The University of Gdańsk, together with 35 universities from around the world, has joined the signatories to the Magna Charta Universitatum. Signing the MCU signifies a declaration and affirmation of the principles on which the mission of universities should be based. On behalf of our University, the document was signed by the Vice-Chancellor for International Cooperation, dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG.

Magna Charta Universitatum is a document signed on September 18, 1988, on the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna foundation, by 388 university rectors from around the world.

The MCU contains the principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy as guidelines for good university governance and development. This means that:

• research and education must be intellectually and morally free from all political influence and economic interests,
• teaching and research should be inseparable, i.e. students should already be involved in the search for knowledge and the deepening of understanding of the world around us,
• the university should be a place of free inquiry and debate, distinguished by its openness to dialogue and its rejection of all forms of intolerance.

In 2018, the Magna Charta Observatory was established to oversee compliance with these principles in the context of changes in universities and the environments in which they operate.

Each year, the Magna Charta Observatory organises an international conference to address the current challenges of upholding core values and responsible service to society by universities, as well as a signing ceremony of the Magna Charta Universitatum by successive rectors.

Universities can join the declaration upon the prior recommendation of one of the signatories. The University of Gdańsk joined Magna Charta Universitatum, along with 35 other universities from around the world, by signing the document on 25.10.2023 in Łódź, during the conference 'Universities and Re-Construction of Cities: the Role of Research and Education'. This was the first MCO conference organised in Poland.

‘It is an honour to be among the signatories of Magna Charta Universitatum. The University of Gdańsk is a university that promotes the ideas of freedom, autonomy in science and respect for every member of the academic community. The values we hold at UG are identical to the MCU document. Joining the declaration reinforces this message in the academic community at home and abroad,' stressed the Vice-Chancellor for International Cooperation, prof. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler.

The declaration is regularly reviewed and updated. The MCU organisation does not remove anything from the original core values to which universities have subscribed but seeks to address contemporary challenges and concerns.

In total, almost 1,000 universities from 94 countries have signed the declaration since 1988 (complete list).

List of universities that, together with UG, have adopted the declaration in Łódź:

Universidad Católica de Salta

Universidad de Sucre

Masaryk University

Budapest Business University

Széchenyi István University

University of Pécs

Oslo Metropolitan University

University of Mining and Metallurgy in Cracow

Collegium Civitas in Warsaw

Humanitas University

Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa

Technical University of Lodz

Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education in Łódź

Medical University of Białystok

Technical University of Koszalin

Poznan University of Economics

Poznan University of Technology

SWPS University of Warsaw

Medical University of Silesia in Katowice

University of Gdańsk

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

University of Economics in Wrocław

University of Life Sciences in Wrocław

National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest

Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica

University of Alicante

Siam University

Istinye University

Lokman Hekim University

Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University

National Technical University 'Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute'

Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University

Nottingham Trent University

Royal Holloway, University of London

Medical University of Lodz

University of Pais Vasco