Polish Academy of Sciences Visited University of Opole

We are very pleased with your presence at our university and we would like to thank you for the trust you have placed in us by entrusting us with the organisation of the meeting here, at the University of Opole, - said Prof. Marek Masnyk, Rector of the University of Opole, addressing the guests. - Important meetings of the Polish Academy of Sciences committees do not always have to be held in large centres; Opole and our university can also serve the purpose perfectly, - he added.

The Committee on Labour and Social Policy Sciences and the Committee on Organisational and Management Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences came to Opole at the invitation of the authorities of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Opole. They met on Wednesday, 21 March 2018.

After working meetings in the Plafond Room and the Senate Room, the special guests gathered at the Museum of the University of Opole, where Prof. Stanisław S. Nicieja, curator of the University Hill and former Rector of the University of Opole, told the story of efforts to take over the hill together with the ruins of the old hospital and the struggle to build Collegium Maius. - I can say that winning a grant from KBN of 54 million zlotys for this purpose was the greatest fluke of my life, - he told the audience.   

The visitors also visited the University Hill, posing for a commemorative photograph at the monument to Agnieszka Osiecka.

The culminating point of the visit of the scientists of the Polish Academy of Sciences to our university was the meeting in the Blue Hall. It was opened by the President of the Committee on Labour and Social Policy Sciences, Prof. Zenon Wiśniewski from UMK Toruń and the President of the Committee on Organisational and Management Sciences, Prof. Bogdan Nogalski from WSB in Gdańsk. They emphasized that for several years they had been trying to ensure that the meetings of scientific committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences would be held not only in Warsaw but also in scientific centres all over Poland. - It helps to get to know each other and our milieu, and it facilitates scientific cooperation - stressed Prof. Bogdan Nogalski.

Then Prof. Marek Masnyk spoke about the current situation of the University of Opole: We are a regional university, but we have our own ambitions and plans. This academic year, we opened a medical school, and now we are trying to start a pharmacy programme; we are also discussing close cooperation in medical sciences with the State Higher Medical School in Opole. We are also implementing the second large project called Pomology, worth 43 million zlotys, which will result in the establishment of the International Research and Development Centre for Agriculture and Food Industry in Opole and Prószków with modern research laboratories. We believe that our university has chosen good vectors of development, - emphasized the Rector.

The Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Prof. Stanisława Sokołowska, thanked the guests for coming to the University, and Prof. Agata Zagórowska expressed her hope that it was not the last meeting of the Polish Academy of Sciences committees within the walls of our university.   

The event was organized by the Department of Strategic Studies and Socio-Economic Policy, headed by Prof. Agata Zagórowska, who is a member of the Committee of Labour Sciences and Social Policy of the Polish Academy of Sciences.