2022 at the AGH UST. How will we remember it?

Stand with Ukraine

We did not turn a blind eye to the war in Ukraine. The university introduced a series of special solutions in the field of education and employment for Ukrainian citizens. We got involved in voluntary work and support actions, organising numerous university-wide and faculty-wide collections of money or other necessities. Refugees from Ukraine found shelter not only in the AGH UST halls of residence, but also in the appartments and houses of the members of our academic community. In addition, there were many student and faculty initiatives designed for children and teenagers. Moreover, we have opened a special support bank account “AGH for Ukraine”, which remains active so that everyone can donate money intended for refugees.

Results of the evaluation, new Strategy of the AGH UST

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education and Science announced the results of the evaluation of the quality of scientific activity. The AGH UST received one A+ category, eight A categories, and eight B+ categories. Therefore, we received the right to confer academic degrees in all disciplines.

Towards the end of this year, after many months of hard work, the AGH UST Senate adopted the new Strategy of the of the AGH University of Science and Technology – a comprehensive document that redefines the roles and goals of the university, taking into account the current situation and the Mission of the AGH UST.

University life

The AGH UST Cybersecurity Centre was launched. The new unit will integrate and coordinate the work of our scientists and students within the field of cybersecurity throughout the university. Furthermore, it will supervise development work, educational activities, and international cooperation in the area of cybersecurity in a broad sense.

Within the ARTIQ competition organised jointly by the National Centre for Research and Development and the National Science Centre, the AGH UST received the green light to implement an AI Centre of Excellence. PLN 19 million has been granted for a project titled Integration of inference, learning, optimisation, and interpretation for expedited commercialisation of intelligent new-generation software systems.

At the Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET, the Athena supercomputer was launched – currently the fastest and most eco-friendly supercomputer in Poland with the theoretical computing power of more than 7.7 PFlops.

In 2022, for the first time in history, the prestigious list of the TOP500 fastest supercomputers in the world simultaneously included three supercomputers from one Polish computer centre, the Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET: Athena, Ares, and Prometheus. These three have also made it to the Green500 list – the most eco-friendly supercomputers.

The best employees

As each year, the AGH UST scientists won numerous prestigious competitions organised by: the National Science Centre and the National Centre for Research and Development; or received awards and scholarships granted by: the Polish Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and Science, and the Foundation for Polish Science.

A grant funded by the international M-ERA.NET network was awarded to Dr hab. (Eng.) Urszula Stachewicz, Associate Professor at the AGH UST from the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science. The research team she leads, in cooperation with partners from Turkey and Denmark, carries out a project focusing on new strategies for advanced material technologies for medical applications – PIECRISCI. The scientists, who create a consortium, will develop new materials with piezoelectric properties to support the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

Dr (Eng.) Marek Wodziński from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering won the first prize in the 19th edition of the ABB competition for the best dissertations for a paper titled Medical image registration methods focused on the problem of missing data. The doctoral dissertation proposes a series of innovative methods, based primarily on artificial intelligence and deep learning, to register medical images with missing data. The methods developed can be applied as support in cancer diagnostics by using histopathological images, to locate a breast tumour bed in the context of planning radiotherapy, or as support during brain tumour resection.

Our best and brightest

The creativity and passions of the AGH UST students have been recognised by various institutions granting money in programmes such as “Najlepsi z najlepszych! 4.0”. Student projects have also triumphed in the following competitions: ECOinnovators, KoKoN, or StRuNa.

The AGH Space Systems team won the eighth European Rover Challenge (in the on-site formula). In the grand finale, the team from our university has defeated 18 other teams from all over the world.

The 3-TTK rocket built by AGH Space Systems came third in the 2022 Spaceport America Cup in the category of Student Researched and Designed (SRAD) 10,000-feet altitude hybrid rockets.

SpaceTeam AGH, as the only representative from Poland, came second in the Over the Dusty Moon Challenge organised by the Colorado School of Mines. The task revolved around developing a cutting-edge system for regolith transport. The solution was required to be highly resistant to the harsh conditions on the Moon, that is, lack of atmosphere, 1/6^th of Earth’s gravity, extremely low temperatures, and not least the dusty quality of the material in question – regolith.

The Rapid Prototyping Student Research Club, which operates at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, developed a personalised foot prosthesis for indoor climbing. The solution was created to meet the needs of Kamil Warchoł, an AGH UST student who, as a result of foot amputation, uses a custom-made prosthesis that, then, did not allow him to fully pursue his favourite sport – indoor climbing.

Our community

In 2022, the AGH UST introduced a Gender Equality Plan for 2022–2024. The main objective of the document was to develop institutional solutions that would constitute support for people studying and working at the AGH UST. We want our university to be a place of equal opportunities, free from prejudice and discrimination, ensuring safety for people working and studying here, a place where regard for another human being, equal treatment, and respect for diversity are important values.

In November 2022, Artur Lesner, the AGH UST Equality Ombudsperson, joined our academic community. He will work to ensure equal treatment and seek to create equal opportunities across the entire university.

We created a tactile map of the campus – a tool that will allow people with visual impairment to navigate its premises.

With our precious alumni in mind, those who graduated just now or years ago, the AGH UST launched an e-Repository (for now available only in Polish), which makes it easier for our university leavers to stay in touch with their Alma Mater.

We explain science

Our website is filled with popular science articles published regularly to elucidate and explain the scientific wonders on which our researchers work. We have talked to you about air pollution before and during the pandemic, unconventional wastewater measurements, synthetic intelligence, black glasses, disruptive thermoelectric modules, threats in cyberspace, and polymer implants for the treatment of eye cancer. We pondered on the things that can replace computers in the future, what the future of nuclear power is like, and whether sanctions are a heavy weapon.

All articles can be found here: agh.edu.pl/en/research-cooperation/news

Want to know more?

Our Main Library and the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science celebrated their 100^th anniversary. In 2022, the following faculties also celebrated their birthdays: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering (70 years), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics (70 years), and Faculty of Non-Ferrous Metals (60 years).

We launched Bunkier nauki [Science Bunker], a channel to popularise science – between June and December, we aired 15 episodes of our scientific pop!casts. This year, the AGH UST has also seen the debut of LARPs – live action role-playing events.

On the premises of the AGH UST Campus, 30 rainwater tanks were installed. Thanks to that, the university buildings are protected against water that sometimes used to penetrate some of the rooms; and the accumulated rainwater can be used to water plants.