The Academia Europaea Wrocław Knowledge Hub anniversary celebrations have been organised at Wrocław University of Science and Technology. The academy's only branch in Poland has been active in the capital of Lower Silesia since 2011, and the institution responsible for its operation is our university.

Academia Europaea was founded in 1988 on the initiative of the British academy of sciences, i.e. the Royal Society. It is seated in London, and its membership comprises over 5,000 outstanding specialists in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, mathematics, economics, the humanities, and social sciences, including 83 Nobel Prize winners.

Scientists from Wrocław University of Science and Technology also belong to this body: Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs (Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology), who is also the Academic Director of Wrocław Knowledge Hub, Prof. Katarzyna Chojnacka and Prof. Tadeusz Luty (both from the Faculty of Chemistry), Prof. Cezary Madryas (Faculty of Civil Engineering), and  Prof. Rafał Weron (Faculty of Management).

Opening up to the whole of Europe

Aiming to promote the highest standards in science, research, and education, Academia Europaea is a prestigious European organisation supporting an interdisciplinary learning approach. The organisation is divided into 23 sections across four groups of disciplines – the humanities, social sciences and related fields, strict sciences, and biological sciences. The Academy has branches (so-called Knowledge Hubs) in Munich, Barcelona, Cardiff, Bergen, Tbilisi, and Budapest, as well as (since 2011) in Wrocław.

“When I took over the leadership of Academia Europaea in 2008, the main problems included economic issues, insufficient relations with European Union institutions, and too much focus on scientists from north-western Europe. The establishment of the Wrocław hub was an important step towards resolving the latter. It completely changed the situation and constituted the first step towards the academy becoming a truly pan-European organisation,” said Prof. Lars Walløe, who held the President of Academia Europaea position from 2008 to 2014.

The Wrocław hub has originated many events of a scientific nature in more than ten years of its operation. They were focused on local initiatives, offering Academia Europaea members' participation in lectures, summer schools, and conferences organised by Wrocław-based universities. Also, a series of specialised seminars and workshops with a European focus have been organised.

Workshops dedicated to writing scientific papers conducted by editors working for leading journals (e.g. Nature) or information meetings on acquiring scientific grants have also been held regularly over this time.

Academia Europaea centre at Wrocław Tech

In December 2021, the President of Wrocław and Rector, Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, signed an agreement under which the Wrocław hub was transferred to Wrocław Tech. Since then, our university has been responsible for the operation of the Polish branch.

“I’m very proud that Wrocław University of Science and Technology has become the host of the Wrocław Hub. The originator of this solution was Prof. Cezary Madryas, the former Rector of our university, and thanks to the favour of the city authorities and the academy, the process was carried out very quickly,” said Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs.

Prof. Wójs emphasised that the branch's success is due to the considerable activity of scientists from all Wrocław universities and that the significant increase in Academia Europaea's Polish membership since the centre was established in the Lower Silesian capital is also important.

“All this is happening at a time when our university is changing a lot. The Rector added that the relocation of the hub also fits very well with the new development strategy of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, which we will adopt in just a few days.

In addition to the organisation of conferences and seminars, one of the most important projects carried out by the Academia Europaea Wrocław Knowledge Hub in the years 2022/2023 is to help scientists from Ukraine who are seeking refuge in Poland from the ongoing war in their country.

A Nobel prize winner’s lecture

The anniversary was originally planned for 2021, but the pandemic got in the way – hence the decision to postpone the ceremony to May 2023.

The celebrations included a special anniversary session summarising the hub's activities to date. Congratulatory letters from Rafał Dutkiewicz, the former President of Wrocław, who was one of the initiators of the centre's establishment, and Jacek Sutryk, the current President of the capital of Lower Silesia, were read out.

During the ceremony, the lecture entitled “Ion Channels: Their Discovery, their Function and Their Role in Biomedicine and Pharmacology” was delivered by Prof. Erwin Neher, Nobel prize winner for physiology and medicine.  The second lecture, “An Empathic Engineering Journey and The Future Under Our Skin”, was given by a Young Academy of Europe fellow, Prof. Fernandez Rivas.  

Finally, a panel discussion was held for young scientists under the “Challenge of change” theme. The event was attended by members of the university’s Academia Iuvenum, the Wrocław Academy of Young Scientists and Artists and the Young Academy of Europe.