Inauguration of the academic year 2020/2021 | Gdańsk University of Technology

This year, due to the epidemic situation, the main ceremony inaugurating the new academic year will be held in a hybrid manner. The list of direct participants of the Solemn Senate Session has been limited, while all others will be able to take part in the Inauguration, thanks to the online broadcast available on the university's YouTube channel.

The Senate meeting will start with a welcome and inaugural speech by prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk University of Technology. It will be followed by the awarding of the Orders of Polonia Restituta. Then, the Gold Medal of Merit for Gdańsk University of Technology and the title of ‘Personality of Gdańsk University of Technology’ will be awarded.

In the next part of the meeting, the guests will listen to the deans' inaugural speeches, followed by student matriculation. Later the best newly admitted representatives of all nine faculties will take the oath. This part of the ceremony will end with the presentation of the award for the best student of Gdańsk University of Technology.

At the end of the ceremony, Professor Grzegorz Węgrzyn from the University of Gdańsk, chairman of the Council of Scientific Excellence, correspondent member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the president of the Gdańsk branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences will deliver an inaugural lecture entitled ‘How COVID-19 affects research’.

As always, the musical side of the ceremony will be taken care of by the Academic Choir of Gdańsk University of Technology under the direction of prof. Mariusz Mróz.

Holy Mass inaugurating the new academic year will take place the day before, on 1 October at 8:00 a.m. in the Oliwa Cathedral, while the laying of wreaths by representatives of the university authorities at the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers will take place on 2 October at. 9:00 a.m.
Due to the inauguration of the 2020/2021 academic year, the rector's hours  were set on 2 October from 11.00 a.m. to 13.00 p.m.