Meeting of the Vice-Rector for Science and International Cooperation with the Deputy Minister of Science
A meeting was held between Professor Bartosz Sołowiej, PhD, DSc, ProfTit, Vice-Rector for Science and International Cooperation and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, PhD, Deputy Minister of Science, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Warsaw on 26 February 2025.
The discussion focused on broadly understood scientific research conducted in agricultural, engineering and veterinary sciences, covering both basic and applied research, as well as its impact on the development of science and the economy, the implementation of scientific projects in cooperation with local and foreign universities, entrepreneurs and the popularisation of knowledge in tasks commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. They also discussed the evaluation of scientific achievements, i.e. the process of assessing the research output of scientific institutions, taking into account, among other things, the number and quality of scientific publications, patents, implementations, international and national research cooperation, and the impact of research results on the socio-economic environment. Vice-Rector Bartosz Sołowiej also raised the role of scientific achievements leading to new knowledge discoveries or solutions that are significant for the development of a given field. A scientific achievement is not only a publication in a prestigious journal, but above all a real solution to a scientific problem or a breakthrough technology. Hence the need for longer evaluation of the scientific activities of research and teaching units in the future, including research carried out, for example, by natural and agricultural universities, so that they are not afraid to take on difficult challenges and, as a consequence, make breakthrough discoveries that form the basis for the development of science and innovation.
There was also a discussion about the continuation of the implementation of the joint task of natural science universities ‘Research network of natural science universities for the development of the Polish dairy sector – research project’. Bartosz Sołowiej, PhD, DSc, ProfTit, as the leader of the above-mentioned task and coordinator of the 6 natural and agricultural universities, presented the aim and research areas within the ‘SUP-RIM Network’ task, as well as talked about the realised activities of the universities involved in the project. During the meeting, the research plans for the next years of the universities constituting the ‘Network’ were discussed, as well as the possibilities of popularising knowledge, e.g. thanks to a very large audience, the continuation of the ‘Food Matters’ programme realised for the Polish Television S.A. – TVP2 (also available on TVP Nauka, TV Polonia, TVP3, TVP VOD and the Onet/MedOnet portal), as well as future media activities of universities of science and agriculture.
In addition, the conversation focused on the participation of Deputy Minister of Science Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, PhD, in events soon organised by the University of Life Sciences in Lublin: The Conference of Vice-Rectors for Science of Life Sciences and Agricultural Universities, chaired by Vice-Rector Bartosz Sołowiej, PhD, DSc, ProfTit, and the Opening of the Centre for Plant Phenomics with the first and only system in Poland for fully automated, multidimensional phenotyping of plants.
Photo: Private archive of Bartosz Sołowiej, PhD, DSc, ProfTit
