The new President of the PAS believes in excellence, open competitions, no celebrities

Prof. Jerzy Duszyński was elected President of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the period 2015-2018 by the members of the General Assembly of the Academy. He took office on April 9, replacing Prof. Michał Kleiber.

In an interview with PAP Duszyński outlined the main principles that he wants to follow in his role as President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Firstly, he wants to focus on scientific excellence. "The Academy can and should play an important role in promoting scientific excellence in Poland" - said Prof. Duszyński. He explained that in the huge flood of scientific papers "only few are innovative and creative, papers published in the best international scientific journals, papers, which are widely recognized by the scientific community, which are frequently cited and discussed at international conferences". And - in his opinion - precisely these great papers are a source of real innovation and breakthroughs and set high scientific position of the country. President of the Polish Academy of Sciences wants to "absolutely take into account" scientific excellence when making his decision.

Another objective of the new President of the Academy is to ensure possibly broad and open access to scientific institutions. "We have a problem with that" - he believes. He explained that in advancement procedures at individual institutions, winners are usually employees of the institution or those living locally. However, he noted, it should be ensured that "recruitment for positions, especially in the early stages of career, is truly open to all talented and motivated people, regardless of where they come from". "Talents are born everywhere with the same intensity. Employment of as many talented and motivated people as possible is the foundation of success of science in the country" - said the President of the PAS. He assured that he would see to it that truly open, preferably international competitions for every scientific position are held, and that the best win them, not the best known.

"The third principle, by which I will be guided, is no celebrities, partnership of all members of the research team, regardless of their positions or titles. Only partnership allows to release the full potential of the team. And in Polish science we need all hands on deck" - said Duszyński.

President of the Academy of Sciences reported that on the occasion of the nomination he discussed the future of the Academy with Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz. During the meeting he was told that the PAS is an important institution, but it requires big changes. "And I deeply agree with both statements. I will make every effort to confirm that the PAS is an important institution in the country and in Europe, which changes as required by the new challenges" - he emphasised.

He added, however, that introducing changes does not always require new legislation. "I think that we should work within the existing legal regulations. We should not wait for a change in the law. Introduction of a new law is a process lasting at least two years, and we can not waste those two years" - he explained. He noted, however, that experiences and proposals for amending the Law on the Polish Academy of Sciences should be collected.

According to Prof. Duszyński, it is already clear that certain legal changes are needed, for example with regard to oversight mechanisms over individual institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. "The authorities of the Academy do not have a major influence on the functioning of the institutes, which have legal personality and are autonomous. We only find out when there is a big problem in the functioning of the institute, and when the problem affects the prestige of the entire Academy. This should change" - he said. "We want to be able to participate in correcting irregularities at much earlier stages. And not only at the time there’s a +fire+" - he noted.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Ludwika Tomala

lt/ agt/

tr. RL