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The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, formerly GUT; ) is a public
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland. Founded in 1904 and re-established in 1945, it is the oldest university of technology in modern-day Poland. It is consistently ranked among the leading universities in the country. The university comprises eight academic faculties that provide higher education in 40 fields of study across 14 scientific disciplines. Its campus, located in the Wrzeszcz borough of Gdańsk, covers an area of . As of 2023, the university had 15,622 students, including 11,490 undergraduates, 3,644 postgraduates and 488 doctoral students. The Gdańsk University of Technology has an international institutional accreditation, EUA-IEP (
European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and the exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of ...
-Institutional Evaluation Programme).


History


Beginnings under Emperor Wilhelm II (

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
, 1899–1918)

On 16 March 1899, following a decision by
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
, deputies of the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
approved the establishment of a technical university in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, then part of
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. was appointed as the chief designer of the university. Construction commenced in 1900 and was completed in four years. The university buildings were designed in the
Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...
style with elements of
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
. The ceremonial inauguration took place on 6 October 1904, when the institution was named the ''Royal Institute of Technology in Gdańsk'' (). In that same year, 189 students enrolled. By 1914, the number of regular students had grown to 675. The university remained operational during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.


Growth during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
(
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
, 1918–1933)

After the end of World War I, the university became part of the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
. In 1918, it was renamed the ''Technical University of the Free City of Danzig'' (). In agreement with the newly established
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
, Free City authorities introduced a Polish language course and lectures on Polish economic geography, and provided the necessary textbooks and teaching aids to the Polish students. All foreign students, except
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
, were required to present a passport. This period saw a considerable increase in the number of students: in the winter semester of 1922, their number reached 1,651; by 1929, it was 1,630; and in 1933, it was 1,548. While German students constituted the majority, there was a significant minority of Polish students, along with Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Yugoslav, Estonian, and Jewish students.


German Nazi takeover (

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
, 1933–1939)

The takeover of power in the Free City of Danzig by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in 1933 resulted in the forced retirement of older professors and the dismissal or suspension of Jewish students. Nearly all student organisations were dissolved and replaced by the obligatory
National Socialist German Students' League The National Socialist German Students' Union ( German: ''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund'', abbreviated NSDStB) was founded in 1926 as a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating University-level education and ...
. In 1934, , a member of the NSDAP, was appointed as the rector of the university. By 1939, Pohlhausen had dismissed all Polish and Jewish students and staff.


World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, 1939–1945)

At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the city of Gdańsk had been annexed into the
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. The university was subjected to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
authorities in 1941, resulting in the introduction of stricter regulations. The number of students and staff decreased significantly during the war, and by 1944, the university had been converted into a 3000-bed hospital, with much of its valuable equipment and documents evacuated to Germany.


Re-establishment after the war (

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...
, 1945–1989)

In January 1945, as Gdańsk became part of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, preparations began for the Polish re-establishment of the university. By a decree on 24 May 1945, the university was transformed into a Polish state academic institution, and the first staff, mainly from
Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
and
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
universities, began work. Despite difficult conditions, learning commenced on 22 October 1945, with the official inauguration taking place on 9 April 1946. The re-establishment was supervised by , a Polish mathematician and former inmate of German Nazi concentration camps. In the 1960s and 1970s, the university expanded, adding new buildings and increasing its student population. By the late 1980s, the university had grown to include several faculties and thousands of students, continuing its development and contribution to higher education in Poland.


Rise in modern times ( Third Polish Republic, 1989–present)

The year 1989 marked an end of communism in Poland, with the creation of
Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
on the Gdańsk coast playing a crucial role. Employees, students and graduates of Gdańsk University of Technology such as Andrzej Gwiazda were actively involved in these transformative events, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Poland as a democratic state with a market economy. In response to the fall of communism in Poland, the Gdańsk University of Technology underwent significant organisational and infrastructural transformations between 1990 and 2010. Infrastructure expansions included new laboratories and facilities funded by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, such as the Nanotechnology Centre, the Pomerania Centre of Advanced Technologies, and modern educational spaces, alongside the introduction of three-cycle degree studies (BSc, MSc, PhD), the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), and a quality assurance system.


Location

The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech) is located in Gdańsk, situated at the mouth of the
Vistula River The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...
on the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
. The Main Campus is situated in the centre of old Wrzeszcz. The campus is located on Narutowicza Street.


