Gdańsk University of Technology

The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, formerly GUT; Polish: Politechnika Gdańska) is a public research university in Gdańsk, Poland. Founded in 1904 and re-established in 1945, it is the oldest university of technology in modern-day Poland. It is consistently ranked among the leading universities in the country. The university comprises eight academic faculties that provide higher education in 40 fields of study across 14 scientific disciplines. Its campus, located in the Wrzeszcz borough of Gdańsk, covers an area of 80 hectares (200 acres). As of 2023, the university had 15,622 students, including 11,490 undergraduates, 3,644 postgraduates and 488 doctoral students. The Gdańsk University of Technology has an international institutional accreditation, EUA-IEP (European University Association-Institutional Evaluation Programme). History Beginnings under Emperor Wilhelm II (German Empire, 1899–1918) On 16 March 1899, following a decision by Wilhelm II, deputies of the Kingdom of Prussia approved the establishment of a technical university in Gdańsk, then part of German Empire. Albert Carsten was appointed as the chief designer of the university. Construction commenced in 1900 and was completed in four years. The university buildings were designed in the Northern Renaissance style with elements of Art Nouveau. The ceremonial inauguration took place on 6 October 1904, when the institution was named the Royal Institute of Technology in Gdańsk (German: Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig). In that same year, 189 students enrolled. By 1914, the number of regular students had grown to 675. The university remained operational during World War I. Growth during the interwar period (Free City of Danzig, 1918–1933) After the end of World War I, the university became part of the Free City of Danzig. In 1918, it was renamed the Technical University of the Free City of Danzig (German: Technische Hochschule der Freien Stadt Danzig). In agreement with the newly established Second Polish Republic, Free City authorities introduced a Polish language course and lectures on Polish economic geography, and provided the necessary textbooks and teaching aids to the Polish students. All foreign students, except Poles, were required to present a passport. This period saw a considerable increase in the number of students: in the winter semester of 1922, their number reached 1,651; by 1929, it was 1,630; and in 1933, it was 1,548. While German students constituted the majority, there was a significant minority of Polish students, along with Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Yugoslav, Estonian, and Jewish students. German Nazi takeover (Free City of Danzig, 1933–1939) The takeover of power in the Free City of Danzig by the Nazis in 1933 resulted in the forced retirement of older professors and the dismissal or suspension of Jewish students. Nearly all student organisations were dissolved and replaced by the obligatory National Socialist German Students' League. In 1934, Ernst Pohlhausen, a member of the NSDAP, was appointed as the rector of the university. By 1939, Pohlhausen had dismissed all Polish and Jewish students and staff. World War II (Nazi Germany, 1939–1945) At the outbreak of World War II, the city of Gdańsk had been annexed into the Nazi Germany. The university was subjected to Berlin authorities in 1941, resulting in the introduction of stricter regulations. The number of students and staff decreased significantly during the war, and by 1944, the university had been converted into a 3000-bed hospital, with much of its valuable equipment and documents evacuated to Germany. Re-establishment after the war (Polish People's Republic, 1945–1989) In January 1945, as Gdańsk became part of Poland, preparations began for the Polish re-establishment of the university. By a decree on 24 May 1945, the university was transformed into a Polish state academic institution, and the first staff, mainly from Lviv and Warsaw universities, began work. Despite difficult conditions, learning commenced on 22 October 1945, with the official inauguration taking place on 9 April 1946. The re-establishment was supervised by Stanisław Turski, a Polish mathematician and former inmate of German Nazi concentration camps. In the 1960s and 1970s, the university expanded, adding new buildings and increasing its student population. By the late 1980s, the university had grown to include several faculties and thousands of students, continuing its development and contribution to higher education in Poland. Rise in modern times (Third Polish Republic, 1989–present) The year 1989 marked an end of communism in Poland, with the creation of Solidarity on the Gdańsk coast playing a crucial role. Employees, students and graduates of Gdańsk University of Technology such as Andrzej Gwiazda were actively involved in