Scientific, Ecological or Cultural Storm? Decide which one will rumble at the University of Gdańsk. This year people connected with the University of Gdańsk were nominated in as many as six categories of the Pomorskie Sztormy contest. You can vote for the candidates at pomorskiesztormy.pl or by post until March 21st this year.

It is time for the seventeenth edition of 'Pomorskie Sztormy'. In 2005, the contest of Gazeta Wyborcza Tri-City was an exclusively cultural event, however, with time, other categories, such as European and sports, were added. This year as many as nine statuettes will be awarded, including five new ones - 'Ecological Storm', 'Civic Storm', 'Urban Storm', 'Culinary Storm' and 'Scientific Storm'.

There are five nominees in each category. Depending on the award, it can be an individual, a group, an event, a project or even a restaurant. Votes can be cast at pomorskiesztormy.pl or by sending a coupon from Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto by post.

For UG, the 'Scientific Storm' is the most important. Among the contenders for this award are two female scientists from UG. One of them is prof. dr hab. Krystyna Bieńkowska-Szewczyk, who was nominated for her research on COVID-19. It is worth mentioning that last year the virologist from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and GUMed was very active in spreading reliable knowledge about SARS-CoV-2.

Dr hab. Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, prof. UG from the Faculty of Social Sciences, is also a candidate for the 'Scientific Storm'. This nomination is justified by the organisers by her 'consistent fight against gender stereotypes'. One example of this fight is an international study led by the psychologist, which consisted of an extensive analysis of the concept of masculinity in different cultures.

Although the University of Gdańsk is mainly associated with science, people associated with the University were also nominated in other categories. For his work to protect large predators (including lynxes and wolves), dr Maciej Szewczyk of the Faculty of Biology was nominated for the 'Ecological Storm'. Volunteers from the Marine Station in Hel, who help in the rehabilitation of wild seals, will compete for the same award.

Prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Majchrowski from the Faculty of History was nominated for the 'Cultural Storm'. The second part of professor's monograph about theatrical adaptations of 'Dziady' - 'Gustav's Crypt' - met with great interest. It is a long-awaited continuation, as the first part of the project saw the light of day in 1998. For the same award, journalists of Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto nominated a saxophonist, Mikołaj Trzaska, who has been teaching at the University of Gdańsk for several years. Last year, the jazzman composed music for Wojciech Smarzowski's film 'Wesele' and recorded an album with writer Andrzej Stasiuk.

Each of these awards is to honour achievements that have had a positive impact on the Pomeranian region. The winner will be determined by the number of votes cast online and by post. The winners will be announced on March 29 at 18:30.

Voting continues until Monday, March 21.

Vote here: http://pomorskiesztormy.pl/