Results of the Polish Press Agency and Ministry of Science competition for science popularisers

The results of the 10th edition of the competition were announced on Monday in Warsaw. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Science and Higher Education Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, who emphasised that popularisers "show us the beauty of science" and "open the door to science".

Kolarska-Bobińska recalled a meeting of European ministers of science, organized recently in Brussels. The topic of the meeting was the democratisation of science, she explained. "It emphasised said that science is subservient to the public (...), that public money is being spent on science (...) and it is expected that the results of (scientific research) will be known, accessible" - emphasized Kolarska-Bobińska.

"Promotion of science moved from the side of the track to the mainstream. Today, you can not practice science without reporting the results and without the promotion of science. This is exactly what you are doing, and we are very grateful" - said the minister, addressing the participants of the competition.

Kolarska-Bobińska noted that "the new approach raises the expectations and demands on scientists" who should provide information about their studies and their results to the public "in a clear, accessible manner".

Lidia Sobańska, acting President of the Polish Press Agency, who welcomed the guests at the gala on Monday, said: "Science is a difficult, but extremely important and interesting field, the key to the future. We should and we need to invest in science, because it gives us a chance to build a competitive, knowledge-based economy". "It would be difficult for us to understand the scientific definitions, research, achievements, if not for all those who are involved in popularising scientific issues" - she pointed out.

The fact that "part of the mission of the scholar should be the duty to clearly, accessibly talk about his achievements" was emphasized during the ceremony by President of the Polish Academy of Sciences and chairman of the competition jury, Prof. Michał Kleiber. He expressed satisfaction that the number of nominations for the Science Populariser Awards increases from year to year.

Science Populariser competition awards individuals and institutions that help others better understand the world and make them interested in scientific developments. This year, nearly 70 candidates were proposed for the competition. The winners were selected in four basic categories: Individual Populariser; Scientific Institution; Non-scientific Institution, and Media.

Candidates also competed for the awards in the following categories: Science on the Internet for online popularising activity, and Popularisation Sponsor for the company or person who financially supports the popularisation activity. The winners were selected by a jury chaired by the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Michał Kleiber.

This year’s winner in the Individual Populariser - Scientist category was Dr. Robert Mysłajek, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw.

The award in the Individual Populariser - Popularisation Animator category went to Michał Szydłowski, also known as Pan Korek (Mr. Cork). The winner encourages others to pursue scientific interests by visiting schools, festivals and businesses with his explosive experiments.

Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw was awarded in the Scientific Institution category. The institute is the leader of the project EDUSCIENCE, which carries out the activities including broadcasts for schools from the Polish Polar Station in Hornsund, Spitsbergen, science festivals and picnics organized in schools, classes for students in observatories.

Winner in the Non-scientific Institution category was the EcoLogical Group (Grupa EkoLogiczna). It’s objectives include not only to protect wild animals and their habitats (especially birds: stork, peregrine falcon, barn owl, long-eared owl), but also the dissemination of knowledge on the subject.

The award in the Media category went to Piotr Cieśliński, head of Science department of "Gazeta Wyborcza". He has been writing for "GW" for over two decades. Through his work, the newspaper is always up to date with important scientific developments.

Wszechnica.org.pl received the award in the Science on the Internet category. The website was created on the initiative of the Rural Development Foundation. Its purpose is to disseminate knowledge of different fields of science, politics and everyday life among active rural population.

Winner in the Popularisation Sponsor category was the PZU Foundation. Since January 2012 the foundation is a strategic partner of the Polish Children\'s Fund and participates in the support scheme for very talented children. In 2014 the foundation also became a strategic partner of the finals of the prestigious European Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS 2014) organized in Warsaw.

Editors of PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland granted special Tomasz Trzciński Award for the benchmark information policy to Katarzyna Dziedzik, spokeswoman of the University of Białystok.

The jury decided to grant two Special Awards: to the editorial team of bimonthly " Urania - Postępy Astronomii" (Urania - Progress of Astronomy) and to Dr. Hanna Krajewska, director of the Archives of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

On the occasion of the 10th edition of the competition, editorial team of PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland also granted Anniversary Awards. One of them went to Prof. Michał Kleiber, who was one of the initiators of the competition and long-standing chairman of the jury. The recipient of the second Anniversary Award was Prof. Magdalena Fikus, biologist and promoter of science, who for years had been actively participating in the work of the jury.

Previous winners of the competition include: philosopher of nature Fr. Prof. Michael Heller, neuroscientist Prof. Jerzy Vetulani, author of popular science television programs ed. Wiktor Niedzicki, archaeologist Prof. Andrzej Kokowski, as well as institutions such as the Copernicus Science Centre, Polish Academy of Kids and the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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