Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars and a network of research institutes.

It was established in 1951, during the early period of the Polish People's Republic following World War II.

[2] The Polish Academy of Sciences is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning, headquartered in Warsaw, that was established by the merger of earlier science societies, including the Polish Academy of Learning (Polska Akademia Umiejętności, abbreviated PAU), with its seat in Kraków, and the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (Science), which had been founded in the late 18th century.

[3] The Polish Academy of Sciences functions as a learned society acting through an elected assembly of leading scholars and research institutions.

PAN institutes employ over 2,000 people and are funded by about a third of the Polish government's budget for science.