Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, PhD, DSc, Eng, PAS, MAE
Rector of Wrocław University of Science and Technology
New challenges
– including beyond the upcoming term
In accordance with the content and spirit of the Strategy, I identify 7 new major challenges facing the University in the coming years, acknowledging that some of them extend beyond a single rectoral term.
1.
To achieve the position of a leading technical university in the country and a renowned European university in all core areas of activity: education, research and technological innovation, and cooperation with the environment, as well as the reputation of a university that is engaged, open, inclusive, accessible, and caring for all groups of its diverse community.
OBJECTIVE: Position 1st among polytechnics and TOP 3 among all Polish universities in renowned national and international rankings, and TOP 500 positions in general international rankings; publications in journals with the highest impact on the development of science (including Nature and Science) and implementation of European projects (including ERC) at a level similar to partners in the Unite! alliance; high position of the university especially in the area of technical sciences – confirmed by prestigious awards and representation in societies and academies.
2.
Concern for the culture and organization of work and study – focus on building a working and learning environment that promotes well-being, interaction and personal development, development of a psychological support system for staff, doctoral students and students, creation of flexible career paths for academic and administrative staff, encouragement of participation in participatory projects, establishment of principles and development of infrastructure to support work-life balance, strengthening the culture of feedback and open dialogue, workshops for the entire community on stress management, communication, work efficiency, etc., Promoting diversity and inclusion, including equality measures, support for people with different needs and development of internationalization.
OBJECTIVE: Increase the level of satisfaction and involvement of employees, postgraduates and students; improve mental health and well-being indicators; achieve a high level of diversity and inclusion across all community groups; increase the level of participation and interaction; increase the sense of belonging, agency and shared responsibility.
ACTION: Establishing the function of pro-rector for community development and inclusion (support for people with special needs, promotion of equality and diversity, anti-discrimination, prevention of bullying and violence, development of soft skills and professional skills, increasing transparency of decisions and processes, internationalization of the community, promotion of work-life balance, community building, incorporation of environmental and sustainability perspectives).
3.
Implementation of the concept of an entrepreneurial university – development of academic entrepreneurship through the construction of the Student Innovation Campus and the significant expansion of the Academic Entrepreneurship Incubator (development of infrastructure, staff and offer) and the synergy of their activities and cooperation with the Centre for Innovation and Business and other units supporting knowledge transfer, accelerator programs for young companies at different stages of business development, educational offer in the area of entrepreneurship for students and doctoral students of all majors and disciplines, effective display of research offerings, streamlining of acceptance and execution of research orders from the business environment, professional managerial support for creators of technologies and products protected by patents for effective commercialization of results, comprehensive legal protection of inventors in the process of negotiating the terms of sale of licenses for effective commercialization of results, comprehensive legal protection of inventors in the process of negotiating the terms of sale of licenses, development of support and incentives for orders for industry and joint R&D projects, further increase in the number of and support for accredited laboratories.
OBJECTIVE: 100 start-ups (primarily in various areas of deep tech) with a significant percentage of business success, the best support system in the country for young technology companies; at least 15 permanent accredited laboratories; the highest revenues from commercial research activities in the country and leading influence on the development of Polish technologies; education to facilitate students and graduates to start their own entrepreneurial activities in the area of deep tech; an effective support system for commercialization of research results and knowledge transfer.
4.
A large, attractive, highly-regarded doctoral school of crucial importance to the University – a significant increase in the number of doctoral students (up to the average European level in terms of population and students) and in the number of supervisors and their soft skills, offer of lectures, access to apparatus, mini-grants for research, international cooperation (e.g. within Unite!) and with the economy, training, development and motivation programs, effective recruitment throughout the country and abroad, increase in the quality of research conducted by and with doctoral students.
OBJECTIVE: 2,000 doctoral students in four sciences (technical, basic, social, medical); internationalization at 10-20% level; doctoral stipends not lower than at other Polish polytechnics; majority of doctoral students involved in externally funded research projects and/or participating in international scientific exchange; regulated access of doctoral students to apparatus at Wroclaw Tech and partner universities; 30-35% of independent research staff (including the vast majority willing and prepared to supervise doctoral dissertations).
5.
Leadership in technical sciences and in interdisciplinary research involving engineering – using the established framework of cooperation with such leaders of the economy as Intel, KGHM, PGE, Orlen/PGNiG, LG, Nokia, or Google, support for the development of new areas of research and the creation of new research teams (including with the participation of students and doctoral students and researchers from different departments and disciplines or other centres), creation of an IT system (using artificial intelligence) for mapping and matching scientific competencies and rules for broad access to research apparatus to facilitate the full involvement of the University’s potential for innovative research in new areas or teams, integration of research centres into the structure of faculties and their role in the implementation of research priorities identified in the Strategy, support for the development of already existing inter- and transdisciplinary areas and promotion of the emergence of new ones, especially at the borderline of engineering and medicine or social sciences, inclusion of ethical and social aspects (e.g. scientific integrity, social responsibility and sustainability, among others).
OBJECTIVE: Development of cooperation with the economy (measured by the number of researchers involved, PhDs, projects, patents, revenue amounts, etc.); nationally leading and comparable to other universities in the Unite! alliance research share (number of researchers, projects, publications, patents, doctoral dissertations, etc.) combining different scientific fields or disciplines; internationally significant interdisciplinary research achievements (citations, plenary lectures, awards, etc.); significant involvement of the University’s researchers and infrastructure in priority research areas (measured by, among others. e.g., relevant attribution of papers, projects and doctorates); achievement of national leadership in specific interdisciplinary areas (e.g., urban, medical, information or environmental technologies) linked to team building, international networking and unique research infrastructure.
6.
Medical College and medical technologies – development of medical staff, increase in the number of students (gradual increase in the enrollment limit for medical faculty and launch of new majors), development of medical infrastructure (e.g., within the framework of HTSH), development of relations with medical universities, institutes and organizations, integration of medicine with technical and basic sciences (joint works and projects), development of med-tech interdisciplinary research, cooperation with clinical units and medical industry.
OBJECTIVE: 300 academics (100 independent, including 50 professors), 2-4 majors (medicine, as well as dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, emergency medicine, etc.), total enrollment limit of 250-300 students; outstanding or positive PKA evaluations, scientific category in medical sciences A or A+ (authorization to grant degrees), other scientific disciplines (e.g. medical biology, health sciences or pharmaceutical sciences – especially drug technology in collaboration with big-pharma); status of a Medical College; cooperation with European academic centres and medical industry; one of the country’s leading centres in medical sciences and a leader in the field of medical technology.
7.
Strong social sciences – development of research staff, creation of new scientific disciplines and new fields of study, integration with technical and science faculties, support for the development of selected areas of humanities, and deep commitment to holistic engineering education.
OBJECTIVE: 200 academics (50 independent, including 20 professors), 2,000 students, A or A+ categories and authorization to award degrees in 2-4 disciplines.