First Meeting of the International Scientific Effectiveness Board of the IDUB Project | Gdańsk University of Technology

Plan projektu IDUB przewidywał utworzenie Rady złożonej z ekspertów doświadczonych w procesach reorganizacji i zarządzania uczelnią. Przyjęty skład Rady w pełni realizuje to założenie; jej członkami zostali: Mika Hannula (Vice-Rector for Partnerships and Strategic Engagement, University of Turku, Finlandia), Francisco José Mora Más (Rector, Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Hiszpania), Sławomir Smoleń (profesor, Hochschule Bremen, Niemcy), Eugenijus Valatka (Rector, Kaunas University of Technology, Litwa), Roberto Zanino (Vice-Rector for European Relations, Politecnico di Torino, Włochy), Marc Zolver (Vice-President for International Affairs, CentraleSupélec / Université Paris-Saclay, Francja). Przewodniczącym Rady został Francisco José Mora Más.

The meeting was held via videoconference. Gdansk University of Technology was represented by Rector Krzysztof Wilde and vice-rectors. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Monika Wieczerzak from the Team for IDUB project implementation. During the meeting there were two presentations of the University: "Introduction to Gdansk Tech". (Prof. Janusz Nieznański, Vice Rector for Internationalization and Innovation) and "IDUB Project at Gdansk Tech". (Prof. Slawomir Milewski, Vice Rector for Science). The discussion after the presentations was attended by all members of the Council.

The dominating topic of the discussion was the consolidation of the universities - in the context of the federation plans of Gdansk University of Technology, Medical University of Gdansk and University of Gdansk. The experiences of the members of the Council and the universities they represent are a source of very valuable expert knowledge on opportunities and problems related to consolidation processes. CentraleSupélec is one of the founding universities of the new federating university, Université Paris-Saclay (UPSaclay). In the latest edition of the Shanghai Ranking, UPSaclay was ranked 14th, the highest ranked university from continental Europe. Marc Zolver from CentraleSupélec shared his experiences from the multi-year consolidation process (started in 2012). He stressed that the consolidation process must be based on respect for the identity and autonomy of the merging entities. Building a sense of community within UPSaclay is not yet complete, but the success in the Shanghai Ranking - significantly exceeding assumptions and expectations - has become an eloquent confirmation of the rightness of the actions taken.

Prof. Mika Hannula from the University of Turku recalled the experience of merging Tampere University of Technology (the university of which he was president in 2016-2018) and the University of Tampere and establishing the new Tampere University in 2019. He emphasized the fundamental importance of shared values and goals of consolidation, which should be clearly formulated in writing. Prof. Eugeniujus Valatka from Kaunas University of Technology briefly reported on attempts to consolidate Kaunas universities. Discussions on this topic took place 5 years ago, but there was no sense of common values and financial support for this initiative from the country's authorities. Prof. Sławomir Smoleń from Hochschule Bremen, in turn, drew attention to the dangers associated with too much discussion and a lack of decisive decisions on the part of the authorities of the consolidated entities.

The meeting was held in a very good and constructive atmosphere. The participants expressed their hope that the next meeting of the Council will be held in a stationary mode on the premises of the Gdansk University of Technology.

Sylwetki członków Międzynarodowej Rady Efektywności Naukowej w języku angielskim:

Mika Hannula (University of Turku, Finland)

MSc and DSc in industrial engineering and management, Tampere University of Technology TUT). Career at TUT: Head of the Department of Business Information Management and Logistics (2002–2009). Dean of the Faculty of Business and Technology Management (2020–2013). Professor of Information and Knowledge Management (2001–2016). Vice President for Education (2014–2016). President (2016–2018). Career at University of Turku: Senior Executive and professor (since 2018). Vice Rector for Partnerships and Strategic Engagement  (since 2020). Other universities: Vice President for Education, Adjunct Proffesor, Finnish,  National Defense University (since 2011). Adjunct Professor, University of Tampere (since 2003). Chairman of the Council, Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK (since 2020). Expert in general and change management, industry-university collaboration, learning environments, strategic planning, higher education, ICT and entrepreneurship.

