The room where no sound reaches, the history of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, but above all the preparations for the forthcoming evaluation were discussed by the Vice-Rector for Research prof. dr hab. Wiesław Laskowski, deans, vice-deans and heads of units at the University of Gdańsk. Evaluation is one of the most important events in the life of a university - among other things, the authorisations to conduct studies, doctoral schools, the awarding of degrees and titles, as well as the amount of subsidies depend on it.
Following the appeal success of the evaluation process in 2023, eight disciplines at the University of Gdańsk were given category A, while 13 were given category B+. The next summary of the scientific activity of Polish higher education institutions for the period 2022-2025 will take place in 2026.
‘Fridays with Science was the Vice-Rector for Research's idea at the beginning of this term of office; it stemmed from the need to create a space to discuss matters related to the conduct of scientific activity at our university, but also a place to discuss science in a broader context. Initially, the main topic was the evaluation of scientific activities and the current tasks related to this process, so the meetings were attended by the Vice-Deans responsible for science, representatives of the Library, my office, and the offices responsible for scientific projects,’ explains the Director of the Science Office, dr Katarzyna Świerk. ‘The topics grew in number and we began to organise our meetings around specific issues, sometimes inviting outside speakers to provide details of a particular subject. Last year, we combined Fridays with Science with visits to UG faculties. This has allowed us to gain a better understanding of the specific nature of scientific activity in different disciplines. Thanks to this initiative, we have, above all, been able to integrate, but also to react, plan, and improve processes related to scientific activities at our University more quickly.’
The April meeting took place at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics and was chaired by dr hab. Marcin Marciniak, prof. UG, who was recommended by the Faculty Council for the position of Dean of WMFI. Before the official part of the meeting, the host invited the participants to visit a fully soundproofed chamber used for acoustic research.
The chamber and WMFI's research facilities in the field of acoustics open up the possibility of interdepartmental cooperation, if only in the field of pronunciation and accent research. In part, such a relationship has already been established with the Institute of Logopaedics. ‘Nothing prevents what we do for speech therapy from being extended to other fields in the humanities,’ explained prof. dr hab. Stanisław Pogorzelski from the Department of Surface Physicochemistry and Interfacial Phenomena to the visitors. ‘Frontier sciences are now certainly in demand and preferred.’
After the guided tour, the participants moved to the meeting room. One of the main topics of the meeting was to prepare an analysis of media information about the UG scientists’ research. UG Spokesperson Magdalena Nieczuja-Goniszewska talked about how to do this.
Media coverage of scientists' achievements counts towards the third evaluation criterion, i.e. 'Evaluation of the impact of scientific activity on the functioning of society and the economy'. Depending on the discipline, this criterion accounts for between 15% and 20% of the total evaluation. Prof. Wiesław Laskowski, Vice-Rector for Research, and dr Katarzyna Świerk spoke about the details of the implementation of this analysis.
The meeting also discussed cooperation with the Research Data Section and the use of the Omega system, which forms the basis of the University of Gdańsk Knowledge Base. Prof. Marcin Marciniak also briefly presented the history of the department and the most prominent scientists associated with the unit.
Fridays with Science is a cyclical initiative that takes place each time at a different UG faculty. So far, they have taken place, among others, at the Faculty of Languages, where the Vice-Dean for Science and International Cooperation, prof. Mirosław Przylipiak, presented a room for simultaneous interpretation, or at the Faculty of Social Sciences, where the Vice-Dean for Research and International Cooperation, dr. hab. Radosław Kossakowski, prof. UG, showed participants the radio and television studio.
