Agreement signed for development of Cambridge Polish Studies

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The Polish studies centre at the University of Cambridge, launched in 2014 thanks to the initiative and financial support of the Foundation for Polish Science, has received an endowment from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education ensuring its continued operation. An agreement on the matter was signed on 14 July 2017 between the University of Warsaw, as the coordinator of the venture, and the University of Cambridge.

The agreement enables further development of the Polish studies programme at Cambridge. The new programme will draw on the success of the four-year pilot programme in Polish studies at Cambridge led by Dr Stanley Bill, a specialist in Polish literature and culture. Cambridge Polish Studies, launched in 2014 with financial support of the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), offers the possibility of studying the language, literature, art and culture of Poland with attention also to social and political affairs. According to FNP vice-president Prof. Włodzimierz Bolecki, ?Graduates of Polish studies will know the Polish language and will have extensive knowledge of Polish culture and history?including the distant past. We now have a serious shortage of such people.?

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From left: FNP vice-president Prof. Włodzimierz Bolecki, Prof. Robert Sucharski, dean of the Faculty of Artes Liberales at the University of Warsaw, Prof. Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Prof. Marcin Pałys, rector of the University of Warsaw, and Dr Maciej Duszczyk, vice-rector for research at the University of Warsaw, at the ceremonial signing of the agreement.

 

Cambridge Polish Studies is the second such initiative by the Foundation for Polish Science, after Columbia University in New York, aimed at establishing Polish studies departments at prestigious foreign universities. Thanks to FNP?s efforts, the centre has funds assured for its further functioning, as the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education has transferred endowment funds to Cambridge in the amount of PLN 15 million and named the University of Warsaw as a partner for the centre at Cambridge.

On 14 July 2017 the agreement was signed by Prof. Włodzimierz Bolecki, vice-president of the Foundation for Polish Science, Prof. Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and Prof. Marcin Pałys, rector of the University of Warsaw.

According to Dr Maciej Duszczyk, vice-rector for research at the University of Warsaw, ?The continued operation of the Polish studies programme at the University of Cambridge is an opportunity for both sides to develop cooperation in teaching and research. Defining the form of this cooperation will be one of the tasks of the advisory board made up of representatives of the University of Cambridge, the University of Warsaw, and the Foundation for Polish Science.?

Prof. Martin Millett, head of the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cambridge, commented: ?We are delighted to be strengthening this relationship with our colleagues in Poland, which is not only of strategic importance to the University of Cambridge, but of significant import at this time in the history of Europe.?

Pictured (top), seated from left: Prof. Włodzimierz Bolecki, vice-president of the Foundation for Polish Science, Prof. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Prof. Marcin Pałys, rector of the University of Warsaw