The Committee on Acoustics of the Polish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1964 by the reso lution of the General Assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences, within its Division of Engineering Sci ences (Division 4). The idea of creating the Committee was brought up by Professor Ignacy Malecki, a distinguished scientist, an academic teacher, and an internationally acclaimed authority on acoustics.
The following article is a report from a conference organized by the Polish Young Academy in Jablonna, in collaboration with the Polish Academy of Sciences. It served the purpose of connecting members of PYA with members of PAS, to allow exchange of views, and a productive discussion about the future of both organizations. The conference was organized into two panels: one addressing the directions of Polish Academy of Sciences reform (structure, the PAS university idea, criteria for PAS membership, the role of PAS committees, as well as PAS financing) and a second one addressing the position of Polish Young Academy within the structures of PAS (relations with other units, internal PYA structure and governance, relations with other European bodies of the same sort, the role of PYA in legislative consultations, PYA financing, and the ways to carry on PYA's mission of propagating science).
The Polish Young Academy urges Members of the European Parliament and Polish government to act against the proposed cuts in the budget of Horizon Europe in 2021–2027 and to restore it at least to the initially agreed sum.
Starting with Bologna and Paris, a classical model of a European university usually contained four faculties: theological, philosophical, legal (of secular and canon law) and medical. One must remember that establishing theological faculty had to be agreed with the Holy See. The same university structure existed in Poland too, when in 1364 the Cracow University came into being. Beginning from 1397 it had its Theological Faculty. The faculty also functioned at other universities: in Vilnius (1578), in Zamość (the Zamość Academy, 1595), in Lviv (1759), in Warsaw (1817), in Lublin (the Catholic University of Lublin, 1918), again in Warsaw (the Academy of Catholic Theology, 1954 and later the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, 1999), in Opole (1994), in Poznań (1988), in Olsztyn (1999), in Katowice (2000), in Toruń (2001) and in Szczecin (2003).
Besides, after eradication of the Theological Faculty in Cracow, there came into being Papal Theological Faculty (1959), transformed into Papal Theological Academy (1974). A Theological Faculty was also founded in Wrocław (1964), transformed into Papal Theological Faculty (1974), in Poznań (1968), transformed into Papal Theological Faculty (1974) and then in Warsaw – as the Papal Theological Faculty (1982). The Catholic University of Lublin (where there was a Theological Faculty), as well as Papal Theological Faculties have got the status of ecclesiastical schools which are treated as higher education public schools.
In the Third Polish Republic (aft er 1989) there were created theological faculties at the following public universities: in Opole (1994), in Olsztyn (1999), at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (1999), in Poznań (1998), in Katowice (2000), in Toruń (2001) and in Szczecin (2003). In accordance with the regulations of Polish law and canon law, the named above faculties are liable to both ecclesiastical authorities and state authorities.
Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław has inherited Leopoldinum Academy, which has been in existence since 15 November 1702, run by Jesuits and transformed into the University of Wrocław in 1811. Aft er the Second World War, the Department of Catholic Theology did not reappear at the University but started its independent existence, firstly at Priests’ Seminar as an Academic Theological Centre, and since 1974 as Pontifical Faculty of Theology, recognized by the Apostle’s Capital as the follower of the University of Wrocław. The Faculty conducts uniformed Master of Art studies and Doctorate studies. Moreover, it is in possession of the right to bestow habilitation. Th ere are 25 departments at the Faculty, which are grouped into 4 institutes, 33 independent University workers and 38 Assistant Professors lecture there. There are almost 1900 students studying in the daily system, extramural system, in PHD studies and post-graduate studies.
A draft of the changes to the Polish Academy of Sciences is presented, which will increase its prestige and make better use of the scientific potential of the members of the Academy and the employees of its institutes. The proposed regulations will allow for a comprehensive activation of potential of both institutes and corporate members. The aim of reform is to make the PAS an attractive scientific institution with a focus on the pursuit of fundamental research at the highest level, and to recognize that understanding and clarification of the problem must precede possible applications.
With this paper we try to contribute to the debate on the nature of research intensive universities and the chances to create this type of institution in Poland. Research universities are presented as elite, flagship institutions for educating students mostly at the doctoral level and to produce the bulk of the research output. Examples of world-class research intensive universities from various countries are presented. It is shown that intensified competition among universities exists to prove their performance through global university league tables or ranking exercises and it is discussed whether Poland is at the stage to create at least one such institution playing important role in that competition. We argue that the establishment of a University of the Polish Academy of Sciences could be a solution. This University stands to become a unique research institution in Poland and one of very few establishments of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. The University will conduct scientific research and provide programs of the highest standard, exploiting the research and teaching potential of the PAS institutes as well as the competence and experience of members of the Academy's corporation. It is intended as a higher education institution with a decentralized organizational structure, based on the PAS research institutes. The University of the Polish Academy of Sciences will have a quality-boosting impact on the PAS institutes as well as initiate their consolidation and reorganization in the field of teaching.
