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

, 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 nea ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History

The Polish Academy of Sciences is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning, 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 scien ...

(''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 159 ...

, 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 Towarz ...

(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 Jerzy Duszyński may refer to: * Jerzy Duszyński (actor) Jerzy Duszyński (; May 15, 1917–July 23, 1978) was one of the most popular actors in a post-war Poland. He starred in a number of film productions as well as theatrical plays.< ...

(his second term in the post), together with five Vice Presidents: Prof.

Stanisław Czuczwar Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, Prof.

Stanisław Filipowicz Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, Prof.

Paweł Rowiński Paweł Mariusz Rowiński (born 26 February 1965) is a Polish hydrogeologist, hydrodynamicist, geophysicist, full professor at the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Vice-Presiden ...

, 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 Romuald Zabielski (born 25 December 1960) – is a Polish veterinary scientist and professor at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. In 2019 he was appointed Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is a former director of the Kie ...

. 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 Jan Bohdan Dembowski (26 December 1889 – 22 September 1963) was a Polish biologist and academic who was the first President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Biography Dembowski was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia and studied in the Saint ...

*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 ...

*1962–1971: Janusz Groszkowski *1971–1977: Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski *1977–1980: Witold Nowacki *1980–1983: Aleksander Gieysztor *1984–1990: Jan Karol Kostrzewski *1990–1992: Aleksander Gieysztor *1993–1998: Leszek Kuźnicki *1999–2001: Mirosław Mossakowski *2002–2003: Jerzy Kołodziejczak *2003–2006: Andrzej Legocki *2007–2014:

Michał Kleiber Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to: * Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician * Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player * Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel * Michał Heller ...

*2015–2018:

*2019–2022:

*2023–2026: (president-elect)

Marek Konarzewski Marek Konarzewski (born 18 June 1961 in Białystok) – professor of biology, popular-science author, faculty member at the University of Białystok, and corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since October 2022, President-Elect ...

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 The Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology is a Polish scientific research organization and a part of Polish Academy of Sciences headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 1918, it is a leading institution in the country in the field of neurobi ...

* Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics * Museum and Institute of Zoology *

Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition is a Polish agricultural research organization in Jabłonna, near Warsaw, Poland. It is part of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It publishes a journal, '' Journal of Animal and Feed ...

Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (MRI) ( pl, Instytut Biologii Ssaków Polskiej Akademii Nauk) is a research institution located in the heart of Europe’s best preserved lowland forest, Białowieża Forest, Białowie ...

Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Instytut Farmakologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk) is a scientific Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, based in Kraków. Established in 1954 as the Department of Pharmacology of ...

- established, 1954, became an independent institute in 1974; publishes the journal ''Pharmacological Reports''. * Institute of Psychology *

Institute of High Pressure Physics Institute of High Pressure Physics, also known as Unipress (Polish: ''Instytut Wysokich Ciśnień Polskiej Akademii Nauk'') is a scientific institute founded in 1972 by the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). Main fields of activity * Biological m ...

Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center The Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (Polish: ''Centrum Astronomiczne im. Mikołaja Kopernika'') is a Polish scientific research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. It is a leading institution in th ...

* * *

Polish Institute of Physical Chemistry The Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Polish Instytut Chemii Fizycznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk) is one of numerous institutes belonging to the Polish Academy of Sciences. As its name suggests, the institute's prima ...

* Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences in Lodz * Department of Turbine Dynamics and Diagnostics of the Institute of Fluid-flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences * Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences * * Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics, Polish Academy of Sciences *

Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences The Institute for the History of Science was established in 1954 as an institution of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland. Overview The Institute is located in the Staszic Palace in the center of Warsaw, near the Copernicus monument. Among i ...

Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Instytut Nauk Ekonomicznych PAN, abbreviation: INE PAN) is a public Polish research center for economic and business studies. It was founded on December 10, 1980. Its offices are located in ...

Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

Notable members

* Franciszek Bujak, historian * Tomasz Dietl, physicist *

Aleksandra Dunin-Wąsowicz Aleksandra Dunin-Wąsowicz (10 June 1932 – 22 July 2015) was a Polish archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She has published studies, primarily in French, of the development of technology ...

, archaeologist * Zofia Hilczer-Kurnatowska, archaeologist * Maria Janion, scholar, critic and theoretician of literature * Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, paleontologist *

Franciszek Kokot Franciszek Kokot (24 November 1929 – 24 January 2021) was a Polish nephrologist and endocrinologist. He was known as a pioneer of nephrology in Eastern Europe. Kokot was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, having previously served a ...

, nephrologist *

Stanisław Konturek Stanisław Jan Konturek (8 October 1931 – 8 August 2019) was a Polish physiologist and gastroenterologist, a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, and professor of Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum. ...

