Prof. Ewa Łojkowska from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and MUG and prof. Dorota Rancew-Sikora from the Faculty of Social Sciences have been appointed as chairpersons of the Scientific Committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the 2024-2028 term.
There are dozens of committees at the Polish Academy of Sciences. They are groups that bring together specialists from different areas of science. They create a space for intellectual exchange and building relationships between scholars. They are a national representation of scientific communities and disciplines and perform advisory functions.
The appointment ceremony for the Chairs of PAS Scientific Committees for the term 2024-2028 took place on 19 June 2024 at the Staszic Palace in Warsaw.
Prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska from the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG and MUG was re-elected Chair of the Committee on Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The Committee members thus recognised Professor Łojkowska's work in the Committee during the previous term of office and her scientific achievements in the fields of plant biotechnology and molecular phytopathology, as well as her involvement in activities aimed at broadening the scientific community's knowledge of the possibilities of using new genomic technologies in precise plant breeding and the legal regulations existing in Europe related to the limited possibilities of introducing plant varieties obtained using the most modern technologies into agricultural or vegetable crops.
Dr hab. Dorota Rancew-Sikora, prof. UG was nominated for the position of the Chairman of the Sociology Committee of the PAS. ‘This election for me is first and foremost a commitment. I would like the Committee of Sociology to be an active and present body in the sociological community. Our priorities have been pre-decided at the first meeting and clarified in the Presidium discussions. They include long-term goals and are a continuation of the activities of previous terms, such as improving the level of funding for sociological research by NSC, restoring the original name of the discipline, nurturing its position and status by promoting high methodological and theoretical standards, participating in public debate and, as far as possible, gaining influence on the fair scoring of scientific journals. These are, of course, activities that require cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the NSC, so they will be as effective as far as these institutions are open to this cooperation - says dr hab. Dorota Rancew-Sikora, prof. UG. - I would like the Committee to be a debating community of scientists representing possibly all specialisations and scientific centres in Poland. Compared to the previous term, the composition of the Sociology Committee has changed considerably. We have more representatives of a slightly younger generation and a predominance of women in the presidium. I will try to make this our asset,’ she adds.