Jan Świerkowski
Jan Świerkowski (born 1984) is a Polish astronomer, science promoter and curator of projects combining science and art. He is a leader and a curator of an artistic-scientific ensemble B61 Institute. In 2010 Świerkowski graduated from astronomy at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland), of which he is now an honorary ambassador. Before graduating, he created the Instytut B61 - an ensamble which consists of artists and scientists. It was founded in 2009, as part of the UNESCO International Astronomy Year. As part of the group's activity, Świerkowski created 19 artistic performances in Poland and abroad  that combine science and art. Renown Polish artists cooperated with the group, among others Tomasz Stańko, Stanisław Tym, Michał Urbaniak and Organek. In 2012, he became the head of the international artistic project Cosmic Underground, co-financed by the European Commission as part of the Culture 2007 - 2013 program. The project, inspired by Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, gather around 20.000 viewers. Artists from Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Portugal travelled for two months by train, stopping at the stations of European cities. A site-specific spectacle about the adventures of the brilliant scientist Joseph Brewster, who studies issues related  to the passage of time, attracted viewers from Tallinn to Portuguese Guimarães. In 2013, he received a scholarship from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage. In the same year, together with the rapper L.U.C, he created the music video "Higgs boson" promoting the exhibition "The Universe and Particles" at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw. In 2014, he organized and was the curator of the first ever Polish Culture Festival in Portugal. The spectacular performance "The Evolution of the stars" was shown, among others during The Story of Space Festival in Panjim, India. Since 2016 he has been  a member of the Research Center for Communication and Culture research center in Lisbon and a scholarship holder of the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Brewster's Cluster. Świerkowski is a president of Brewster’s Cluster of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship - an association of about 20 entities from various sectors: entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations, artists and Nicolaus Copernicus University. Cluster is concentrated on introducing, both to the market and to its united entities, innovative digital products, which are being developed in accordance with the newest trends in ICT. Awards. In 2018, Świerkowski was awarded with the title of  the Popularizer of Science 2017 in the Activity Leader category by the Polish Press Agency and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.