The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of

higher learning ''Higher Learning'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams ( Omar Epp ...

. Headquartered in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars and a network of research institutes. It was established in 1951, during the early period of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

The Polish Academy of Sciences is a Polish state-sponsored institution of

, headquartered in

, that was established by the merger of earlier science societies, including the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scie ...

(''Polska Akademia Umiejętności'', abbreviated ''PAU''), with its seat in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, and the

Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning The Warsaw Society of Friends of Science ( pl, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, ''TPN'') was one of the earliest Polish scientific societies, active in Warsaw from 1800 to 1832. Name The Society was also known as ''Warszawskie Królewskie Towarzyst ...

(Science), which had been founded in the late 18th century. The Polish Academy of Sciences functions as a learned society acting through an elected assembly of leading scholars and research institutions. The Academy has also, operating through its committees, become a major scientific advisory body. Another aspect of the Academy is its coordination and overseeing of numerous (several dozen)

research institutes A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

. PAN institutes employ over 2,000 people and are funded by about a third of the Polish government's budget for science.Ustawa z dnia 30 kwietnia 2010 r. o Polskiej Akademii Nauk.

Leadership

The Polish Academy of Sciences is led by a President, elected by the assembly of Academy members for a four-year term, together with a number of Vice Presidents. The President for the 2019–2022 term was Prof. Jerzy Duszyński (his second term in the post), together with five Vice Presidents: Prof. Stanisław Czuczwar, Prof. Stanisław Filipowicz, Prof. Paweł Rowiński, Prof.

Roman Słowiński Roman Słowiński (born 16 March 1952) is a Polish computer scientist and professor. Since 2019 he has been Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is a Professor and Founding Chair of thLaboratory of Intelligent Decision Support ...

, and Prof. Romuald Zabielski. On 20 October 2022, General Assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences elected Prof. Marek Konarzewski to become the new President of the Academy for the 2023–2026 term. All the Presidents of the Polish Academy of Sciences to date, by term, are as follows: *1952–1956: Jan Bohdan Dembowski *1957–1962:

Tadeusz Kotarbiński Tadeusz Marian Kotarbiński (; 31 March 1886 – 3 October 1981) was a Polish philosopher, logician and ethicist. A pupil of Kazimierz Twardowski, he was one of the most representative figures of the Lwów–Warsaw School, and a member of the P ...

*1962–1971:

Janusz Groszkowski Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People *Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter *Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pri ...

*1971–1977:

Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski (February 25, 1906 in Grodzisk Wielkopolski – November 13, 1982) was a Polish chemist, physicist and mathematician. An institute in Wrocław, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a countr ...

*1977–1980:

Witold Nowacki Prof Witold Nowacki HFRSE PPAS (1911–1986) was a Polish mathematician and expert on the mechanics of elasticity and thermoelasticity. He served as President of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 1978 to 1980 and was the first President of the So ...

*1980–1983:

Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Po ...

*1984–1990:

Jan Karol Kostrzewski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

*1990–1992:

*1993–1998:

Leszek Kuźnicki Leszek () is a Slavic Polish male given name, originally ''Lestko'', ''Leszko'' or ''Lestek'', related to ''Lech'', ''Lechosław'' and Czech ''Lstimir''. Individuals named Leszek celebrate their name day on June 3. Notable people * Lestko * ...

*1999–2001:

Mirosław Mossakowski Mirosław may refer to: People * Mirosław (given name), a Polish given name of Slavic origin Places * Gmina Mirosławiec, an urban-rural gmina in Wałcz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland * Mirosławice (disambiguation), several plac ...

*2002–2003:

Jerzy Kołodziejczak Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peopl ...

*2003–2006:

Andrzej Legocki Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ...

*2007–2014: Michał Kleiber *2015–2018: Jerzy Duszyński *2019–2022: Jerzy Duszyński *2023–2026: (president-elect) Marek Konarzewski

Institutes

Gdańsk Library of Polish Academy of Sciences 2015 001

The Polish Academy of Sciences has numerous institutes, including: * Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy * Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology *

Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics Bohdan may refer to: * Bohdan, a Slavic masculine name, a variant spelling of Bogdan (which includes a list of people named Bohdan as well as Bogdan) * Bohdan, Podlaskie Voivodeship Bohdan is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dob ...

Notable members

Franciszek Bujak Franciszek Bujak (16 August 1875, in Maszkienice near Brzesko – 21 March 1953, in Kraków) was a Polish academic and historian of economic, political and social history of Poland. He served as professor of the Jagiellonian University twice, in ...

, historian *

Tomasz Dietl Tomasz is a Polish given name, the equivalent of Thomas in English. Notable people with the given name include: * Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish heavyweight boxer *Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), Polish socialist politician and Prime Mini ...

, physicist * Aleksandra Dunin-Wąsowicz, archaeologist * Zofia Hilczer-Kurnatowska, archaeologist *

Maria Janion Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, scholar, critic and theoretician of literature *

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska (25 April 1925 – 13 March 2015) was a Polish paleobiologist. In the mid-1960s, she led a series of Polish-Mongolian paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert. She was the first woman to serve on the executive commit ...

, paleontologist * Franciszek Kokot, nephrologist * Stanisław Konturek, physician *

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, '' Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976 ...

, philosopher * Roman Kozłowski, paleontologist *

Jacek Leociak Jacek Leociak (born 2 June 1957, in Warsaw) is a Polish literary scholar and historian as well as author. He is a professor of humanities and an employee of the Institute of Literary Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Cent ...

