– We create conditions for young researchers that will encourage them to both keep developing and see their professional future at our university – says Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, WUST’s new Rector. The newly established Academia Iuvenum (AI) is to be such a form of support.

It’s another programme — alongside Primus, Secundus, Tertius, and Professor Magnus – to create a new system of excellence at our university. The Academy also aims to be a platform for interdisciplinary intellectual exchange.

– It’s no coincidence that we announce the founding of the Academy at the end, as it were – explains Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, Rector of Wrocław University of Science and Technology. – This is because it’s the most innovative of these programmes. We needed the most time to develop it, but I must also admit that it’s the one of which I’m most proud and in which I place the greatest hopes for change at the university.

A school for young leaders

Academia Iuvenum is open to scientists from a wide range of disciplines who are under 35 years of age and who are shortly after the completion of their PhD (at least one year) programmes. The membership will eventually be 48-strong. 24 new representatives will be elected each year, for a term of two academic years. Candidates will be selected based on an assessment of their achievements and their academic plan for the coming years.

– The period between the doctorate and habilitation is very difficult for young people for many reasons. I’m talking about issues such as pay, teaching load, some sort of lack of independence in terms of research, or difficulty in self-activation for further professional development – admits Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs.

– This is also when many young people make key decisions about whether they actually want to see their future at university. It’s very important to us that the outstanding and ambitious ones want to stay with us because we know very well that our region is extremely attractive for well-educated young people with a technical background – adds the Rector.

With AI, the university wants to educate future great leaders and make the experience of working at the university more attractive, thus convincing young scientists to pursue their careers at our very university.

Academy members can therefore count on several benefits intended to help them focus on their academic work. They will receive an additional 50% of their lecturer’s salary and their teaching load will be reduced to 120 hours. Besides, they will be included in a programme of specialised training and workshops on a variety of issues – including successful grant applications, public speaking, media relations, and the art of reasoning.

– I would also like the Academy to be a kind of voice for lecturers at the university. It’s important to me that young PhD students have their representation at WUST and that they can express their opinions on certain issues, make comments, and have a real impact on the university’s present and future – says Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs.

A creative exchange of ideas

It’s the first body at the university where young academics will be able to exchange knowledge and skills with their peers as well as finding inspiration to conduct their research.

– We focus on interdisciplinarity and excellence. Young people themselves know very well that nowadays science is not done on one’s own, so it’s worth looking around for people who are also open-minded in various fields – believes Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, who is convinced that it’s the Academy that will create such a space for creative and free intellectual exchange while making it possible to blur the divisions between people working in different fields.

– Today we show lecturers how important they are to us, to the university – how important their careers are. The establishment of Academia Iuvenum is tangible proof of this – adds Prof. Wójs.

The calendar - what, when, and how?

Nominations of candidates for the first AI composition is currently underway. All those interested are invited today to a meeting with Prof. Andrzej Ożyhar, Vice-Rector for Science, who will try to answer questions, dispel doubts, and encourage applications to the Academy.

By 21 May, the discipline councils are to select their representatives and then the Rector's Committee for Academic Awards will select from among them the members of Academia, whom the Rector will appoint in June.

Academia Iuvenum begins its first term on October 1, 2021.