After accession into the EU, the development strategy of the Institute is to increase its integration into the mainstream of the European Research Area (ERA) as a valuable partner in basic and applied research, while maintaining its status as the leading biological research institution in Poland. The management realises that for such integration to be effective, the Institute needs to increase the support provided to individual scientists in the phases of project preparation and execution. In addition, the Institute aspires to capitalize on its favourable location on the Warsaw Ochota Campus. The Campus represents the biggest concentration of scientific institutions dedicated to developments in biology, biomedicine, and bioinformatics in Poland. This provides an opportunity to jointly establish international young researcher training schemes and to develop joint modern research infrastructures. Nencki Institute is one of the oldest and most established institutions on Campus.

The following strategic goals have been set to assure continued development and prosperity of the Institute:
 

• More aggressive approach to securing external funding, particularly from EU sources such as Horizon2020 projects, Structural Funds, and joint research projects based on bi-lateral agreements between Poland and its international partners;
• Providing comprehensive support and project development/management resources – at the Institute level for single partner or smaller multi-partner projects, and at the Campus level for larger, more ambitious international projects (such as consortium-based Integrated Projects, Network of Excellence, or large Structural Funds research infrastructure initiatives);
• Engagement in joint Ochota Campus initiatives to establish a multi-disciplinary international PhD training programmes;
• Stronger emphasis on aspects of applied research with immediate and measurable benefits for a wider group of stakeholders, the society, and/or with identifiable impacts in health care or the economy;
• Simplification of the Institute administrative management by eliminating redundancies and increasing the competencies of the administrative departments, and adjusting to EU regulations and requirements (e.g., in terms of State Aid and Public Procurement, etc).
  
  In general the Institute aspires to build on its main research strengths such as neurobiology and biochemistry and to focus on new and emerging research areas such as bioinformatics and modern cell biology.