University of Silesia in Katowice

Edyta Sierka, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof. – biologist, expert in environmental protection and novel ecosystem functioning. Her scientific interests revolve around the global changes in the natural environment driven by human activity, with a particular emphasis on minimising their consequences. Her research focuses on anthropogenic features, especially reservoirs formed due to land subsidence. She studies how native and alien multi-stemmed plant species respond to environmental stress stimuli, seeking recurring patterns. She has been propagating the idea of sustainable development, underlining the significance of protecting the biological and functional diversity of ecosystems. She supports the use of wild plant biomass and waste for energy generation.

As an expert in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Lead Auditor for Quality (ISO 9001) and the Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001), as well as the European Brownfield Manager, she is involved in numerous initiatives related to the environmental protection. Moreover, she specialises in evaluating environmental performance of buildings according to BREEAM, a widely recognised green building certification. Since 2019, she has been a certified Level 1 and Practising Tutor (Certificate No. STA-Z/196/I/2017/10).

She has been the Director of the College of Individual Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Silesia since September 2019; prior to that, she was the unit’s Deputy Director from March 2018. As a scientist, she has codesigned and coordinated interdisciplinary degree programmes at the University of Silesia—including those related to environmental protection, environmental management—and the Individual Teacher Training Studies. She has also been serving as a member of the Programme Council for Doctoral Studies in Industrial Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Ostrava, Czechia.

She is actively involved in scientific and educational initiatives, serving as the Vice-President of the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Katowice Branch, and as a member of the Scientific Committee of the Prosumer Energy Centre at the Silesian University of Technology. She has been supporting the GEOsfera – Centre for Ecological and Geological Education in Jaworzno. Moreover, she has been engaged in science communication focused on the functioning and protection of the natural environment for over 25 years.

She is the admirer of the Czech philosophy of life, and passionate about lavender plantations, biographies, and the might of nature. In her work, she follows the philosophy of Pierre Curie that ‘It is necessary to make a dream of life, and to make of a dream a reality.’

Grzegorz Olszański, PhD, DLitt, Assoc. Prof. – a literature historian and music critic. Author of a book dedicated to the motif of death in the lyric poetry by Ewa Lipska (Domesticated Death, Katowice 2006), a collection of essays dedicated to literature (Apelacje. Szkice o literaturze i przygodach jej twórców, Mikołów 2012), monograph exploring the experience of ageing in literature (The Age of Manhood: The Epic of Decay. Motifs of Senility in Polish Poetry After 1989, Katowice 2017), co-author of the book Teoretycznie o muzyce (Częstochowa 2020).

Recipient of the Polityka weekly scholarship, and the winner of the Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna Award for the best literary debut of the year.

He is interested in the contemporary poetry, the relationship between literature and other media (music, photography), the art of writing, and roller-blading. Inactive poet.

Prof. Maciej Fic – the Director of Individual Teacher Training Studies at the College of Individual Interdisciplinary Studies. A member of editorial boards of two academic journals: Śląski Almanach Powstańczy and Wieki Stare i Nowe [The Old and the New Ages]. He has authored scientific papers on history of the 20th century (particularly on Upper Silesia) and teaching history and citizenship education. A textbook appraiser at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, expert of the College of Examination Arbitration at the Central Examination Commission, and President of the Upper Silesian Historical Society.

Member of the the History Didactics Section of the Committee of Historical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Main Committee of the History Olympiad for Junior High School Students, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Humanistic Education, and USil Teacher Training Team. Author and co-author of Matura exam textbook, collections of exercises and exam papers. As a former secondary school teacher, he has been conducting classes for teachers and students preparing for this profession for over two decades.

A science communicator specialising in regional knowledge. He has co-authored the online platform for regional education ‘Eduś’ and a permanent exhibition entitled The Light of History. Upper Silesia throughout History exhibited at the Silesian Museum in Katowice.

An avid basketball fan (with a particular interest in the NBA) and a rock music enthusiast (including bands such as The Cure, Happysad, Kult, Leningrad, Molotov, The Pixies, Tři Sestry and Zebda). Born in Zabrze, currently living in Mysłowice.