, 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 Roman Stanisław Jakub Kozłowski (1 February 1889 – 2 May 1977) was a Polish palaeontologist, best known for his work on graptolites. Kozłowski was born in Włocławek, north-west of Warsaw, on 1 February 1889. He studied at universities in Sw ...

, 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 Cen ...

, 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, chemist *

Zenon Mariak Zenon Mariak is a Polish neurosurgeon, researcher, and professor who is currently head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Białystok. He previously served as the Deputy President of the Medical University of Białysto ...

, neurosurgeon, professor * Karol Myśliwiec, archeologist * Witold Nowacki, mathematician (president of the Academy 1978 to 1980) * Czesław Olech, mathematician * Bohdan Paczyński, astrophysicist *

Włodzimierz Ptak Włodzimierz Wojciech Ptak (2 November 1928 – 28 May 2019) was a Polish Immunology, immunologist and microbiologist, professor of Medicine, medical sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, professor ...

, immunologist *

Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska (26 September 1921 – 29 May 2018) was a Polish electronics engineer, academic lecturer, organiser of scientific activities and education. Early life Marianna Sankiewicz was born on 26 September 1921 in Przeroś ...

electronics engineer and academic * Andrzej Schinzel, mathematician * Jan Strelau, psychologist * Piotr Sztompka, sociologist *

Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Joanna Sabina Tokarska-Bakir (born 1958) is a Polish cultural anthropologist, literary scholar, and religious studies scholar. She is a full professor and chair of the ethnic and national relations study at the Polish Academy of Sciences's Instit ...

, anthropologist and religious studies scholar * Andrzej Trautman, physicist * Andrzej Udalski, astrophysicist and astronomer *

Jerzy Vetulani Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani (; 21 January 1936 – 6 April 2017) was a Polish neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, one of t ...

, pharmacologist and neuroscientist *

Jan Woleński Jan Hertrich-Woleński (also known as Jan Woleński; born 21 September 1940) is a Polish philosopher specializing in the history of the Lwów–Warsaw school of logic and in analytic philosophy. He has spent most of his academic career at the J ...

, philosopher * Aleksander Wolszczan, astronomer *

Bernard Zabłocki Bernard Zabłocki (January 1, 1907 in Navahrudak – March 3, 2002 in Delta, British Columbia) was a Polish microbiologist and immunologist. He was a professor at the University of Łódź (since 1950) and a member of the Polish Academy of Scien ...

, microbiologist and immunologist *

Stanisław Zagaja Stanisław Wojciech Zagaja (; 11 May 1925 in Szczurowa, Poland – 17 December 2004 in Skierniewice, Poland) was a Polish pomologist, grower of orchard plants. Professor (since 1963) and director (since 1984) of the Research Institute of Pomology ...

, pomologist, professor and director of Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture

Foreign members

* Aage Bohr, physicist *

Zbyszek Darzynkiewicz Zbigniew (Zbyszek) Darzynkiewicz () (; born May 12, 1936, in Dzisna, Wilno Voivodeship, Poland – died February 28, 2021) was a Polish-American cell biologist active in cancer research and in developing new methods in histochemistry for flow ...

, cell biologist *

Joseph H. Eberly Joseph Henry Eberly is the Professor of Physics and Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester. Education Eberly earned his bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1957 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford University in ...

, 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 activ ...

, 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 Ernst Håkon Jahr (born 4 March 1948) is a Norwegian linguist with about 230 publications, including about 50 books. He is currently (2012) dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of Agder. He was born in Oslo, and to ...

, linguist * Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Polish chemist working at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

* Karl Alexander Müller, physicist *

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus f ...

, mathematician * Carlo Rubbia, physicist *

Peter M. Simons Peter M. Simons, (born 23 March 1950) is a British philosopher and a retired professor of philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. He is known for his work with Kevin Mulligan and Barry Smith on metaphysics and the history of Austrian philosophy ...

, philosopher * Boleslaw Szymanski, computer scientist *

Chen Ning Yang Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge th ...

, physicist * George Zarnecki, art historian

Periodicals

*''

Acta Arithmetica ''Acta Arithmetica'' is a scientific journal of mathematics publishing papers on number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers a ...

'' *''

Acta Ornithologica ''Acta Ornithologica'' is an ornithological scientific periodical published in Poland (two issues per year) by the Polish Academy of Sciences. It is in English with summaries in Polish. It was established in 1933 as ''Acta Ornithologica Musei Zoo ...

'' *'' Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' *'' Acta Physica Polonica'' *'' Annales Zoologici'' *''

Archaeologia Polona ''Archaeologia Polona'' is an academic journal of archaeology published in English annually since 1958 by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The journal focuses on contemporary archaeology with particula ...

'' *'' Fundamenta Mathematicae''

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

History

Leadership

Institutes

Notable members

Foreign members

Periodicals

See also

References

External links