these transformative events, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Poland as a democratic state with a market economy. In response to the fall of communism in Poland, the Gdańsk University of Technology underwent significant organisational and infrastructural transformations between 1990 and 2010. Infrastructure expansions included new laboratories and facilities funded by the European Union, such as the Nanotechnology Centre, the Pomerania Centre of Advanced Technologies, and modern educational spaces, alongside the introduction of three-cycle degree studies (BSc, MSc, PhD), the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), and a quality assurance system. Location The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech) is located in Gdańsk, situated at the mouth of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea. The Main Campus is situated in the centre of old Wrzeszcz. The campus is located on Narutowicza Street. Interior The main building, designed by Hermann Eggertt and Albert Carsten, was built between 1900 and 1904. All the buildings were designed in the style of the Northern Renaissance with elements of Art Nouveau. The images above the eastern side gate are a lighthouse and the tower of St. Mary's Church. The ornamental gutters are decorated with copper spouts in the shape of four male figures holding water monsters. The Clock Tower destroyed in 1945 was restored to the roof of the main building on 13 May 2012. The tower is 18 metres in height. The main building encloses inner courtyards that were covered by glass domes. In 2012, the South Courtyard was officially renamed in honour of Johannes Hevelius. It is named after the French physicist who first performed a similar experiment at the Paris Pantheon in 1851. The Foucault pendulum is designed to show the rotation of the Earth on its axis. An electromagnet fixed at the point of suspension powers the movement of the pendulum. Reliefs in the window niches above the Foucault pendulum show the design of a reflective sundial (on the left) and a rotating map of the sky with a sextant. Faculties The university's faculties are: Faculty of Architecture Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology Faculty of Management and Economics Chemical Faculty The Chemical Faculty was one of the four original faculties of the university and one of five faculties that began operational research and teaching in 1945 as a result of the decree by the Polish government transforming technical universities active in Gdańsk since 1904 into the Polish Gdańsk University of Technology. At the faculty, there are projects financed by the State Committee for Scientific Research and the European Commission. The Centre of Excellence in Environmental Analysis and Monitoring operates within the faculty. Additionally, there are research programmes financed by the European Commission under the EU’s V and VI framework programmes. Academic Computer Centre The Academic Computer Centre in Gdańsk (CI TASK) has operated since 1992 under an agreement between the Tri-City’s chief higher education institutions. It was initially established to serve all higher education establishments and local branches of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Library The library holds over a million volumes, including electronic publications. It features 16 reading rooms and has contributed to the development of the Universal Library. Notable alumni Bodo von Borries (1905–1956), German physicist, co-inventor of electron microscope Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (1936-2021), naval engineer, first woman to have sailed single-handed (i.e. solo) around the world Zygmunt Choreń (born 1941), naval architect Jaroslaw Drelich (1957), surface engineer, professor at the Michigan Technological University Abraham Esau (1884–1955), German physicist Andrzej Gwiazda (born 1935), anti-communist activist and physicist Richard B. Hetnarski (born 1928), Polish-American mechanical engineer Tomasz Imieliński (born 1954), Polish-American computer scientist Michał Kalecki (1899–1970), Marxian economist, "one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century" Włodzimierz Julian Korab-Karpowicz (born 1953), philosopher and political theorist Alar Kotli (1904–1963), Estonian architect Janusz Liberkowski (born 1953), inventor Lâm Quang Mỹ (born 1944), Polish-Vietnamese physicist and poet Jacek Namieśnik (1949–2019), chemist Janusz Pawliszyn (born 1954), chemist Marek Piechocki (born 1961), civil engineer, co-founder of LPP Group Kazimierz Piechowski (1919–2017), engineer Krystian Pilarczyk (born 1941), hydraulic engineer Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska (1921–2018), electronics engineer Janusz Smulko (born 1964), electronics engineer Wojciech Szpankowski (born 1952), computer scientist References External links Official website The buildings of the university