The Committee of the 'Visiting Professors UG' Programme has selected 14 scientists from 12 countries - South Africa, Germany, Canada, Iran, the United States, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Rwanda and Austria - to visit the University of Gdańsk in 2024. This year's edition of the programme attracted record interest.

‘The Visiting Professors programme is a strong element of our 'at home' internationalisation strategy. It is about opening our campus to foreign visitors and, above all, about diversity, multiculturalism and multilingualism in our academic life. Thanks to the programme, students and researchers have the opportunity to meet excellent scientists from all over the world,' says UG Vice-Rector for International Cooperation dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG.

In the fourth edition, the laureates will conduct 164 teaching hours in the form of classes for students, open lectures, seminars, and meetings with students and staff. These activities will significantly increase the internationalisation of education.

‘Each of the scientist's visits has the potential to be the start of something great. We have many examples where an innocent exchange of e-mails or a conversation at a conference started a long and fruitful cooperation resulting in joint publications and projects,' said Vice-Rector for Research prof. dr hab. Wiesław Laskowski.

The fourth edition of the 'Visiting Professors at the University of Gdańsk' programme attracted record interest among University of Gdańsk staff carrying out research and/or teaching activities in cooperation with foreign researchers. Thirty-eight applications were submitted for a total of PLN 613 500.

The application review committee assessed the submitted applications in terms of the reputation of the invited researcher, the prestige of their home research centre, the strengthening of existing international cooperation between centres, the interdisciplinary nature of the research topic, the impact on the quality of education and the tangible scientific effects of the visit.

The research proposed by the foreign guests will be carried out in the humanities and social sciences as well as in the sciences and natural sciences. Cooperation between UG staff and scientists from recognised institutions worldwide will contribute to strengthening the scientific potential of the university. The research's direct effects are expected to include new publications in internationally renowned journals and jointly submitted scientific projects.

List of laureates:

Menno van Zaanen from North-West University (South Africa), invited by dr Karolina Rudnicka from the Faculty of Philology. The purpose of the visit is to conduct teaching activities and interdisciplinary research in digital humanities.

Sigrid James from the University of Kassel (Germany), invited by dr hab. Justyna Siemionow, prof. UG from the Faculty of Social Sciences. The purpose of the visit is to conduct teaching and research activities in the field of social work.

John P. Smol from Queen's University (Canada), invited by prof. dr hab. Wojciech Tylmann from the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography. The purpose of the visit is to conduct scientific research on the state of northern Polish lakes and their eutrophication and to hold two open lectures.

Torsten Waldminghaus from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), invited by dr hab. Monika Glinkowska, prof. UG from the Faculty of Biology. The purpose of the visit is to conduct a series of multidisciplinary lectures on synthetic biology.

Rasoul Khosravi from Shiraz University (Iran), invited by dr hab. Małgorzata Pilot, prof. UG from the Faculty of Biology. The purpose of the visit is scientific research in population genetics.

Sarah FitzGerald from Valdosta State University (USA), invited by dr hab. Magdalena Nowak, prof. UG from the Faculty of History. The purpose of the visit is teaching and research activities in the field of history issues in public space, as well as US history and relations with Poland.

Luis A. Guzman from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), invited by dr hab. Monika Bąk, prof. UG from the Faculty of Economics. The purpose of the visit is teaching and research activities in the field of urban planning and transport.

Said Gulyamov from Tashkent State University of Law (Uzbekistan), invited by dr hab. Edvardas Juchnevicius, prof. UG from the Faculty of Law and Administration. The purpose of the visit is to conduct a series of lectures and workshops in financial law and artificial intelligence and carry out research.

Ulrike Müßig from the University of Passau (Germany), invited by dr hab. Michał Gałędek, prof. UG from the Faculty of Law and Administration. The purpose of the visit is to give lectures to students and doctoral students and to carry out research on issues of constitutionalism in Central and Eastern Europe.

Satoshi Warita from Aoyama Gakuin University (Japan), invited by dr Jack Splisgart from the Faculty of Languages. The purpose of the visit is to conduct a series of lectures and specialised classes in Japanese, as well as to carry out research work.

Rick Dolphijn from Utrecht Univeristy (Netherlands), invited by dr Irena Chawrilska from the Faculty of Languages. The purpose of the visit is teaching and research activities in the field of cosmophilosophy.

Christine Nyiramana from the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (Rwanda), invited by dr Wioleta Gierszewska from the Faculty of Social Sciences. The purpose of the visit is to conduct a series of classes on sub-Saharan Africa's digital transformation and participatory leadership.

Rotem Shneor from the University of Agder (Norway), invited by dr Joanna Adamska-Mieruszewska from the Faculty of Economics. The purpose of the visit is to carry out teaching and research activities related to crowdfunding.

Borivoje Dakić from the University of Vienna (Austria), invited by dr hab. Marcin Pawłowski, prof. UG from the International Centre for Theory Of Quantum Technologies. The purpose of the visit is to carry out research in the field of quantum physics (reconstruction of quantum states).