The commencement of the Council of Scientific Excellence’s activity marks another important step in the implementation of the Constitution for Science which includes the reform of the system of academic promotion. The Minister of Science and Higher Education, Jarosław Gowin, has appointed Prof. Dr hab. Grzegorz Węgrzyn to the post of Chair of the Council. Henceforth, Prof. Węgrzyn will manage the activities of the body established to maintain the highest quality standards of academic activity required for the award of academic degrees, art degrees or the title of professor.   

The Council of Scientific Excellence is a new body established for the development of academic staff. It maintains the highest quality standards of academic activity required for the award of academic degrees, art degrees or the title of professor. The Council will eventually replace the Central Committee for Academic Degrees and Titles in supervising individual promotion procedures.

The Council’s first term began on June 1 and will continue until the end of 2023. The composition of the Council was established by means of an election, participation in which was open to anyone holding the academic degree of doktor habilitowany or the title of professor. The list of those eligible to vote comprised almost 28,000 individuals, of whom 18,000 participated in the elections. The Council of Scientific Excellence will comprise 141 persons.

Professor Grzegorz Węgrzyn was born in 1963 in Gdańsk. Since 1999 he has been employed at the Department of Molecular Biology of the University of Gdańsk as full professor and is the current head of this department. Between 2002–2008 he was Dean of the UG’s Faculty of Biology, Geography and Oceanology and in 2008–2016 he was the University of Gdańsk’s Vice-Rector for Research.

Professor Węgrzyn has headed a team of researchers who devised the first effective treatment method for the Sanfilippo syndrome, making it possible to put a halt to the disease’s destructive process. Professor Węgrzyn’s research interests include the mechanisms of DNA replication of plasmids and bacteriophages, the regulation of gene expression in bacterial cells and the application of electrical biochips. He is also winner of numerous scientific awards.

Source: https://www.gov.pl/web/nauka/przewodniczacy-rady-doskonalosci-naukowej-powolany