[1][2] Popik is the professor of medical sciences[3] and the Head of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development[4] lab at the Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków; he also teaches pharmacology at the Jagiellonian University Medical College.
Since 1985 he worked at the Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków in Jerzy Vetulani’s lab.
During years 1990–1991 he investigated the role of neuropeptides in learning and memory processes at Utrecht University with Jan M. Van Ree and David De Wied.
Between years 1993–1995, he received Fogarty International Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and joined the team of Dr. Phil Skolnick.
He is a member of the editorial committees of the journals Amino Acids[5] and Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.