That is why in 2023 we focused on promoting science at the University of Lodz, primarily through introducing the people who create this science and projects that allow direct encounters with scientists or creativity inspired by their research.
Publications are, of course, an indispensable part of the scientific process, but they are not what define a researcher's true worth. What really counts in science is the passion with which scientists approach their work, their ability to surprise and inspire others.
Launch of the Science Inspires project
Science is about creating something new and relevant. It is human senses, intuition and creativity that drive discovery. It is people, with their diverse experience and perspectives, that bring freshness and innovation to the scientific world.
The Science Inspires project was inaugurated on 19 February 2023, on Polish Science Day.
In the abundance of citations and publications, let us not forget that it is human curiosity and creative ideas that really drive scientific progress. It is these elements that give depth to research and make each discovery not only an important point in the history of science, but also an inspiration for generations of scientists to come.
We have already presented 28 profiles of individuals whose work has attracted the attention of not only their students but also the wider community and has had a real impact on the development of individual scientific fields. We were even able to conduct and record interviews with some inspiring people of science and their teams, which gave a start to a new YouTube channel.
2nd Seminar "Research, Promote, Be" – the social impact of research
A seminar aiming at supporting the academic community in disseminating and popularising scientific achievements and encouraging dialogue with the university community took place in May 2023. It was organised by the University of Lodz with the support of American Corner Lodz. The event was prepared by the staff of the University of Lodz Communications and PR Centre and the University of Lodz Library.
Presentations by academics from the Faculty of Management, the Faculty of Economics and Sociology and the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz addressed such issues as the role of academia in the modern world, the social responsibility of those who make do research, a scientist in the world of the media, and public trust in scientists. Dr Łukasz Lamża from the Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the Jagiellonian University was one of the speakers at the seminar.
Rector's Lectures series – Nobel Prize winners at the University of Lodz
Rector's Lectures series, organised at the University of Lodz for over 10 years, have become a kind of institution. Such lectures are delivered by great individuals of scientific and social life, whose achievements are usually interdisciplinary and go far beyond the walls of the university. In the history of the initiative, the organisers have twice succeeded in inviting scientists who later won the Nobel Prize. They included: Sir Roger Penrose, who gave the first Rector's Lecture at the University in Lodz in 2010 and received the Nobel Prize ten years later. Whereas in September 2022, we hosted Professor Svante Pääbo, who found out about his Nobel Prize just two weeks later.
We also had the pleasure of hosting the Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Klaus von Klitzing (Nobel Prize 1985), who gave a lecture on the important role of solar energy in the fight against climate change, 'Solar Energy: Can Photovoltaic Prevent Climate Catastrophe?” in 2023.
The European Forum for New Ideas 2023 with the participation of the University of Lodz scientists and students
University of Lodz, together with the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, were the main knowledge partners supporting #EFNI2023 in October 2023. For the first time, scientists from the University of Lodz took part in as many as six panel discussions devoted to the most important problems of modern business, such as artificial intelligence, competences and the labour market of the future, child well-being in the digital world or new green cities. It was also the first time that the University of Lodz students represented our university in an Oxford debate.
Lodz Night of Scientists 2023 with the participation of the University of Lodz
During the first Lodz Night of Scientists 2023, organised at the Science and Technology Centre in EC1, the University of Lodz, together with other scientific institutions from Lodz, presented the most interesting scientific achievements in a friendly and accessible form. The programme included various forms of encounter with knowledge such as lectures, laboratory workshops and a panel discussion. The event was attended by scientists from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Lodz and the University of Lodz Faculty of Management.
Art and Science
Initiatives in the area of Art and Science, i.e. combining scientific research with creative and artistic activities constituted an important part of science popularisation activities at the University of Lodz in 2023. We organised more than a dozen exhibitions with numerous accompanying meetings, debates and workshops. Radio programmes, videos and podcasts were produced. Below we present a selection of projects / initiatives that capture the idea and thrust of our activities:
1. DYSTANS NIEOGRANICZONY [UNLIMITED DISTANCE], a meeting between two personalities: Dr Natalia Kowalska-Elkader who is a researcher at the Department of Journalism and Social Communication at the University of Lodz and an artist Justyna Banaszczyk aka FOQL inspired by the research conducted by the first one. As a result, an experimental radio play was created referring to the history of this genre and in dialogue with it. Dr Elkader's collaboration with Radio Kapitał, where she has been creating and broadcasting her own programme Niesłychane | Radio Kapitał for the past two months is the aftermath of the project.
