Drones at the Naval Academy, Dar Młodzieży in Gdynia, a sports hall at UG. Coastal universities open the year

Naval Academy: 169 cadets and a new specialisation in maritime drones

The first to open, on Wednesday 30 September, was the Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia. A total of 1,450 students were admitted to the first year, including 169 officer cadets. The rector-commandant, Rear Admiral Prof. Tomasz Szubrycht, announced a new specialisation at the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering within military studies: the operation of unmanned maritime weapon systems, that is the control systems of unmanned maritime platforms. It is the first training path in Poland aimed directly at the maritime drones that in recent years have turned from a curiosity into the decisive weapon in the Black Sea.

The letter from President Karol Nawrocki, read by Major General Adam Rzeczkowski, touched the same subject from the other side.

- An officer's honour, discipline, courage and responsibility for the people entrusted to him do not lose their meaning as technology changes. On the contrary, the more complex the modern battlefield becomes, the greater the importance of the character of the person to whom the state entrusts a weapon, a ship and above all the lives of subordinates - the president wrote.

This year's prizes for the best theses went towards artificial intelligence: the Heliodor Laskowski prize went to Sub-Lieutenant Przemysław Karski for a thesis on visual gesture detection for a diver cooperating with an unmanned underwater vehicle, presented by Ruger Berg of Saab Kockums, the yard building Poland's submarines. The inaugural lecture on technological sovereignty was given by Bartłomiej Zając, chief executive of Radmor. Dr Martyna Bartkowska-Dąbrowska was named best academic teacher, and retired Commander Waldemar Wierzykowski received the academy's honorary badge for commemorating the navy's history.

University of Gdańsk: a hall after half a century and strong words on Ukraine

A day later, on Thursday, the University of Gdańsk turned its inauguration into the opening of its Sports Centre, the first full-size hall in the university's more than fifty-year history: almost six thousand square metres, a basketball, volleyball and futsal court, seating for 270, a gym and martial arts rooms, delivered by Budimex three months ahead of schedule. Among those cutting the ribbon was Thomas Bach, honorary president of the International Olympic Committee and an honorary doctor of the university, who gave the inaugural lecture on the values of sport.

- A year ago I said that our athletes were winning even though we still had no proper sports facilities. Today I can say with joy: we have it! - said the rector, Prof. Piotr Stepnowski.

The rector also spoke of the university's rise into the top ten of the Perspektywy ranking, of the metropolitan act that will allow a federation of universities and the funding of science from the metropolitan budget, and, most forcefully of all, of Ukraine.

- We do not accept populist rhetoric that belittles the role of Ukrainian residents in Poland, including our Ukrainian scientists and students, diminishes their contribution to our shared life and undermines respect for the brave stance in Ukraine - said Prof. Piotr Stepnowski, to applause.

Among the university's investments is the rebuilding of the Prof. Krzysztof Skóra Marine Station in Hel, and the Polish Research Fleet with the vessel Oceanograf has been entered on the Polish Research Infrastructure Map.

Gdańsk University of Technology: Mayo Clinic, NATO and a tall ship designer in the hall

On Friday Gdańsk University of Technology conferred an honorary doctorate on Prof. Gregory A. Worrell, physician and physicist, professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic, with whom the university has for years run the Laboratory of Brain and Mind Electrophysiology at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics. The rector, Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, listed brain research, the university's presence in the space sector, the launch of the NATO DIANA Living Lab and initiatives tied to the university's maritime character.

Among the guests, alongside presidential adviser Tomasz Szturo, deputy minister Jacek Karnowski, Marshal Mieczysław Struk and Sopot mayor Magdalena Czarzyńska-Jachim, sat Zygmunt Choreń, a graduate of the university and designer of tall ships, including Dar Młodzieży. That ship was much discussed in Gdynia the next day.

Gdynia Maritime University: the rector on Dar Młodzieży as a school of character

On Saturday, on Gdynia's Southern Pier, with the honour company and the Representative Band of the Polish Navy in attendance, Gdynia Maritime University opened its year. The rector, Prof. Capt. Adam Weintrit, who that day received the "Distinguished Worker of the Sea" award from deputy infrastructure minister Arkadiusz Marchewka, devoted a large part of his speech to the training ships the university owns.

- Dar Młodzieży is not only a floating maritime school, it is a school of life, a school of building relationships, of strengthening friendships, a school of learning respect for that extraordinary element, the sea, a school of building trust and responsibility. In a word, a school of character - the rector said.

Deputy minister Arkadiusz Marchewka addressed the students on the subject that returns in every discussion of the maritime economy: people.

- You did not come here just for a diploma. You came to acquire competences that Poland will need. In a dozen or so years it is you who will be the qualified workforce I spoke of, and perhaps you who will create solutions that do not yet exist today - he said.

The minister's awards for the best graduates of maritime specialisations went to Jakub Tuzimek and Oskar Łebkowski as the best marine electrical engineers, Gaweł Szymon Duda as the best marine engineer and Liwia Toczek as the best navigator. The president's letter was read by Tomasz Szturo, and Gdynia mayor Aleksandra Kosiorek said there was no better place to begin that road than Gdynia.

Maritime University of Szczecin: 1,072 new students and a year before the eightieth anniversary

The same day in Szczecin the Maritime University opened its year on the Chrobry Embankment, a day after the traditional remembrance roll call at the monument "To those who did not return from the sea". The university admitted 1,072 new students and has almost 3,500 in total. The opening was marked by the signal of the training ship Nawigator XXI. The rector, Prof. Wojciech Ślączka, announced that the academic year would be a time of preparation for the eightieth anniversary of maritime education in West Pomerania.

- It is memory and respect for tradition that create the identity of people of the sea, a sense of community and responsibility, which is why today's gathering, and the fact that we take part in it in such numbers, gives me such pleasure - the rector said.

The Lecturer of the Year award, given by the Students' Parliament, went to Dr Ewelina Kostecka, and the inauguration ended with a parade of student units to the music of the Military Band from Świnoujście.

Wejherowo: a 24th inauguration and a lecture on regional universities in a metropolis

The smallest in this overview, the Kashubian-Pomeranian University in Wejherowo, opened its year for the twenty-fourth time, for the second time at the Kashubian Philharmonic, and enrolled almost three hundred students of pedagogy, sociology, management, and administration and internal security.

The inaugural lecture on the role of regional universities in metropolitan conditions was given by Prof. Krzysztof Leja of Gdańsk University of Technology, which in a week when the rector of the University of Gdańsk spoke of a federation of universities under the metropolitan act is a timely question: where in a knowledge-based metropolis is the place for a university from Wejherowo. The rector, Prof. Marcin Pliński, announced the twenty-fifth anniversary and thanked the Wejherowo and Puck counties and the town of Wejherowo for their cooperation.

One week, one map

These inaugurations are different answers to the same question: what a university on the coast is for today. The Naval Academy answers with drones and the officers who will command them. The Maritime University answers with a tall ship and the workforce the ministry is asking for. The technical universities answer with laboratories, from the brain to NATO. The University of Gdańsk answers with a hall and a voice on Ukraine. Wejherowo answers with a question about the metropolis. In all, several thousand new students entered this week universities that in five years will hand them to the maritime economy, the navy and science. Which of these directions proves the most important, we will see then.

The Polish Naval Academy and the Kashubian-Pomeranian University are partners of KPH Group, the publisher of Gazeta Morska and Daily Mare.