ.pl.

Multimedia exhibits show, among other things, three-dimensional illustrations of radium and polonium atoms and an atomic power station.

Copernicus Science Center

In 1903, Ms Skłodowska-Curie was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, becoming the first woman to receive the accolade. Then, in 1911, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium.

In celebration of these discoveries, the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw offers interactive chemistry exhibitions, aimed at both adults and children.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Museum

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Museum is tucked away in Warsaw’s Old Town, on ul.Freta.

The building in which the museum is housed is also one of the scientist’s childhood homes. It displays photos documenting her life, with many showing how, in events during her career, she was often the only woman in a sea of male scientists.

A replica of her laboratory is also housed in the museum, along with equipment, periodic tables and personal items.

Year-round attractions

If you are a fan of street art, or just happen to be passing by the University of Warsaw Library, make sure you check out the recently-painted graffiti depicting the Warsaw-born scientist. A new bridge connecting Bielany and Białołęka, in northern Warsaw, which will open for use in “the next couple of months,” meanwhile, has been named after Ms Skłodowska-Curie, said Bartosz Milczarczyk, a spokesperson for Warsaw City Hall.

Born in Warsaw in 1867, Marie Skłodowska-Curie moved to Paris when she was 24 years old to study physics, chemistry and mathematics at Sorbonne (the University of Paris). She died in 1935 of a condition caused by her extensive exposure to radiation.

Izabela Depczyk, Veronika Joy