2014 will be remembered in Kraków's and Poland's academic community as a very special year. It's the Jubilee year of the Jagiellonian University: 650 years have passed since the foundation of Poland's oldest University; and Karol Wojtyła, Pope John Paul II – one of its most distinguished alumni – is being raised to the glory of the altars...

The paramount role that the Polish Pope's Alma Mater played in his life, and the intimacy of the links that bound him to his University, are shown in many of his statements and in his meetings with the staff and students of the Jagiellonian University. Not surprisingly, its authorities wanted to express their gratitude for those links by attending his canonisation ceremony in St. Peter's Square in Rome, celebrated on 27th April this year. The Jagiellonian University was represented by its Rector, Professor Wojciech Nowak, and Vice-Rectors, Professors Stanisław Kistryn, Piotr Laidler, and Andrzej Mania, and two former Rectors, Professor Franciszek Ziejka and Professor Karol Musioł.

In this jubilee edition of Alma Mater we show the Jagiellonian University's legacy and its most prized treasures, and recall the celebrations for the Jubilees of 1900, 1964, and 2000, emphasising the special status of its location in Kraków, the city regarded as Poland's cultural capital. But we also present the Jagiellonian University as it is today, with nearly 50 thousand students in 15 faculties, and look ahead to the growth and development which its future promises.

We hope you will find the articles and photos in this special issue both a tribute to the highlights in the Jagiellonian University's historic past on the occasion of the Jubilee celebrating its 650th year, as well as a picture of today's University building up its future inspired by a glorious past...

Rita Pagacz-Moczarska

Chief Editor

May 166 / 2014