UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (UIGWURN)

The goal of the Green University program is incorporating the principles of sustainable development into AMU mission. The project promotes and protects natural areas and biodiversity, supports environmental initiatives, promotes healthy lifestyles, waste segregation and conservation of natural resources.

It covers activities in 6 areas:

• research and teaching – carrying out interdisciplinary research projects on sustainable development, applying the acquired knowledge and using it in education and practice,
• functioning – protection and improvement of the quality of the environment by minimizing the impact of the functioning of the University,
• shaping space – protection and enhancement of biodiversity and development of the ecological structure by introducing Nature Based Solutions,
• shaping sustainable development behaviour and culture – encouraging AMU community to take actions that have a positive impact on their life by caring for health, shaping social bonds and collectively shaping good practices in the field of sustainable use of environmental resources,
• management and coordination at the University – strengthening and developing the consistency of AMU administration with the principles of sustainable development and coordination of activities in this area,
• monitoring – defining methods of including the evaluation of the implementation of the SDGs into the reporting system at the University, as well as participation in national and international rankings.

The idea of Green University has been promoted through the IDEAMU competitions held at AMU, which aim to develop green and social innovations and strengthen lasting relations between the University and its surroundings. So far awarded projects concerned:

• the equipment of the campus with nest boxes, houses, and insect hotels for a variety of animals who live in urban environments,
• creating a guide to good practices for socially responsible and environmentally friendly scientific conferences,
• developing solutions for preventing paper waste, rational water management and reduction of the use of disposable plastic in academic contexts.

The AMU belongs to an international TeRRIFICA (Territorial RRI Fostering Innovative Climate Actions) consortium project. The aim of the project is implementing innovative solutions for improving the climate change management process through regional innovation networks in various European countries. With the use of a specially created crowd mapping tool, scientists obtain knowledge about severe climate changes from residents and then, based on the collected data, work with them on solutions designed to limit or adapt to climate change.

AMU Astronomical Observatory Institute is the leading Polish unit in a European consortium that has been set up in Europe to develop a US-independent system for the detection and tracking of artificial satellites and space debris, threatening both human safety and the global economy.

The CLEANSPACE project developed at the Observatory is aimed at cleaning up of the Earth’s orbit with the use of a high energy laser to incinerate space debris in the atmosphere. In 2020 in The Dark Sky Park near Sieraków, 5 AMU telescopes were set up. Their main purpose is to monitor the immediate vicinity of the Earth, determine the flight trajectory of space debris, as well as time and place of its eventual fall onto the Earths’s surface.

The AMU Polar Station in Spitsbergen consists of three houses in the bay of Petuniabukta built by scientists who study geological processes, observe the tundra, and monitor the glacial melting process. Thanks to the inclusion of the unit in the INTERACT project of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the station is hosting international research teams in an effort to develop research cooperation in the Arctic.

The Polish Archaeological Institute at Athens is a branch of Adam Mickiewicz University and represents the interests of all Polish scientists conducting research in Greece. The facility is open to archaeologists as well as historians, art historians, Byzantium scholars, classical philologists and other researchers. The Institute will serve as a centre for the promotion of Polish science and culture in Greece.

Between 2016 and 2019 AMU Botanical Garden participated in an international Botanical Garden: COME IN! VSTUPTE! KOM IN! WEJDŹ! GYERE BE! project, including botanical gardens across Europe. The project was dedicated to the accessibility of botanical gardens to people with special needs and developed a methodology for working with such visitors.

For many years, AMU Botanical Garden has also been participating in the global plant seed exchange program. In order to protect endangered species, conditions have been created for the storage of seeds from all over the world, including devices enabling their storage at low temperatures. The seeds are listed in Index Seminum – special catalogues which constitute a sort of bank of genes, which are sent to nearly 300 botanical gardens around the world.

Hydrogeologist Prof. Józef Górski is an expert on the quality, monitoring and protection of groundwater. The scientist is actively involved with the issue of water retention in the environment and, in particular, in the importance of small water retention for groundwater and surface water levels and quality. Prof. Górski implemented a modern and cost-efficient method of groundwater treatment in the aquifer that removes iron and manganese from the water.
His designs and methodologies have been successfully applied in multiple water intakes across Poland.

Dr Emerson Coy’s research deals with the designing and understanding of novel solutions for catalytic converters installed in cars, trucks and buses. He believes designing highly functional nanomaterials with outstanding mechanical properties is crucial for both long-lasting operation and improved applicability of catalytic converters. Strong, highly catalytically active, flexible, thermally stable at high temperatures and cost-effective energy nanomaterials used in catalytic converters would prevent environment from pollution by iridium and platinum – catalytic converters’ main components.

To read more about AMU researchers see the publication: Engaged University

Poznań Festival of Art and Science is an academic celebration that promotes science and art among the inhabitants of Poznań. Each year there are over 300 events, including shows, seminars, workshops and lectures conducted by top experts and scientists keen on sharing their passion.

The festival has been organized annually for over 20 years!

