Professor Rybicki is director of the Biopharming Research Unit (BRU) in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. After completing a PhD in virology, he rose through the ranks to become a professor in microbiology in 2003. He is a founder member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM). In 2015, he received the first deputy vice-chancellor’s Award for Achievement in Innovation. His areas of expertise are vaccines, plant expression systems, plant biotechnology and virus diversity.

Rybicki is an inventor on some 17 patent families, with around 44 country patents published.