, literary scholar *

Wanda Leopold Wanda Leopold (13 October 1920 – 8 October 1977) was a Polish author, medical doctor, and social science activist known for her study of English writings beginning in West Africa, specifically Nigeria. A translator as well as a literary critic, ...

, author, translator, and literature critic *

Mieczysław Mąkosza Mieczysław Józef Mąkosza (born 16 November 1934) is a Polish chemist specializing in organic synthesis and investigation of organic mechanisms. Along with Jerzy Winiarski he is credited for the discovery of the aromatic vicarious nucleophilic ...

, chemist * Zenon Mariak, neurosurgeon, professor *

Karol Myśliwiec Karol Myśliwiec (born 3 November 1943) is a Polish egyptologist, known for his ongoing efforts at Saqqara to discover the tomb of Imhotep. Career Karol Myśliwiec studied Mediterranean archeology at Warsaw University under Kazimierz Michałowski ...

, archeologist *

, mathematician (president of the Academy 1978 to 1980) *

Czesław Olech Czesław Olech (22 May 1931 – 1 July 2015) was a Polish mathematician. He was a representative of the Kraków school of mathematics, especially the differential equations school of Tadeusz Ważewski. Education and career In 1954 he completed ...

, mathematician *

Bohdan Paczyński Bohdan Paczyński or Bohdan Paczynski (8 February 1940 – 19 April 2007) was a Polish astronomer notable in the theory of the stellar evolution, accretion discs, and gamma ray bursts. Life Paczyński was born on 8 February 1940 in Vilnius, L ...

, astrophysicist * Włodzimierz Ptak, immunologist * Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska electronics engineer and academic * Andrzej Schinzel, mathematician *

Jan Strelau Jan Strelau (born 30 May 1931 in Gdańsk; died 4 August 2020 in Warsaw) was a Polish psychologist best known for his studies on temperament. He was professor of psychology at Warsaw University from 1968 to 2001 and was since 2001 professor at ...

, psychologist *

Piotr Sztompka Piotr Sztompka (born 2 March 1944, in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish sociologist known for his work on the theory of social trust. He is professor of sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and has also frequently served as vi ...

, sociologist * Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, anthropologist and religious studies scholar * Andrzej Trautman, physicist *

Andrzej Udalski Andrzej Jarosław Udalski (born 22 January 1957 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish people, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist, and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw. He is also head of the Department of Observat ...

, astrophysicist and astronomer * Jerzy Vetulani, pharmacologist and neuroscientist * Jan Woleński, philosopher *

Aleksander Wolszczan Aleksander Wolszczan (born 29 April 1946) is a Polish astronomer. He is the co-discoverer of the first confirmed extrasolar planets and pulsar planets. Early life and education Wolszczan was born on 29 April 1946 in Szczecinek located in pre ...

, astronomer * Bernard Zabłocki, microbiologist and immunologist * Stanisław Zagaja, pomologist, professor and director of Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture

Foreign members

Aage Bohr Aage Niels Bohr (; 19 June 1922 – 8 September 2009) was a Danish nuclear physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1975 with Ben Roy Mottelson and James Rainwater "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and pa ...

, physicist * Zbyszek Darzynkiewicz, cell biologist * Joseph H. Eberly, physicist *

Erol Gelenbe Sami Erol Gelenbe (born 22 August 1945, in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish and French computer scientist, electronic engineer and applied mathematician who pioneered the field of Computer System and Network Performance in Europe, and is active ...

, computer scientist and engineer *

Martin Hairer Sir Martin Hairer (born 14 November 1975) is an Austrian-British mathematician working in the field of stochastic analysis, in particular stochastic partial differential equations. He is Professor of Mathematics at EPFL (École Polytechnique F ...

, mathematician * Jack K. Hale, mathematician * Stephen T. Holgate, immunopharmacologist (2001) * Ernst Håkon Jahr, linguist *

Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Krzysztof "Kris" Matyjaszewski (; born April 8, 1950) is a Polish-American chemist. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University Matyjaszewski is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical ...

, Polish chemist working at Carnegie Mellon University * Karl Alexander Müller, physicist * Roger Penrose, mathematician *

Carlo Rubbia Carlo Rubbia (born 31 March 1934) is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. Early life and educa ...

, physicist * Peter M. Simons, philosopher * Boleslaw Szymanski, computer scientist * Chen Ning Yang, physicist * George Zarnecki, art historian

Periodicals

*''

Acta Arithmetica ''Acta Arithmetica'' is a scientific journal of mathematics publishing papers on number theory. It was established in 1935 by Salomon Lubelski and Arnold Walfisz. The journal is published by the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sc ...

'' *'' Acta Ornithologica'' *''

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal of paleontology and paleobiology. It was established by Roman Kozłowski in 1956. It is published by the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy ...

'' *'' Acta Physica Polonica'' *''

Annales Zoologici ''Annales Zoologici'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of systematic zoology. Established in 1951, it is published by the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academ ...

'' *'' Archaeologia Polona'' *''

Fundamenta Mathematicae ''Fundamenta Mathematicae'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics with a special focus on the foundations of mathematics, concentrating on set theory, mathematical logic, topology and its interactions with algebra, and dynamical sys ...

References

External links

PAN website
(click on British flag icon for English-language content) {{Authority control National academies of sciences National academies of arts and humanities 1952 establishments in Poland Educational institutions established in 1952 Scientific organizations established in 1952 Members of the International Council for Science Members of the International Science Council