University of Silesia in Katowice

In June, researchers from the University of Silesia in Katowice achieved significant success in national and international grant programmes, securing funding for research, educational and infrastructure projects. The funding awarded, covering programmes run by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), the National Science Centre (NCN), INTERREG, FERS, the Visegrad Fund and the Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (WFOŚiGW), confirms the high quality of the research being conducted, the competitiveness of the University of Silesia’s research teams and the university’s growing standing within the European Research Area.

Below we present the grants awarded in June for the implementation of research, teaching and science communication projects:

• Sławomir Pytel, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof. from the Faculty of Natural Sciences has secured funding from the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) under the Strategic Programme for Research and Development ‘Advanced information, telecommunications and mechatronics technologies’ – INFOSTRATEG.
  The project entitled ‘exPLo AI – Intelligent Tourist Activity Analyser’, with a budget of PLN 33,178,130.11, is being carried out as part of a consortium led by the Kielce University of Technology, with ‘ALTAR’ Sp. z o.o. (Partner) and the University of Silesia in Katowice (Partner). As part of the project, an intelligent, dedicated and innovative system (monitoring platform) called exPLo AI will be developed, the main purpose of which will be the comprehensive analysis and advanced prediction of tourist activity across Poland. The system’s concept provides for in-depth analysis, forecasting and interactive visualisation of the spatial distribution of tourist demand and tourist flow in near real time.
  Funding for the University of Silesia PLN 2.5 million
• Monika Frania, PhD, Assoc. Prof. from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Silesia, has secured funding from the Visegrad Fund to carry out the project ‘Educational influencing as a tool for promoting knowledge, values and culture in the V4 countries’. The aim of the project is to investigate the role of educational content creators on social media in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries by analysing the educational activities of influencers and the opinions of future teachers. Funding: EUR 28,073.
• Aleksandra Hałat, PhD, from Faculty of Arts and Educational Science has secured funding from INTERREG Poland-Czech Republic for the project ‘OPEN CLASSICS FESTIVAL IN BESKIDS’. Funding: EUR 16,000.
• Funding of PLN 6 million was secured from EU funds under the FERS 2021–2027 NCBiR programme for the implementation of the project ‘TECH3 – education for three critical technology areas’, which aims to strengthen and adapt the academic programme of the University of Silesia in Katowice to the needs of the economy and the green and digital transition through the development of competences and qualifications relevant to critical technologies within the framework of STEP (European Commission Communication C(2024)3209).
  The project will be implemented between 1 September 2026 and 30 September 2029 in the following degree programmes: Applied Computer Science (1st cycle studies), Biotechnology (2nd cycle studies), Environmental Technologies and Modern Materials (1st and 2nd cycle studies).
• Funding of PLN 0.5 million was secured from the Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (WFOŚiGW) for the purchase of research infrastructure for the Faculty of Natural Sciences: ‘Mobile laboratory for water and soil testing’ and ‘Upgrading of the light microscopy laboratory’.

Ten projects were also secured from the National Science Centre (NCN) with a total funding value of PLN 17.3 million: