|Text: Dariusz Kajewski|
|Photos: Dariusz Kajewski, Przemysław Paśnik |
We have concluded exceptional event full of science, as well as exchange of experiences and inspirations – from 5 to 11 September, the 49th Congress of Polish Physicists took place at the University of Silesia in Katowice. The Congress exemplified how strong and creative the physics community is.
Organised by the Polish Physical Society together with the University of Silesia, the Congress gathered a wide group of physicists, teachers, university and school students, as well as all those who approach science with passion – 370 participants were registered, and in addition, a number of lectures were open to the public and were attended by students and teachers from metropolitan schools. Thanks to this, a total of over 600 people took part in the Congress events!
Group photo of the 49th Congress of Polish Physicists
On the first day we could already feel the full potential of the event through registrations, meetings, exchange of ideas, planning thematic sessions, workshops, and demonstrations.
On Saturday, 6 September, the official initiation session took place at the Silesian Philharmonic – the Congress was opened by Prof. Teresa Rząca-Urban, President of the Polish Physical Society, together with Prof. Michał Daszykowski, Vice-Rector for Finance of the University of Silesia in Katowice, Waldemar Bojarun, Deputy Mayor of Katowice, and the Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Sosnowiec. The guest of honour of the Congress was Prof. Anne L’Huillier, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize, who gave a fascinating lecture on the research for which she received the Prize. The presentation by Prof. L’Huillier was one of the moments that truly showed how inspiring an event such as the Congress can be.
The next part of the opening gala was the presentation of awards from the Polish Physical Society. The most important distinction – the Marian Smoluchowski Medal – was awarded to Prof. Witold Nazarkiewicz from the University of Warsaw, while the Wojciech Rubinowicz Award for an outstanding series of publications was presented to Anna Dyrdał, PhD, DSc from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The full list of award winners can be found on the event website: https://www.ptf.net.pl/.
The gala ended with a concert featuring soloist Anna Karcz, playing an extraordinary instrument – the theremin, and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Maciej Szczurowski.
During the weekend (6-7 September), the dominant topics were teaching, the activities of young scientists, large-scale experiments and the InnoFusion competition, which allowed university students to present their works and posters. It was a space for dialogue, innovation and the discovery of new perspectives in physics.
From 8 to 11 September, work was carried out within thematic sessions – theoretical and experimental physics, applications, popularisation, media, education. Two days of the Congress – 7 and 11 September – took place outside of the main venue. Participants had the chance to embark on a tour of Planetarium – The Silesian Science Park. As a result, the Congress was not limited to lectures, but became a communal, educational and visual experience.
As noticed by the participants of the Congress: The event is not only about plenary lectures and discussions, but also lessons for school students, demonstrations and workshops. This was extremely important aspect of the entire endeavour — to show physics “live”, accessible, in action, not just theoretically.
The President of the Polish Physical Society concluded the Congress with words of gratitude: “The 49th Congress of Polish Physicists in Katowice has come to an end. We would like to thank all our colleagues, delegates, guests and speakers…”. These are simple words, but extremely meaningful ones – because everyone who worked on this event contributed a piece of their heart, knowledge and time.
In particular, we would like to thank Metropolis GZM – without your financial support, it would not have been possible to hold such interesting student sessions as part of the 49th Congress of Polish Physicists. The project ‘From Atoms to Communities: a nationwide competition for students for the best presentation and poster on the use of physics in various scientific disciplines – InnoFusion’ was co-financed by Metropolis GZM as part of the ‘Metropolitan Science Support Fund’ programme (agreement RW/07/2025, co-financing amount PLN 31,320, own contribution PLN 3,480).
