University of Gdańsk - UG (reviews)

The University of Gdańsk was founded on 20 March 1970. It was formed from an amalgamation of two institutions of higher education: the Higher Economics School in Sopot and the Higher Pedagogical School in Gdańsk. Later, it also included the Higher Teacher Training School. The precursor of the Higher Economics School in Sopot was the Higher School of Maritime Trade in Sopot, which opened in 1945 and awarded its first degrees in 1947.

20 March 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the University of Gdańsk, at present the largest university in the Pomeranian region, which has had an indisputable influence on the development of modern Poland, science and higher education. We have eleven faculties with over 25 thousand students, doctoral students and post-graduates, who are taught by more than one thousand seven hundred academic staff. In such fields of study as Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Oceanography, Quantum Physics, Pedagogy, Psychology, Law  and Economic Sciences, the University of Gdańsk is one of the best institutions in Poland.

Science, cooperation, innovations

The University of Gdańsk boasts significant scientific achievement which enforces its leading position, particularly through activity and research connected with the sea.  In this regard, the University has been involved in cooperation with scientific research centres from nearly all corners of the globe.

The University of Gdańsk is involved (as one of five Polish universities) in the creation of a network of European universities selected in the ‘European Universities’ competition organised by the European Commission. In conjunction with its partners, the University of Cádiz (Spain), the University of Split (Croatia), the Université de Bretagne Occidentale (France), Kiel University (Germany) and the University of Malta (Malta), the University of Gdańsk forms a consortium of the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU). The University has been a two-time winner of the special programme of the Foundation for Polish Science, the International Research Agendas, aimed at establishing in Poland innovative centres of excellence with the participation of the best researchers from across the world. The University of Gdańsk received 76 million PLN to establish two agendas, the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science, led by two world-class scientists, Prof. Ted Hupp and Prof. Robin Fahraeus, and the International Centre for Theory of Quantum Technologies (ICTQT), headed by Prof. Marek Żukowski.

Owing to its academic character, the University of Gdańsk implements a host of diverse scientific research, representing the Humanities, Economic Sciences as well as the Social, Exact and Natural Sciences. The most notable successes have been achieved in the fields of biomedical and biomolecular research as well as theoretical foundations for quantum technologies. It is in these areas that University of Gdańsk scientists have made spectacular discoveries, with the molecular biologists or chemists achieving significant successes in devising new medication or innovative diagnostic methods and the quantum physicists’ ground-breaking discoveries, having reached the high number of 1,500 citations through publication in international scientific journals. In the areas of social sciences and the humanities, the broadly defined intercultural research is particularly noteworthy, encompassing studies of international relations from a great variety of perspectives, cultural, economic, linguistic or in relation to international communication. Research into psychological diagnosis is also very strongly represented. As regards research into literary studies, mention should be made of extensive, long-term research programmes such as studies of the output and reception of Bruno Schulz or research into 20th-century traumas such as the Holocaust.  University of Gdańsk historians have notable academic achievements to their credit regarding the medieval and modern history of Gdańsk, while archaeologists are present in Iraq, Turkey or Macedonia and ethnographers conduct studies of, amongst others, the culture of Aboriginal peoples. Research into the language and culture of Kashubia also constitutes an important element of the University’s academic activity.

The University of Gdańsk ranks high in the field of innovation and has received funds to implement projects as part of Horizon 2020, the European Union’s largest development programme. Amongst the eleven projects, the largest funding has been awarded to the following three: “Structural Transformation to Attain Responsible BIOSciences” (STARBIOS 2), “Virus-X: Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value” and the prestigious ERC Starting Grant “Dissecting the mechanism of DNA repair in human mitochondria”.

The following innovative research and undertakings regarding, among other things, blue biotechnology, biodiversity, marine ecosystems, sustainable development of cities or biomedicine, have also been conducted at the University of Gdańsk as part of European centres and networks of excellence: Research and Education Centre for Urban Socio-Economic Development (RECOURSE), Centre of Excellence for Baltic Development, Education and Research (BALTDER), Centre of Excellence in Bio-safety and Molecular Biomedicine (BioMoBil), Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MARBEF), European Vigilance Network for the Management of Antiviral Drug Resistance (VIRGIL) and the Centre of Molecular Biotechnology for Healthy Life (MOBI4Health).

The University of Gdańsk prides itself on seventy-six projects financed as part of the Framework Programmes and the Horizon 2020 Programme. It is also one of the most active Polish universities in implementing projects as part of the Structural Funds – the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and community initiatives. In the programming period 2007-2013 the University signed a total of seventy-one agreements for project funding, and sixty-three in the programming period 2014-2020. These include projects as part of the Regional Operational Programme for the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development, the Smart Growth Operational Programme, the Operational Programme Digital Poland and the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. Other important undertakings include such integrated projects as “The University of Gdańsk Development Programme” (ProUG) or “Accessible UG – a complex programme to remove barriers in access to education for persons with disabilities”.

University of Gdańsk researchers have also secured other European and international grants, for example as part of the EEA and Norway Grants, the European Territorial Cooperation, Bonus, Polonez, Beethoven or Erasmus Plus. The University has also been successful in applying for grants from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA).

The research activity of the University of Gdańsk scientists is conducted in twenty-one scientific disciplines, which translates into significant numbers. Between 2002 and January 2020 the University signed around 420 agreements for the funding for European and international projects. At present the University of Gdańsk is implementing eighty-two international scientific, research and development and didactic projects to the total value of over 214 million PLN. In addition, 228 domestic scientific and development projects are being implemented to the total value of over 169 million PLN (the majority of which span several years and the amount given reflects the entire funding).

As a result of the bonds forged between scientific activity and economic practice, the University of Gdańsk issues a great number of copyright-protected expert reports and opinions. Due to the endeavours of UG academic staff, the University has become a business incubator in such fields as biotechnology, biology or chemistry.

The University of Gdańsk has been listed in the most important world rankings, thus joining the ranks of the best Polish universities. Its presence in such international rankings as the QS World University Ranking or the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking is a reflection of the high quality of education, scientific research conducted and increasing international standing as well as  a high level of knowledge transfer to the economy. The dynamic development of the University of Gdańsk is reflected in its presence amongst the world’s 400 best young universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings 2019 in which the University of Gdańsk was the only Polish university to feature. Environmental sciences also rank high in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, with the highest scoring field in the entire university and one of the highest in Poland on the basis of the quality of scientific publications, number of citations and international cooperation. The University of Gdańsk is also in fourth place globally with regard to the participation of women in scientific publications at universities, as presented by the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019.

The University is involved in intensive ongoing activity aimed at improving the quality of the  scientific research conducted and for this purpose it has received funding as part of the “Excellence Strategy – Research University” programme by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.