We must take care of our future. The 2023/2024 academic year has begun | Gdańsk University of Technology

In his speech, Rector Krzysztof Wilde summarized the past academic year, discussing the position of Gdańsk University of Technology in international and national rankings, initiatives implemented as part of the activities of Fahrenheit Universities, the development of cooperation between the university and secondary schools in Pomerania, as well as new Gdańsk Tech investments. He also emphasized how important an event the university's accession to the ENHANCE consortium of European technical universities was.

– As Gdańsk University of Technology, we want to make a significant contribution to the development of the ENHANCE alliance - a truly integrated and fully functional European University. We want to have a significant impact on the society of the European Union and go beyond it to help less privileged regions develop their potential - said Prof. Krzysztof Wilde.

He also referred to activities at Gdańsk Tech aimed at scientific and administrative employees.

– In order to provide our employees with the best possible working conditions, we have established the HR Center of Gdańsk University of Technology, which is responsible not only for hiring employees and then implementing and training them, but also taking care of the motivation of those already working here, the so-called well-being and work-life balance, or initiating projects aimed at the multi-aspect development of employee competences and skills. These tasks are carried out by a team of specialists in the most important resources of Gdańsk University of Technology, i.e. human resources - emphasized the rector

Finally, he referred to plans for the upcoming academic year.

– Another year together will certainly be a big challenge for all of us, but I am convinced that we form a strong, cohesive and ambitious team and together we will overcome all adversities. I hope that together we will continue to create a new, better reality: not only for our university, but also for Gdańsk and Pomerania, as well as for Polish and European science, said. prof. Krzysztof Wilde.

Medals for distinguished employees

In the next part of the ceremony, a letter with wishes for the new academic year from the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, was read by his advisor Piotr Karczewski, who then - on behalf of the president - presented the Gdańsk Tech employees with medals for long-term service.

The Gold Medal for Long Service was awarded to:

• Marek Adamczyk, MA
• Ryszard Arendt, PhD, DSc, Eng., professor at Gdańsk Tech. PG
• Danuta Beger, MA
• Małgorzata Dymnicka, PhD, professor at Gdańsk Tech
• Marek Gawdzik, PhD, Eng. Arch.
• Marzena Grzesiak, PhD, profesor at Gdańsk Tech
• prof. Zdzisław Kowalczuk, PhD, DSc, Eng.
• Stefan Niewitecki, PhD, Eng. Arch.
• Katarzyna Pączkowska, PhD
• Małgorzata Pruszkowska-Caceres, PhD, DSc, profesor at Gdańsk Tech
• Anna Soczyńska, MA
• Justyna Stefaniak, MA
• Wojciech Strzelecki,  PhD, DSc Art., profesor at Gdańsk Tech

Silver Medal for Long Service

• Robert Aranowski, PhD, Eng., professor at Gdańsk Tech
• Alicja Dereniowska, MA
• Edyta Gołąb-Andrzejak,  PhD, DSc, profesor at Gdańsk Tech
• Agnieszka Jachowicz, MA
• Mirosława Kamonciak, MA

Bronze Medal for Long Service

• Marcin Jaskólski, PhD, Eng.
• Adam Kaczmarek, PhD, Eng.
• Iwona Kochańska, PhD, DSc, Eng., profesor at Gdańsk Tech
• Andrzej Kopczyński, PhD, Eng.
• Anna Kowalska, MA
• Magdalena Łapińska, PhD, Eng.
• Magdalena Młynarczuk, PhD, Eng.
• Łukasz Ponikiewski, PhD, DSc, Eng., professor at Gdańsk Tech
• Bartosz Puchalski, PhD, Eng.
• Michał Strankowski, PhD, DSc, Eng., profesor at Gdańsk Tech

Matriculation and awards for students

The next point of the ceremony was the matriculation of students. The best newly admitted representatives of all eight faculties took the oath. Oliwia Hauchszulz, deputy chairperson of the Students’ Government of Gdańsk University of Technology, also gave a speech.

The winners of prof. Romuald Szczęsny’s Competition for the best diploma thesis prepared at Gdańsk University of Technology were also honored. The main prize was awarded to Mateusz Derc, MSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics for his work "Reconfigurable antenna for estimating the direction of signal arrival in IoT systems operating in the LoRa standard". The thesis was written under the supervision of prof. Łuksz Kulas. The competition also awarded three distinctions to: Jakub Baczyński-Keller, MSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Chemistry, Kornel Piłat, MSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Ship Technology and Joanna Pośpiech, MSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics.

Then, the award was presented to the best student of Gdańsk University of Technology by the Gdańsk Tech Business Club PKB+, operating as part of the Gdańsk Tech Alumni Association. 5 thousand PLN was received this year by Szymon Królak, Eng. from the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics.

The ceremony ended with a lecture entitled "How is time different from space", delivered by prof. Andrzej Dragan, a physicist working at the University of Warsaw and the University of Singapore, but also a photographer, filmmaker and composer.

The musical setting for the ceremony was provided by the Academic Choir of Gdańsk University of Technology, conducted by prof. Mariusz Mróz.

Let us add that in the morning of the same day, wreaths were laid at the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers, and in the evening a mass was celebrated at the Sacred Heart of Jesus’ church in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz for the new academic year, led by Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, Metropolitan of Gdańsk.