Background Biobanking is an area of scientific activity that is growing in strength and importance. The variety of collections combining biological samples and medical scientific information makes biobanking an indispensable tool in the development of modern medicine. In 2016, Poland, a country with one of the largest populations in Europe, joined the Biobanking and BioMolecular resources Research Infrastructure-European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC) to facilitate access to quality-defined human disease-relevant biological resources. This push led to the development of the Polish Biobanking Network. The purpose of this paper is to present the current state of biobanks in Poland in the context of their location, nature and resources. Methods To obtain information about and overall characteristics of Polish entities dealing with biobanking biological material, the dedicated Information Survey was designed. The survey was prepared in an electronic form and consisted of 53 questions—both open and closed, single and multiple choice—with some questions depending on each other. Sixty-five Polish biobanks/biorepositories participated in the survey. Results Polish biobanks are mostly affiliated with research entities (universities—42% and research institutes—30%). The data collected indicate that a considerable number of Polish biobanks are specialized (33 units), in contrast to population-based biobanks (8 units). These biobanks are mostly focused on collecting samples from oncological (23 biobanks) and rare diseases (12 biobanks). In general, great diversity was found in the material collected. Scientists working in Polish biobanks are very open to scientific cooperation (declared by 60% of units) and sharing their collections with the international scientific environment. In terms of quality issues, most biobanks declared that their quality management system was in the process of implementation (45%) or had already been implemented (23%). Conclusions Although biobanking in Poland is still in its infancy, the results of this study seem promising and may be valuable to the wider biobanking research community. The distribution of biobanks throughout the Polish territory, their connection with scientific and clinical units, and their involvement in research on rare diseases may contribute to an increase in the number of multicenter studies.

Resources from biobanks and biorepositories, such as human samples, are of increasing interest to specialists in various fields. However, whilst biobanks provide a crucial service, their efficient and effective management can prove challenging. When establishing a biobank many factors should be considered, such as the need for appropriate infrastructure, equipment, financial support, and highly specialised and suitably qualified personnel. The number and qualifications of the necessary personnel depend both on the biobank’s size and type — i.e. a biobank that is large and diversified in terms of the stored material should be organised differently to a small biorepository. The core of the biobank should be composed of highly trained personnel that closely co-operate with the general and quality control manager. Due to the large amount of data related to the samples, an IT specialist might be needed. In the case of large population biobanks, personnel responsible for patient recruitment, documentation handling, sample collection and distribution to the biobank would be necessary. Furthermore, staff responsible for the infrastructure are also highly important, as they are the first responders to failures that may be critical for the biobank functioning. Depending on the type and size of the biobank/biorepository, some responsibilities and tasks could potentially be combined. Nevertheless, highly trained personnel with clear and precisely defined duties are the key to the proper functioning of a biobank.

The Polish Biobanking Network was created to connect Polish biobanks and gain information about their collections, thus facilitating their cooperation both in the national and international area. Based on MIABIS (Minimum Information About BIobank data Sharing) and considering the specificity of the Polish scientific community, two surveys were created. The aim of the first survey was to collect general information about Polish biobanks, e.g. their localization and type of collected material. The second survey was more detailed and concerned the biobank's structure, information about collected material, willingness to share the collected material, implementation of an informatics system. Significant information about Polish biobanks could be obtained through appropriate recognition of the biobank's scope of practice and correctly asked questions. The analysis of collected results could give a full picture of Polish biobanks.