O tym, jak fascynującym elementem przyrody są rzeki, a także o nowatorskim podejściu organizacji kongresu IAHR opowiada prof. Paweł M. Rowiński, wiceprezes PAN i badacz z Instytutu Geofizyki PAN.
Prof. Jerzy Jankowski passed away on 18th of August, 2020 and this paper brings back this outstanding scientist, one of the most influential geophysicists in Poland and an extraordinary man. Considered a prime architect in the development of the geomagnetic observations in Poland, Prof. Jankowski was a giant in geophysics covering a wide range of problems, from the cognition of the deep basement in Poland and Central Europe to the studies of earthquake precursors. Besides research Prof. Jankowski also offered his administrative services to the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, among others being its director for more than 30 years and also to the Polish Academy of Sciences as the Head of the Division of Earth and Mining Sciences for nearly a decade. Prof. Jankowski received many significant honors during his life; internationally, he was recognized as a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Professor Paweł Rowiński, Vice-President of the PAS and a researcher at the PAS Institute of Geophysics, explains why rivers are such a fascinating subject of study and describes the innovative approach being taken to organizing the IAHR Congress in Poland.
This paper is a presentation of a success story of building a premier, non-university research organization dedicated to basic research and to supporting and developing early career researchers. This story comes back to establishing of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, predecessor of the Max Planck Society. Both those organizations were based upon so-called principle of Adolph von Harnack, the first president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. It consists in creating the research institutes around the leading – on a world scale – researchers, providing them the best possible working conditions and giving them freedom to build their research teams. This paper shows the way how the entire Max Planck Society is set up, what is its impartial position on a map of world leading research institutions and what are the reasons of the success of this organization. An outcome of research led in the Max Planck Institutes is shortly given.
With this paper we try to contribute to the debate on the nature of research intensive universities and the chances to create this type of institution in Poland. Research universities are presented as elite, flagship institutions for educating students mostly at the doctoral level and to produce the bulk of the research output. Examples of world-class research intensive universities from various countries are presented. It is shown that intensified competition among universities exists to prove their performance through global university league tables or ranking exercises and it is discussed whether Poland is at the stage to create at least one such institution playing important role in that competition. We argue that the establishment of a University of the Polish Academy of Sciences could be a solution. This University stands to become a unique research institution in Poland and one of very few establishments of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. The University will conduct scientific research and provide programs of the highest standard, exploiting the research and teaching potential of the PAS institutes as well as the competence and experience of members of the Academy's corporation. It is intended as a higher education institution with a decentralized organizational structure, based on the PAS research institutes. The University of the Polish Academy of Sciences will have a quality-boosting impact on the PAS institutes as well as initiate their consolidation and reorganization in the field of teaching.