The European Researchers' Night is a Europe-wide public event, which displays the diversity of science and its impact on citizens' daily lives through a wide range of science shows, hands-on experiments, games, quizzes, competitions, exhibitions and digital activities. Each year in September AMU researchers show what they really do for society in interactive and engaging ways, promoting research careers to young people and their parents.

AMU Open University is a great example of the university’s involvement in its third mission. Open University courses are addressed to people who want to expand their knowledge, hobbyists who want to develop their passion in an academic environment and young people such as high school graduates. Every semester dozens of courses are offered and hundreds of students take part.

The KoLaboratorium program expands the range of interests of the inhabitants of Poznań and the Wielkopolska region by teaching them marketable skills and expertise. The project is unique because of the number of involved AMU faculties and entities, the variety of topics covered across more than forty courses, and the innovative teaching.

Bilingualism Matters@Poznań is a research and information centre at the AMU Faculty of English and is one of the 23 international branches of the University of Edinburgh’s Bilingualism Matters.

It conducts research on bilingualism and multilingualism hosts regular workshops and lectures promoting knowledge about bilingualism and multiculturalism among the local communities and offers consultations with specialists, including speech therapists, psychologists, educators and scientists, and open up space for a broad social discussion.

AMU Children’s University promotes science by helping primary school pupils develop their creative and intellectual potential. During the academic year, children enrolled at the university participate in meetings with scientists, who teach them about a variety of scientific fields and instil a passion for science. Courses cover a range of disciplines, from natural sciences to the humanities.

MENTORusznik is a mentoring program in which students from AMU become mentors for the students from one of the Poznań high schools. The main goal of the program is to support young people in their educational, professional and personal development through the exchange of experiences and learning with the use of activating methods, going beyond formal education. The participants worked for several months on the implementation of their previously established development goals.

The Academy is an interdisciplinary project aimed at popularization of the scientific and didactic activity of AMU employees in the context of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Scientists from various disciplines talk about their research during short lectures, enriched with photos and films, highlighting the goal of sustainable development they concern. Film materials are presented free of charge on-line in social media, on YouTube and AMU website.

Prof. Jakub Rybka is the deputy head of AMU Centre for Advanced Technologies that works on new materials and biomaterials with broad applications. As his research bioprintable autologous meniscus was halted shortly after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic he and his colleagues decided to undertake a new challenge and start working on the development of an autoimmune test for COVID-19. A pilot study was successfully conducted and the test was able to verify the presence of antibodies in patients. This is the first milestone on the road to universal immunological diagnosis of COVID-19.

Prof. Mariusz Jaskólski is a crystallographer and structural biologist. He uses diffraction of X-rays on crystallized proteins and nucleic acids to study the their three-dimensional architecture.
As a scientist, he commited in discovering the structure of retroviral enzymes (e.g. HIV protease, leukemia protease, integrase), the structure of bacterial asparaginase (an important antileukemic protein). Professor Jaskólski also explained the mechanism of aggregation of an amyloidogenic protein responsible for lethal cerebral angiopathy. The scientific research conducted by Professor Jaskólski has advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of several diseases and stimulated rational, i.e. structure-based, approach to the design of new drugs and therapies.

In March 2020, shortly after the introduction of pandemic-related restrictions, a team of sociologists and students from Adam Mickiewicz University led by Prof. Marek Krajewski carried out a study which evolved into a complex long-term research project devoted to everyday life in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers study how society adapted to the situation, how ordinary people’s lives and daily routines changed immediately
after the introduction of sanitary restrictions and how the pandemic is seen from the perspective of time.

Biologist Dr. Paweł Zawadzki and his team participate in the international consortium project
The COVID Human Genetic Effort. The consortium’s discovery that genes influence the course of disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus will help to select both people genetically resistant to the virus and people who are particularly vulnerable to severe disease.

Psychologist Prof. Grzegorz Króliczak participated in an international research group that proposed a new effective way next to the lock-down and vaccines, to control the reproduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The scientists' proposal focused on recognizing and modifying attitudes by motivating pro-health behaviours. Their research has shown how to achieve better rates of compliance with the regulations, without external coercion.

This action was the result of an ordinary heart reflex. As part of Visible Hand, AMU staff has collected lots of things to support the work of the medical team of the COVID-19 hospital in Poznań.

AMU Speaks was a series of short, live lectures that premiered on March 20th, 2020 on the Facebook profile of Adam Mickiewicz University and YouTube channel. AMU Speaks reached out to all those who had found themselves with a lot of free time due to the coronavirus pandemic. They were also intended to help students whose classes had been suspended. The subject matter ranged from positive emotions, through algorithms, to waterbears and the series turned out to be a hit among the audience.

AMU Moves! was a sport game carried out in spite of the pandemic by the AMU Study of Physical Education and Sport. For one month, while running, walking, roller skating or cycling, AMU students and employees could break their personal records by competing between AMU departments. Data collected through a dedicated application indicated that the participants of the game circled the planet twice during one month, covering 86,400 km.