Interior

The main building, designed by Hermann Eggertt and , was built between 1900 and 1904. All the buildings were designed in the style of the
Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...
with elements of
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
. The images above the eastern side gate are a lighthouse and the tower of St. Mary's Church. The ornamental gutters are decorated with copper spouts in the shape of four male figures holding water monsters. The Clock Tower destroyed in 1945 was restored to the roof of the main building on 13 May 2012. The tower is 18 metres in height. The main building encloses inner courtyards that were covered by glass domes. In 2012, the South Courtyard was officially renamed in honour of
Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish: * * * * * * * Some sources refer to Hevelius as German: * * * * *of the Royal Society * (in German also known as ''Hevel''; ; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor and mayor of Danz ...
. It is named after the French physicist who first performed a similar experiment at the Paris Pantheon in 1851. The Foucault pendulum is designed to show the rotation of the Earth on its axis. An electromagnet fixed at the point of suspension powers the movement of the pendulum. Reliefs in the window niches above the
Foucault pendulum The Foucault pendulum or Foucault's pendulum is a simple device named after French physicist Léon Foucault, conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. If a long and heavy pendulum suspended from the high roof above a circu ...
show the design of a reflective
sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
(on the left) and a rotating map of the sky with a sextant.


Faculties

The university's faculties are: *Faculty of Architecture *Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics *Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering *Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics *Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering *Faculty of Mechanical Engineering *Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology *Faculty of Management and Economics


Chemical Faculty

The Chemical Faculty was one of the four original faculties of the university and one of five faculties that began operational research and teaching in 1945 as a result of the decree by the Polish government transforming technical universities active in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
since 1904 into the Polish Gdańsk University of Technology. At the faculty, there are projects financed by the State Committee for Scientific Research and the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
. The ''Centre of Excellence in Environmental Analysis and Monitoring'' operates within the faculty. Additionally, there are research programmes financed by the European Commission under the EU’s V and VI framework programmes.


Academic Computer Centre

The Academic Computer Centre in Gdańsk (CI TASK) has operated since 1992 under an agreement between the Tri-City’s chief higher education institutions. It was initially established to serve all higher education establishments and local branches of the
Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...
.


Library

The library holds over a million volumes, including electronic publications. It features 16 reading rooms and has contributed to the development of the Universal Library.


Notable alumni

*
Bodo von Borries Bodo von Borries (born 22 May 1905 in Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany — died 17 July 1956 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia) was a German physicist. He was the co-inventor of the electron microscope. Von Borries studied electrical e ...
(1905–1956), German physicist, co-inventor of
electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...
* Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (1936-2021), naval engineer, first woman to have sailed single-handed (i.e. solo) around the world *
Zygmunt Choreń Zygmunt Choreń (born 1941) is a Polish naval architect and the proprietor of the naval architectural firm Choreń Design and Consulting. He is a graduate of the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Leningrad Ship-Building Institute. He w ...
(born 1941), naval architect * Jaroslaw Drelich (1957), surface engineer, professor at the Michigan Technological University *
Abraham Esau Robert Abraham Esau (7 June 1884 – 12 May 1955) was a German physicist. After receipt of his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Esau worked at Telefunken, where he pioneered very high frequency (VHF) waves used in radar, radio, and tele ...
(1884–1955), German physicist * Andrzej Gwiazda (born 1935), anti-communist activist and physicist * Richard B. Hetnarski (born 1928), Polish-American mechanical engineer * Tomasz Imieliński (born 1954), Polish-American computer scientist * Michał Kalecki (1899–1970), Marxian economist, "one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century" * Włodzimierz Julian Korab-Karpowicz (born 1953), philosopher and political theorist * Alar Kotli (1904–1963), Estonian architect *
Janusz Liberkowski Janusz Liberkowski (born March 9, 1953, in Nowa Sól Nowa Sól is a city on the Oder River in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It is the capital of Nowa Sól County and had a population of 38,763 (2019). History The territory became part of ...
(born 1953), inventor * Lâm Quang Mỹ (born 1944), Polish-Vietnamese physicist and poet * Jacek Namieśnik (1949–2019), chemist * Janusz Pawliszyn (born 1954), chemist * Marek Piechocki (born 1961), civil engineer, co-founder of LPP Group * Kazimierz Piechowski (1919–2017), engineer * Krystian Pilarczyk (born 1941), hydraulic engineer * Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska (1921–2018), electronics engineer * Janusz Smulko (born 1964), electronics engineer * Wojciech Szpankowski (born 1952), computer scientist


References


External links


Official website

The buildings of the university
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gdansk University of Technology Universities and colleges in Gdańsk Engineering universities and colleges in Poland Universities and colleges established in 1904 1904 establishments in Germany