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
- I BELIEVE IN THE RESEARCH POTENTIAL OF OUR UNIVERSITY'S STAFF — Interview with Professor Wojciech Nowak by Rita Pagacz-Moczarska
- THE GRAND JUBILEES OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Piotr Laidler — A HUGE INVESTMENT FOR A GRAND JUBILEE: AN INDISPENSABLE STEP IN THE GROWTH OF UNIVERSITY MEDICINE AT KRAKÓW
- Marek Stankiewicz and Emilia Król — WAITING FOR SOLARIS, THE POLISH SYNCHROTRON LIGHT SOURCE
- Kazimierz Strzałka — THE MAŁOPOLSKA CENTRE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY: A NEW RESEARCH UNIT AT THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Tomasz Pyrcz — THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
- THE JAGIELLONIAN CENTRE OF INNOVATION (JCI)
- Marek Jeżabek, Stanisław Kistryn, Adam Maj, Paweł Olko, and Elżbieta Stephan — THE BRONOWICE CYCLOTRON CENTRE
- Maciej Kowalczyk — THE KRAKÓW CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- IN THE WORLD OF POLYMERS — Interview with Professor Szczepan Zapotoczny by Anna Wojnar
- Interview with Dr. Anna Waszkielewicz by Anna Wojnar — STAFF OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF PHARMACY ARE DEVELOPING A NEW PAIN KILLER
- DISCOVERING MAYA SECRETS
- Wiesław Koszkul and Jarosław Źrałka — IN SEARCH OF SIGNS OF THE FIRST MAYA PEOPLE
- Antoni Jackowski — THE ORIGINS OF GEOGRAPHY AT THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Jerzy Bystrowski and Marcin Gabryś — IT ALL STARTED WITH COPERNICUS...
- SOME OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY'S VISITORS
- Krzysztof Ożóg — ARCHIVAL TREASURES OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- LUCI DI NARA
- Zdzisław Pietrzyk — THE SZEMBEK ILLUMINATED CHARTER
- JUBILEE EXHIBITIONS
- SAINT JOHN PAUL II
- Krzysztof Stopka — JOHN PAUL II AND HIS CONNECTION WITH THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Franciszek Ziejka — JOHN PAUL II AND POLISH ACADEMIA
- Stanisław Dziedzic — GOD'S ROMANTIC
- Jerzy Duda — STAMP COLLECTORS' CURIOSITIES
- THE 650th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSECRATION OF WAWEL CATHEDRAL
- Franciszek Ziejka — THE 650th ANNIVERSARY OF THE KRAKÓW CONGRESS OF MONARCHS OF EUROPE
- Jacek Purchla — KRAKÓW WITH RESPECT TO EUROPE
- Rita Pagacz-Moczarska — KRAKÓW, UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE
- Franciszek Ziejka — NATIONAL PANTHEONS IN EUROPE
- FAMOUS BURIAL GROUNDS WHERE DISTINGUISHED POLISH WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND SCHOLARS HAVE BEEN LAID TO REST
- Rita Pagacz-Moczarska — AN EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA
- Anna Jasińska — THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
- THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY 'S MUSEUMS
- THE JU ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
- Jerzy Walocha — THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ENGLISH
- ON AN ERASMUS SCHOLARSHIP — Interview with Lenka Kohutova, Klaudia Andraškova, Jana Čederlova, Gena Kotlarova, and Roman Kozhuszko, by Małgorzata Sypniewska
- Joanna Wardęga — THE KRAKÓW CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE
- ASTEROID 376574 NAMED AFTER JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT MICHAŁ KUSIAK
- UNIVERSITY MEANS MORE THAN STUDY
- DOCTORAL STUDENTS
- THREE ACADEMIC CHOIRS
- THE SŁOWIANKI ENSEMBLE
- Dariusz Mazur, Paweł Stypka, and Konrad Wełpa — SPORT AT THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Dorota Palik — SPORT IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE
- Ireneusz Białek — EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT AT THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY
- Ewa Owsiany — THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY GRADUATES' ASSOCIATION
- Ewa Piłat — UNIVERSITY FOR AMBITIOUS SENIOR STUDENTS
- Rafał Kiszka — LITTLE TUSCANY
- Jan Wiktor Tkaczyński — LET NOT ONLY STONES SPEAK...