Francisco José Mora Más (Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Spain)

Telecommunication Engineer from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (1991). During the years 1993-1997, the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) granted him a "Doctoral Student" scholarship to carry out his doctoral thesis in the electronics and data acquisition group of the ATLAS experiment. PhD in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) (1997). Since 2003 he is Full-Professor at the UPV in the area of Electronic Engineering. Prof. Mora is Vice-president of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities, Vice-president of the Spanish Association of Science and Technology Parks, and President of the entrepreneurship network “RedEmprendia”. Prof. Mora is completing his second mandate as Rector of the UPV after having been reelected in 2017.

Sławomir Smoleń (Hochschule Bremen, Germany)

MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from Technology University Szczecin, Poland. Project manager, Chemical Plant WISKORD Synthetic Fibres, Szczecin (1991). Lecturer with Hochschule Bremen, University Applied Science, Germany, 1991—1996 (guest lectures in the Netherlands). Assistant Professor, Technology University Szczecin (1993). Chief manager for investments, Paper Mill Szczecin Skolwin, 1996—1997. Leader of International Project TEMPUS (1998-2000) at Technology University Szczecin. Manager of heat plants and heating supply system Hamburger Gaswerke, Germany, 1998—1999. Since 2000, professor of Applied Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Combustion, Energy Engineering, Combustion and Environmental Technology and Emissions – Hochschule Bremen. Head of Institute and Laboratory for Energy Engineering. Departmental Co-ordinator for International Co-operation. Author or Co-Author of more than 100 publications in scientific journals and conference proceedings.

Eugenijus Valatka (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)

PhD in Chemical Engineering (2000, Kaunas University of Technology). Co-author of more than 80 scientific publications. Supervisor of 5 completed PhD projects. Scientific research interests: electrocatalysis, energy storage, chemical kinetics. Lecturer in physical chemistry. Current responsibilities and memberships: Rector of Kaunas University of Technology (elected in 2018); President of Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference; President of Santaka Integrated Centre (Valley) of Science, Studies and Business; Member of Board of Lithuanian Radio and Television, Education Council of Lithuania, Scientific Board of Lithuanian Energy Institute, and International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE).

Roberto Zanino (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)

MSc in nuclear engineering and PhD in energy engineering from Politecnico di Torino (PoliTo). Long-term research missions at the Max-Planck Institut für Plasmaphysik in Garching, Germany, and the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center in Cambridge (MA), USA. Professor of nuclear engineering at Dipartimento Energia, PoliTo, since 2000, where he leads the Nuclear Engineering Modeling (NEMO) group. Director of Alta Scuola Politecnica in 20078–2010. Head of graduate studies in Energy Engineering at PoliTo in 2011–2017. Vice Rector for European Relations at PoliTo since 2018. Since 2019 member of the Board of Directors of the CESAER association. Member of the Steering Committee for the UNITE! European University Alliance. Since 2017, Vice President of the Italian university consortium for nuclear technologies (CIRTEN) and since 2019 a member of the EURATOM Scientific and Technical Committee. Visiting Full Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the Peter the Great Polytechnic University in St. Petersburg, Russia. International Faculty Affiliate to the University of Illinois in Chicago, USA, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Marc Zolver (CentraleSupélec / Université Paris-Saclay, France)

Engineer in Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics from Ecole Centrale de Lyon. He started his career in 1990 as research-assistant in the Nice Observatory (France) and the European Southern Observatory (Germany). In 1993 recruited by IFP-Energies Nouvelles as research engineer in Computational Fluid Dynamics in Engines (research & development in CFD codes for Internal Combustion Engines). In 2004 he joined Ecole Centrale Paris to set up the "Centrale Pékin" project as vice-dean during 4 years in Beijing. Centrale Pékin is a Franco-Chinese cooperation between the Group of Ecoles Centrale (Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Lille, Marseilles) and Beihang University (Beijing). In 2008 back to France to join the Ecole Centrale Paris International Relations team as vice-dean. In 2015, at the merger of Ecole Centrale Paris and Supélec, he became Vice-President for International Affairs at CentraleSupélec, now a component establishment of the Université Paris-Saclay. In 2008–2018 the coordinator for CentraleSupélec in the T.I.M.E. Association. Since 2019 member of the Board of Directors of the CESAER association.