From the left: Katarzyna Rachela Szklarek-Zarębska, Dr Natalia Kowalska-Elkader, Daniel Muzyczuk.
2. PYTAJNIK, PRZESTRZEŃ ZACIEKAWIENIA [QUESTION MARK, SPACE OF CURIOSITY] is a project and installation in the field of cultural education, creativity pedagogy and creativity. This artistic and educational project combined the strengths of the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Lodz, the Lodz University Press, the student science club "ACoTo?" at the Department of Childhood Pedagogy of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz and the Institute of Art Education at the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz The installation was inspired by books written by Prof. Krzysztof J. Szmidt, Prof. Elżbieta Płóciennik and Prof. Aldona Pobojewska as part of the series "Edukacja dla mądrości" [Education for Wisdom] published by the Lodz University Press. A space in which various aspects of questioning thinking were creatively presented was prepared based on scientific issues and content selected from the above-mentioned books.
Prof. Krzysztof Szmidt during an interview
3. KOCHAM TWĄ URODĘ ZŁĄ [I LOVE YOUR EVIL BEAUTY] – an exhibition that was the result of Dr Aleksandra Wysokińska's work with her photographic archive, which was created during a period of extremely dynamic development of Lodz. The artist and sociologist in one person documented the progress, which was, however, uneven, and at the same time asked people directly involved what they thought about it. Therefore, by combining the two fields in which she specialises – photography and sociology, the author wanted to capture the observed changes along with their social perception. Cooperation with the curator, Dr hab. Tomasz Ferenc, Head of the Department of Sociology of Art at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Lodz, was of considerable significance here.
4. ESTETYKA NA ZAWSZE [AESTHETICS FOREVER], the exhibition "Estetyka na zawsze, sztuka na co dzień. Plakaty Jana Zielińskiego" [Aesthetics Forever, Art Every Day. Jan Zieliński's Posters] consisted of original, hand-made, previously unprinted posters by the cartoonist from Lodz, Jan Zieliński. The exhibition provided a unique opportunity to learn more about the artist's workshop. An extensive search for the exhibition was carried out by students of Occidental Studies and Art History from the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Lodz under the curatorial and content supervision of Prof. Wioletta Kazimierska-Jerzyk from the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Lodz who is an aesthetician specialising in the subject of artistic posters.
Additionally, an exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz and the Fotofestiwal.
5. RIVERSCAPE – 19 NIEWIDZIALNYCH RZEK [RIVERSCAPE - 19 INVISIBLE RIVERS] – a project and photo exhibition by Prof. Marek Domański (The Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz) organised in cooperation with Dr hab. Tomasz Ferenc, is a part of the so-called "blue humanities" trend, which draws attention to the need for a material and discursive experience of water using the example of the rivers of Lodz.
Doctor Honoris Causa Title to Prof. Maciej Henneberg by the University of Lodz
Prof. Maciej Henneberg, one of the world's most eminent biological anthropologists and a Professor at the University of Adelaide, received the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the University of Lodz. The handing over ceremony took place during a meeting of the University of Lodz Senate on the occasion of the National Education Day Professor Wiesław Lorkiewicz was the honorary supervisor in the honoris causa doctoral thesis. In his laudation, he highlighted the laureate's enormous scientific achievements, including hundreds of publications in the world's most prestigious scientific journals as a result of his scientific activity at universities in the United States, South Africa and Australia.
The entire university engaged in the communication of science
This is not all that happened in the area of the communication of science in the last year, of course. Many great meetings and initiatives are carried out by faculties, scientists themselves and other units of the University of Lodz. Researchers from the University of Lodz can be found everywhere – they speak in the media, give interviews in podcasts or independently run numerous profiles popularising knowledge in their own fields. The University of Lodz Library and the Lodz University Press carry out their own popularisation programmes and conduct extensive activities in social media. Throughout the year, we reach hundreds of thousands of recipients, building a strong bond between the academic community and a wide range of those who are interested. This dynamic commitment to science communication helps make knowledge more accessible and understandable to diverse groups of society, while promoting the mutual exchange of thoughts and ideas.
Edit: Michał Gruda and Honorata Ogieniewska (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz)
Photos: Maciej Andrzejewski and Dr Bartosz Kałużny (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz)
The mission of the University of Lodz is to conduct reliable research and actively disseminate facts and research results so as to wisely educate future generations, be useful to society and courageously respond to the challenges of the modern world. Scientific excellence is always our best compass. Our values include: courage, curiosity, commitment, cooperation and respect.