“The Copernican Academy carries out tasks that largely duplicate the tasks of other entities, such as the National Science Centre, the National Centre for Research and Development or the National Agency for Academic Exchange. Its activities do not lead to synergy, but contribute to the dispersion of forces and resources available in the higher education and science system” – we read in the information on the draft act on the liquidation of the Copernican Academy and the Main School of Nicolaus Copernicus. The assumptions and goals of the project are presented on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers.
The government is closing the Copernican Academy. It is a hotbed of PiS elites
According to this information, the status of the Nicolaus Copernicus Main School “does not differ substantially from the status of other universities in the country. Its colleges (being branches within the meaning of the Law on Higher Education and Science) are located in large urban centers, i.e. in Toruń, Olsztyn, Warsaw, Kraków and Lublin. The existence of the School does not therefore strengthen the system of higher education and science, as the above cities are strong academic centers. It should also be noted that the location of the colleges was not consulted with the academic communities in the indicated cities at the stage of designing the act.”
The main problem that needs to be solved by the project initiator, i.e. the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, is the “inefficiency of the operations” of both entities, which is expressed “in a clearly negative, from the public interest perspective, balance between costs incurred from public funds and benefits obtained from the operations of these institutions”.
According to the Ministry of Science, the tasks assigned to the Copernican Academy “largely duplicate the tasks of entities that worked for the higher education system and science before its establishment”, e.g. activities in the field of scholarship and grant policy (awarding Copernican Scholarships and Nicolaus Copernicus Grants). Similar tasks – as noted – are carried out by other institutions, e.g. the National Science Centre, the National Centre for Research and Development and the National Agency for Academic Exchange, subject to the supervision of the minister responsible for higher education and science.
“Allowing the Academy to conduct scholarship and grant activities does not produce the desired effects. Against this background, it should be noted that the Academy’s policy in the field of awarding grants is not distinguished by its innovation or focus on an exceptionally important – from the state’s point of view – research agenda. Additionally, the Academy’s practice in the above area does not correspond to the best practices used by other institutions implementing scholarship and grant policies, having a high reputation and international recognition” – we read in the information on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
Copernican Awards to be Liquidated Too
The awarding of the Copernican Prizes by the Home Army was assessed in a similar way. Dr. Robert Jastrzębski from the Sejm Analysis Office, the author of the legal opinion for the presidential draft act on the Copernican Academy, quoted in the document, notes that the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences has been awarding the Nicolaus Copernicus Scientific Prize since 1873.
Another statutory task of the academy was assessed as a duplication of tasks: the organization of the World Copernican Congress – noting that anniversary events of this type are organized periodically by the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. As a result, in 2023, on the 550th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus, two World Copernican Congresses were organized. “The first (in the form of a series of events) was organized jointly by four institutions: Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and the Institute of the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences; the second (in the form of a three-day conference) – by the Academy. These were actions that were inconsistent in terms of image, incomprehensible to the recipients, generating unnecessary costs” – it was written on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
Similarities with existing institutions also concern the sphere of substantive tasks and systemic solutions, e.g. concerning the highest collegial body of the academy – the General Assembly. “It constitutes a corporation of scholars, which is a solution constructed on the basis of analogy to the solutions adopted in relation to the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. The scholars who create these corporations are part of thematic chambers (e.g. faculties), and the task of the General Assembly (in the case of the PAU – the General Assembly) is to set new directions of activity of these institutions. It should be added that both indicated institutions are part of the system of higher education and science for which the Academy operates” – it was written in the information regarding the draft act.
The authors of the draft act also draw attention to “very high – compared to other entities” (e.g. the National Agency for Academic Exchange or the Polish Academy of Sciences) – remuneration. The average remuneration of the AK management staff (basic salary with functional supplement) exceeded the remuneration of the Secretary General of the Academy, which amounted to PLN 15,782.68. The average remuneration in the AK in 2023 was PLN 17,238.21. “High remuneration does not correspond to the efficiency of the Academy’s operation, understood as the ability to implement goals and tasks in a manner consistent with the law, effective, economical and timely. This causes the need for constant correction of the Academy’s activities by the minister, also in the mode of supervision in the scope of compliance of the activities of its bodies with the provisions of the law and the statute,” we read.
The Nicolaus Copernicus Main School will also disappear. It is associated with the Copernican Academy
The authors of the project note that the Nicolaus Copernicus University is functionally linked to the Home Army. It was established on March 1, 2023 and has the status of an academic university. However, it does not currently provide education at university level, which means that it does not implement the basic task of the university specified by the Law on Higher Education and Science. It only offers education at MBA studies and doctoral education as part of the Doctoral School.
The Ministry of Science also draws attention to the “actual conflict of interests occurring in the relations between the School and the Academy”. The Director of the Copernican Academy Office is simultaneously employed at the Nicolaus Copernicus Main School and a member of the senate of that university. The same applies to the Director of the Academy’s Research Centre.
The draft act envisages the opening of the process of liquidation of the AK and SGMK, which will mean, among other things, “the liquidator will take over the competences of the bodies and directors of the Academy structures, the liquidator will take over the competences of the School bodies, the term of office of the Academy and School bodies will expire, membership in the Academy will expire, the agreements for financing the Copernican Scholarships and Nicolaus Copernicus Grants will expire. In connection with the above, the liquidator will exercise the rights and obligations of the employer towards the employees of the Academy and the School, and therefore will make appropriate personnel decisions towards them. At the same time, the competences of the liquidator will cover the sphere of disposing of the assets of the Academy and the School. These assets will become a source of financing for the costs of liquidation, including the liquidator’s remuneration. The Academy and the School will lose their legal personality on the day the minister announces the end of the liquidation in the Court and Economic Monitor. The loss of legal personality will mean the expiry of the employment relationships of the Academy employees and the School employees who are not academic teachers. On the other hand, the employment relationships of academic teachers will expire at the end of the academic year in which the university is put into liquidation” – we read on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
There were doubts about the Copernican Academy from the very beginning
The Copernican Academy and Nicolaus Copernicus Main School were established thanks to the Act of 28 April 2022 on the Copernican Academy. The initiative was promoted by the then Minister of Science, Przemysław Czarnek.
Academic institutions, including the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, the Main Council of Science and Higher Education, and the Polish Academy of Sciences, spoke out against the act and appealed for work on it to be suspended. The opposition also expressed negative opinions. It was pointed out that the source of financing for the academy was unclear. It was argued that it would duplicate the tasks of existing institutions. Members of Parliament also pointed out that this institution would be politicized, and some of the provisions contained in the act were unconstitutional.
At the time when the AK was established, the PAN leadership drew attention to the underfunding of their institution.
In December 2023, during a conversation with PAP, the new Minister of Science, Dariusz Wieczorek, announced that a review of the institutions established by his predecessor Przemysław Czarnek, including the Copernican Academy, had been undertaken.
During the December meeting of the Sejm’s Education, Science and Youth Committee, a positive opinion was given to the government’s draft budget act for 2024, covering expenditure on science, which included PLN 25.3 million for the Copernican Academy. Deputy Minister Gzik, asked about the AK budget, emphasized at the time that the discussion on this topic was ongoing. In the following months, Minister Wieczorek spoke about the need to “organize various acts”, including those concerning the AK. In March, he mentioned the “further pathologies” revealed at the academy. “At the Copernican Academy, the director earns PLN 30,000 per month. He is an officer of the military counterintelligence service who was delegated to the Copernican Academy to manage it. This best shows the level of pathology,” said Minister Wieczorek. (PAP)
Source: Gazeta
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