Minister of Science: quality of research and innovation are the priorities
Supporting the participation of science in economic development, improving the quality of research and helping students enter the labour market are the priorities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Head of the Ministry, Lena Kolarska-Bobińska presented the priorities to the Sejm last Wednesday.
The Minister emphasised that science and higher education play a key role in the social and economic development of Poland. Therefore, research should be conducted at the highest level, also compared to international standards. The quality of research is - as Kolarska-Bobińska reminded - is a basic condition for Polish scientists who apply for grants and participation in international research projects.
"We signed the Pact for Horizon 2020 with universities and institutes. It is a program designed to activate the state administration, our agencies, but also universities and research community in the pursuit of the maximum amount of grants. So far, we have not been obtaining a lot of them" - said the Minister.
She added that now would be the time to very actively pursue grants, because the funds that the European Union currently allocates to research projects are the largest in history.
She reported that the Pact for Horizon 2020 had been signed by 340 universities and research units.
Kolarska-Bobińska also reminded that the government is planning changes in the financing of scientific institutions. Work is underway on a new, more objective way of evaluating research units. This assessment will be the basis for financing their activities.
The ministry will also endeavour to make science the engine of innovation and economic development. For this purpose, it will provide financial support to researchers, universities and inventors who try to market their innovative ideas. "In November, we will sign a very large innovation cooperation project with the United States" - she added.
Another goal of the ministry is to ensure that university studies give better preparation for work. For this purpose, the ministry introduced the possibility of the so-called dual education that combines theoretical studies with practical courses.
Kolarska-Bobińska also spoke about salary increases for researchers, third round of which will be implemented next year.
The Minister also mentioned the plan to launch the programme "Polish Erasmus for Ukraine", in which Poland will fund 550 scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students from Ukraine. "This is a big programme. We really want to launch it. We remember how much Erasmus scholarships, but also scholarships from other countries and American fellowships meant for us when we were building our democratic system" - she said.
Detailed plans of the Ministry of Science for the next year will be published on the ministry website.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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