The projects and activities carried out by the City are aimed at building a positive image of the Poznań academic centre in Poland and abroad.
Scholarships and prizes
To support young talents, in 2017, 32 scholarships were awarded to winners and finalists of the national school olympiads for persons starting their studies in Poznań, 12 scholarships were awarded to young scientists, the Scientific Award of the City of Poznań was awarded, and the next edition of the competitions “Prize of the City of Poznań for an outstanding doctoral thesis” and “Prize of the City of Poznań for an outstanding master’s thesis” were held. The project “Ambassador of Academic Poznań” was also continued.
Meetings with high school graduates
In 2017, a series of meetings with high school graduates was organized in upper secondary schools in Poland. A total of 50 schools were visited in 26 cities in the Wielkopolska, Łódź, Kujawy-Pomerania, Lubuskie, Opole, Mazovia, and Lower Silesia Provinces.
The aim of the meetings was to familiarize graduates of upper secondary schools with the academic offer of Poznań – all its universities, scholarship programmes, a rich educational, professional, sports, and cultural offer. Advice on the preparation for the secondary school leaving examination was an element of the meetings. The meetings, as representatives of the city, were attended by young, successful people, graduates of Poznań’s universities, representatives of business, culture, and science, who recommended Poznań as the best place to study and live by their own examples. Virtual reality technology was used during the meetings in schools, thanks to which the students could feel as if they were really in Poznań. During the meetings in schools, a competition “Weekend in Poznań” was held, in which the prize was a trip to Poznań.
Poznan przyciąga (Poznań attracts)
Parallel to the meetings in schools, a promotional campaign under the slogan “Poznań Attracts” was carried out in social media. During the month-long campaign, advertisements were displayed a total of 12.1 million times, reaching 4.3 million unique users with their message. The campaign also included the website www.poznanprzyciaga.pl, where people interested in studying in Poznań could find all the necessary information on the city’s academic offer, download an upper-secondary school graduation exam guide, which would help them prepare for their secondary school leaving exams, as well as fill in a professional preference test. The website www.poznanprzyciaga.pl was visited almost 39 thousand times during the campaign.
Promotion of academic Poznań
To promote academic Poznań, the City, together with its universities, prepared a common space with attractive events during the largest Educational Fair in Poland, organised on the grounds of the Poznań International Fair, and during the “Salon Maturzystów 2017” organized by the “Perspektywy” Foundation on the premises of the Poznań University of Technology. In 2017, for the first time, the Poznań Festival of Science and Art was inaugurated in the courtyard of the Poznań City Hall.
Internationalisation of studies
Particularly important in the context of the process of internationalization of Polish higher education are the initiatives taken or developed to promote the academic nature of Poznań abroad.
In 2017, the “Study in Poznań” Team, which initiated measures of Poznań universities addressed to foreign students, continued its activities. Among other things, foreign promotion was carried out through participation in trade fairs in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia. Representatives of the City and Poznań universities during the international foreign trade fair encouraged foreign students to study in Poznań.
The delegation from Poznań promoted the city and its universities at a joint stand “Study in Poznań” (financed by the City) or organized by the The Polish National Agency For Academic Exchange. Apart from its participation in the fair, the Poznań delegation organised meetings with the Polish community and local authorities, as well as meetings in schools with high school students. In addition, the City maintains its website “Study in Poznań” up to date in English, publishes a folder in several languages encouraging students to study in Poznań, takes part in welcoming meetings of foreign students at Poznań universities every year, as well as implements projects aimed at integrating foreigners already studying and living in Poznań (including the Euroerasmus and Friends Cup football tournament).
Open lectures
For those already studying in Poznań, there was a co-funding programme for organising open lectures conducted by outstanding scientists, artists, and specialists at Poznań universities. In 2017, as part of this Programme and thanks to the City’s financial support, 26 lectures delivered in English by outstanding lecturers from all over the world were organized at Poznań’s universities, attended by approximately 2.3 thousand students.
In 2017, the City cooperated with non-governmental organizations implementing projects in the field of activating and integrating the student community of Poznań’s universities, including the organisation of the Juwenalia student festival.
Support for academic entrepreneurship
The City of Poznań has been actively supporting academic entrepreneurship for many years. In 2017, meetings and conferences promoting cooperation between science and business were organized, with the participation of entrepreneurs and scientists of various specializations. The Training and Advisory Centre provided advice and organised training courses for students of Poznań universities who were planning to start their own businesses. The City of Poznań was involved in the organization of entrepreneurship classes at Poznań’s universities, cooperating with the university’s career offices in this respect.
In 2017, the “Startup Poznań” project was continued – an initiative for the development of a local startup ecosystem. On the initiative of the City, the “+jeden” Co-working Space was established in a modern office building at ul. Za Bramką 1,largely used by students and graduates of Poznań’s universities.
The city was involved in cooperation with the Poznań Science and Technology Park of the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation in Poznań and the Wielkopolska ICT Cluster, which is a joint initiative of the City of Poznań, the Poznań University of Technology, Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre, and Poznań IT companies.