The present Gdansk Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences is the second oldest, unbrokenly operating, publicly available library in today’s Poland. Even on the European scale there are only a few libraries that are of similar age or older. There are many works on the history of the Gdansk Library and its growing collection of books through the centuries. Apart from a brief look at history, this particular article focuses, however, on one other aspect – loans of special collections for exhibitions organized outside the Library by external institutions – the so-called “loan service”. Such modern transformation of an old institution indicates the power of the library and its custodians not only to engage in cultural preservation, but also fostering culture. We should see the special collections loan service in the same light – as reaching out to the public instead of waiting for the public to reach the library. This fact alone indicates a growing shift in the understanding of the library as a service provider. For the purposes of this article, the Gdansk Library has subjectively selected five of the most important and interesting examples of external exhibitions that have used its “special collections loan service” between 2011 and 2020.
The everyday life of residents of the big and small towns and villages is still in the centre of the permanent interests not only of scientific circles but also of local communities understood in the broadest sense. Being an important trade and academic centre of the Polish Republic of several cultures and confessions, the 17th-century town of Zamość is also an interesting subject of researches of various aspects of everyday life. In spite of the existence of many early elaborations, the problem in question still needs to be studied. Undertaking an attempt of making a reconstruction of fragments of the baroque Zamość ’ residents’ colourful everyday life, the author concentrates particularly on such aspects as ceremonies of the guilds or residents’ participation in religious ceremonies. He also analyzes daily squabbles and quarrels, attemps of their mitigations, minor and serious offenses, court judgments as well as ways of punishments. Since rumours indicating how information shaping a public opin- ion is spread, they seem to be an important element of everyday life too. A special place is also reserved for an entertainment; for it not only accompanies residents at different stages of their professional and social activities but also brings all of their affairs to an end. The article is based on a driary written in 1656–72 by Bazyli Rudomicz, a Zamość townsman and Professor of the Zamość Academy, and on other sources.
In the present report worked out in the form of a communication the general description of course and realization of the scientifical and technical programmes of the VIth Expedition to the Polish Polar Station in the Hornsund fiord on Spitsbergen is given. The details of the programme and results of investigations on particulat items constitute already or will constitute within the next time a subject of special publications.
The Faculty of Theology of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw is endowed with rich history. It existed at the Royal University of Warsaw, established in 1816.
It operated until the University was closed in 1831; then its activity was continued at the Main Seminary (1823–1835), and fi nally at the Roman-Catholic Clerical Academy (1835–1867). The Theological Faculty came into being again at the University of Warsaw in 1918. Aft er the World War II, the faculty became active in 1945, in 1954 it became part of the Academy of Catholic Theology and since 1999 it has been included into the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University. The achievements of the faculty are important, it has employed many eminent theologians and instructed thousands of graduates. Its merits for the Church and Polish culture are not to be neglected.
The following scientific grades in theology were awarded at the Theological Faculty of the Academy of Catholic Theology (1954–1999): 85 professional bachelor’s degrees, 4853 master’s degrees, 762 canonical licentiates, 313 doctor’s degrees, 92 nostrifications of doctorates and 89 post-doctoral degree.
The following scientific grades in theology have been awarded at the Th eological Faculty of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University (from 1 October 1999 to 16 June 2008): 3916 bachelor’s degrees, 5718 master’s degrees, 1315 canonical licentiates, 299 doctor’s degrees, 71 nostrifications of doctorates, 45 post-doctoral degrees and 23 professor’s degrees in theology. In addition, the Institute of Studies of the Family has awarded 1733 master’s degrees in studies of the family.
Nowadays, the Theological Faculty of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University is composed of six institutes: Institute of Theology, Institute of Media Education and Journalism, Institute of the Studies of Culture, Institute of Theology in Radom, Institute of Apostleship Theology, Institute of Studies of the Family. The Theological Faculty includes as well the Non-local Didactical Centre in Gdynia. Three clerical seminaries are affiliated at the Theological Faculty: Higher Clerical Seminary in Płock, Gdańsk Clerical Seminary in Gdańsk-Oliwa, Higher Clerical Seminary of Catholic Apostleship in Ołtarzew. The following institutions are bound with the Faculty of Theology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University with the cooperation agreement: Archdiocese Clerical Seminary in Białystok, Higher Clerical Seminary in Łódź, Higher Clerical Seminary in Łomża, Franciscan Higher Clerical Seminary in Łódź-Łagiewniki, Higher Clerical Seminary of the Salesian Society in Ląd nad Wartą, Higher Clerical Seminary of the Salesian Society in Łódź.
The aim of the article is to present the activities of foreign scientific centres of the Polish Academy of Sciences on the examples of three out of six operating centers: the center in Vienna, Paris and the Polish Science Contact Agency PolSCA PAN in Brussels. The authors of the article combine their own experiences of the former directors of the centers: in Vienna, Paris and Brussels to reflect critically on the place and role of these centers in the scientific-research area. They point to centers’ enormous and diverse potential for disseminating and promoting the achievements of scientists, not fully recognized and used by the scientific community. Taking into account the specifics of each institution, the authors describe the ways of optimal use of their cultural and social capital, and identify common structural problems they encountered during their tenure. The article consists of the following elements: an introduction, an extensive authorial analysis of each station's activities, prepared in the form of a case study and a summary with conclusions.