– This project will help Polish universities in the future to fully use their potential, and this will translate into improving of their positions in global rankings – said Jarosław Gowin, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Science and Higher Education during the inauguration of the International Visibility Project (IntVP), which took place on April 17 in Warsaw.
It was attended by representatives of 20 universities invited to participate in this project, the president of The Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP), the rector of the Warsaw University of Technology prof. Jan Szmidt, the Project Council members with its president prof. Michał Kleiber, the project leader Waldemar Siwiński and experts.The International Visibility Project, implemented by Perspektywy Education Foundation under the DIALOG program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, is to educate and create of professional university teams with knowledge and competence not only in the field of academic rankings but also in creating an international university reputation. The aim of the project is to increase the visibility of Polish universities on the international arena and to raise the position of Polish universities in international rankings.
– The position of Polish universities in rankings is not an end in itself – said Minister Gowin. – It should be a “side effect” of these deep reforms that we started in October last year. The deputy prime minister stressed that the new university evaluation model should encourage them to increase their emphasis on participation in the global academic discourse. – We want to “push” the ships of Polish universities from a safe bay into the broad seas and oceans of world science – he said.
– The involvement of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the funds launched by this institution will help Polish universities to enter the academic international environment more extensively and show more effectively what we should boast about in the world – said prof. Jan Szmidt, president of CRASP. – If we show that we have made good use of these funds, it will be easier for us to talk to politicians about increasing outlays for science.
– Years ago university rankings served primarily as a compass for candidates for studies, they have now gained a new important role: they are a good tool for monitoring changes taking place in universities, they show the condition of science and higher education – said Waldemar Siwiński, president of the Perspektywy Education Foundation, project leader of IntVP. – In Poland, we have a sense of insufficiency when more prestigious international rankings are published – we recognize that our universities are underestimated. Let’s verify this thesis! In addition, you need to know that in many rankings “by subject”, fields of studies run at Polish universities already occupy high places. It is among others in the case of pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University or agriculture at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
The participants of the meeting were familiarized with the objectives of the project and the first activities, including the “University Ranking Audit”, which will be carried out in the near future.
The following were invited to participate in the project: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, AGH University of Science and Technology, Gdansk University of Technology, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Kozminski University in Warsaw, Lodz University of Technology, Medical University of Bialystok, Medical University of Gdańsk, Medical University of Warsaw, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poznan University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, University of Gdansk, University of Lodz, University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Warsaw, University of Wroclaw,Warsaw University of Technology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
Images: Krzysztof Wojciewski
