The decision to create named departments at the University of Gdansk was approved by the UG Senate and the Convention of Honorary Dignitaries. Patrons will be prominent honorary doctors of the University of Gdansk, personalities of science, culture and social life who have left a permanent mark on the history of the University. Patrons of three departments have also been approved. They are outstanding personalities of the world of science connected with the University of Gdansk: prof. Maria Janion, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and prof. Wacław Szybalski.

- 'Prominent teachers and distinguished university professors are appointed to so-called "named departments" at the world's leading universities, e.g. the Lucas Department at Cambridge, which was held by Newton, Stokes, Dirac or Hawking. We want to initiate this beautiful academic custom at UG by launching three such endowments, entrusting them to the most outstanding of eminent academics as a distinction,' says prof. Piotr Stepnowski, Rector UG.

The convention of honorary dignitaries and the UG Senate approved the proposals for patrons of named departments. The proposed patrons are eminent honorary doctorates of the University of Gdansk, personalities of science, culture and social life who have left a permanent mark on the history of our university.

The Department of Humanities will bear the name of Maria Janion (1926-2020) - an honorary doctorate of the University of Gdansk in 1994, the creator of the Gdansk school of literary studies, the author of outstanding, timeless works on Romanticism which still shape the Polish collective imagination today.

A department in the social sciences will be named after Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski. Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski (1888-1974) - Honorary Doctor of the University of Gdańsk in 1974. The initiator and co-creator of modern maritime policy and economy in Poland in the interwar period. Deputy Prime Minister, Treasury Minister, outstanding economist. After the war one of the first professors of the Higher School of Maritime Trade in Gdynia.

The Department in the field of life sciences and sciences will be named after an exceptional scientist Wacław Szybalski (1921-2020) - an honorary doctorate of the University of Gdansk in 1989, the creator of synthetic biology, a pioneer of world biotechnology, gene therapy and genetics, an outstanding scientist of world renown.

The legal basis governing the principles of appointing named departments is the Statute of the University of Gdansk. It follows from the provisions of § 51 and § 54 that, for the purpose of prestigious recognition or honouring of an eminent scientist, a department may be established whose name will include the name of that scientist who directs its work or the name of another eminent scientist - a historical figure (named department). The creation of a named department may take place after obtaining the opinion of the Convention of Honorary Dignitaries, and its activities may be financed from sources outside the University. A named department may also be established in a faculty whose structure consists exclusively of institutes. The Rector creates it, defines its organisation and tasks, and transforms and liquidates it.

An eminent scholar from the University of Gdansk or outside the university may hold a named department chair only once for one academic year. Candidates for the nominated department chair are nominated by the faculties' councils where a given field of science is represented. Applications are evaluated by a three-person faculty committee appointed by the Rector and composed of eminent scientists representing the field of science in question.

The person holding the named Department Chair in a given academic year will receive a professorial subsidy of PLN 5,000 gross per month and a grant to subsidise the costs of research and/or participation in scientific conferences of PLN 20,000. In the case of persons who are employees of UG, the assumption of a named chair entitles them to a 50% reduction in teaching salary in a given academic year. In the case of non-employees, the acceptance of a named Chair entails the acceptance of a teaching obligation of up to 60 hours.