In April, four more research centres were established at the University of Silesia. Their directors have also been appointed. These are:
- The Silesian Centre for the Study of Regional and Transborder Memory with Prof. Leszek Drong, a literary scholar from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia, as director;
- Centre for Byzantine Studies with Prof. Przemysław Marciniak, a literary scholar from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia, as its director;
- Research Centre for New Genomic Techniques with Marek Marzec, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor – a biologist from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia as its director;
- Centre for Research on the Heritage of Jurisprudence and Law Practice with Grzegorz Nancka, PhD – a lawyer from the Faculty of Law and Administration, as its director.
The Silesian Centre for the Study of Regional and Transborder Memory
The Centre was established as a response to the need to coordinate research activities between scientists representing different disciplines and to create a clearly defined space for cooperation between areas that coexist and interact with each other in global science – especially in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in a broader interdisciplinary or even transdisciplinary context.
The research conducted by the experts who are part of the Centre is positioned at the intersection of three overarching categories: regional studies, border studies, and collective memory. The research profile of the centre is not limited to issues related to Upper Silesia and the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie region but relies heavily on local knowledge and the regional context as a starting point for comparative research to contribute to international (cross-border) cooperation.
The scientific objectives of the Centre include conducting research of an interdisciplinary nature, among other things addressing the question of how manifestations of collective memory define communities in border areas, migration zones, and ethnically complex social environments. The team will also seek to develop international cooperation with other research centres.
The essence of the Centre’s research is interdisciplinarity as well as transdisciplinarity, which implies that there are no clear-cut distinctions between disciplines. The team is represented by the following experts from such scientific disciplines as history, art studies, literary studies, political science and public administration, sociology, and law.
Director of the Centre: Prof. Leszek Drong (leszek.drong@us.edu.pl)
Centre for Byzantine Studies
The centre is to conduct research on the culture, history and literature of the Byzantine Empire (330-1453), with a particular focus on animal studies, environmental studies, and ecocriticism.
As an interdisciplinary science, Byzantine Studies covers topics studied by literary scholars, but also art historians and zooarchaeologists. The team will aim to include representatives of other disciplines as well.
Research on the Byzantine Empire has already been conducted at the University of Silesia. The university has organised international conferences on the subject, which have also been attended by foreign experts. The establishment of the centre is intended to increase the international visibility of scholars working on the Byzantine Empire and to enable further development of ongoing research.
Director of the Centre: Prof. Przemysław Marciniak (przemyslaw.marciniak@us.edu.pl)
Research Centre for New Genomic Techniques
The impetus for the establishment of the centre is the increasing use of new genomic techniques (NGT) not only in science but also in medicine and the breeding of new plant varieties or livestock breeds. The European Parliament is currently working towards authorising the use of NGT plants for food and feed production within the European Union. This means that a much greater use of NGT in industry is to be expected in the near future.
In view of the unlimited use of such organisms in food and feed production, a much more pronounced public interest in these techniques can be expected, with a particular focus on the possible consequences of the consumption of products containing NGT on the human body.
The centre will focus its work in three main areas:
- Development of NGT tools and methods for obtaining new varieties of NGT plants with particular emphasis on cereals, including selection methods for NGT plants, molecular characterisation of NGT genotypes, and ways to distinguish between NGT and GMO plants (biological sciences);
- NGT-related public education and monitoring of public attitudes towards the benefits and risks of NGT in food and feed production, including: identifying attitudes towards the use of NGT in nutrition, public awareness campaigns on the differences between NGT and GMOs, reducing anxiety arising from the use of new techniques in food production and identifying the factors causing this anxiety, studying the effects of NGT on purchasing and eating habits (psychology);
- Legislative issues related to the possibility of conducting research, including the deliberate release into the environment of NGT plants, the authorisation of seeds of NGT plant varieties, the legal protection of new varieties of NGT plants, and the identification of NGT plants and food obtained using them, including the identification of NGT crops, the distinction of NGT plants from GMOs, control of production and marketing of NGT food and feed (law).
Director of the Centre: Marek Marzec, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor (marek.marzec@us.edu.pl)
Centre for Research on the Heritage of Jurisprudence and Law Practice
The centre aims to create an interdisciplinary platform for scientific activity in disciplines such as law, literary studies, art, culture and religion studies, and history.
To date, there has not been a unit at the University of Silesia that provides an opportunity for interdisciplinary research into the products not only of jurisprudence but also of legal practice. Such an approach makes it possible to see law as a continuous civilisational phenomenon in different contexts and perspectives. It will make it easier to understand the relationship between the past and the present, also from the perspective of ongoing globalisation and related changes.
The work on the heritage of jurisprudence and practice of law within the centre will include, among other things, archaeological and legal research oriented towards the analysis of objects that in the past (especially in the interwar period) performed well-defined functions in the society’s legal life. In addition, members of the team will explore the work of eminent scholars and legal experts living in the 20th century and examine their achievements.
Director of the Centre: Grzegorz Nancka, PhD (grzegorz.nancka@us.edu.pl)
Photo by Julia Agnieszka Szymala