On 21 September 2016 the Minister of Science and Higher Education Jarosław Gowin appointed 52 scientists for the Council of the National Scientific Congress whose task will be to propose reforms in the new Law on Higher Education. Head of the Council will be Prof. Jarosław Górniak from the Jagiellonian University, and one of its members Prof. Dr hab.  Artur Hugo Świergiel from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk.  

On 10 July 2016 at 3.30 p. m. we received a report of a small seal lying on the beach in Hel by Exit 64. Staff from the Marine Station quickly headed for the spot. After a short search, they found a common seal cub (Phoca vitulina), being watched over by the tourists who had reported the find.

The Teaching and Conference Centre of the University of Gdańsk’s Faculty of Management held a meeting of more than 400 graduates of the university’s economics departments and of economics institutions whose tradition the university is continuing – the Sopot Academy of Maritime Trade and the Sopot Academy of Economics.

“Sail the seas and oceans. Praise the name of the Polish shipbuilder and academic. I hereby name you the OCEANOGRAF ”, with these words Dr Barbara Szczurek, godmother of the UG’s ship, completed the naming ceremony. The catamaran, constructed for the UG’s Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, will be one of the most modern research vessels to sail under the Polish ensign.

We are happy to announce that the UG’s Faculty of Biology has finished work on the skeleton of a razorback whale, also known as the fin whale, and  the second largest mammal on Earth in terms of size. The skeleton weighs almost 1000kg and is 17 metres in length. It has been loaned for 10 years by the Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund, Germany.

Work began with the preservation of the bones which were mounted on a specially prepared metal construction and then finally raised to the level of the first floor of the main hall.

This year’s participants of the Summer School of Intercultural Communication, organised by Dr Jacek Grodzicki (Department of Global Economy, UG’s Faculty of Economics) were students from Appalachian State University in North Carolina.  

As part of the workshops, on 7 June 2016 there was a meeting with Mr Kenneth Wetzel (US Cultural Attaché in Poland) who shared his rich experience concerning cultural differences.

Four grey seals, born at the seal sanctuary at the UG’s Professor Krzysztof Skóra Marine Station in Hel, part of the Institute of Oceanography, began their independent lives on the beach at Czołpino in Słowiński National Park on 24 May 2016, according to an announcement by the Marine Station and the WWF Poland.

21 May 2016 marked the end of an English course for foreign students of the University of Gdańsk who had been admitted under the same conditions as apply to Polish nationals.  The final certificates were awarded by the Vice-Rector for Education, Prof. UG, Dr hab. Anna Machnikowska.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr hab. Grzegorz Węgrzyn has been appointed

• Chairman of the Committee on Cell Biology,  Division II: Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
• Vice-chairman  of the Presidium of the Committee of Biotechnology, Division II: Biological and Agricultural Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Heartiest congratulations! 

The Graduate Society of the Sopot Academy of Maritime Trade, the Sopot Academy of Economics, the Faculty of Economics and the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, Prof. Bernard Lammek, extend an invitation to the 70th Anniversary Reunion of Graduates of the Sopot Centre for the Economic Sciences. The reunion will take place on 25 June 2016 at the University of Gdańsk’s Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Management in ul. Armii Krajowej.