The University of Gdańsk hosted a plenary meeting of the European Research Area Committee (ERAC). The meeting, held on June 12-13, 2025, at the Main Library, was organised by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and was one of the last events of the Polish Presidency of the European Union. The guests appreciated the infrastructure of the University of Gdańsk campus and the architectural beauty of the Library, as well as the research potential of the University of Gdańsk and the Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk.
ERAC is an EU strategic advisory committee dealing with research and innovation issues in the European Research Area. Its main tasks include advising the European Commission, the Council (in particular the Competitiveness Council) and EU Member States on priority areas for the European Research Area.
Six such priorities have been identified at this stage:
- Priority 1: more effective national research systems
- Priority 2a: optimal transnational cooperation and competition
- Priority 2b: research infrastructures
- Priority 3: open labour market for researchers
- Priority 4: gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research
- Priority 5: optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge
- Priority 6: international cooperation
The development strategy of the University of Gdańsk largely reflects these priorities. Our university has already achieved significant results, among others in the area of gender equality and increasing internationalisation, organises numerous scientific conferences aimed at the flow and transfer of knowledge, and attracts both young and renowned researchers from Poland and abroad.
ERAC members are delegates from EU Member States and the European Commission involved in research and development. The committee meets four times a year in plenary sessions, which are working meetings closed to the media. Simultaneously with the ERAC meeting (which took place in Reading Room I), on June 12, 2025, the UG Library hosted a meeting of one of the committee's six subgroups - the High Level Group on Joint Programming (GPC).
‘The fact that the University of Gdańsk hosted the plenary meeting of the European Research and Innovation Area Committee emphasises the growing role of our university on the European map of science and innovation,’ said UG Rector prof. Piotr Stepnowski. ‘We are delighted that the participants appreciated both the infrastructure of our campus and the architectural qualities of the Main Library, as well as the scientific potential of the University of Gdańsk and the entire Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk. This is an impulse for the academic community to further develop and actively participate in shaping a common European research area.’
The guests expressed their appreciation for the beauty of the comfortable interiors offered to them and were impressed by the comprehensive organisational support provided by Marta Siara and Anna Bartosiewicz from the Finance and Strategic Projects Office on behalf of the University of Gdańsk, in cooperation with the Ministry's staff.
During their stay in Gdańsk, ERAC members also visited other Fahrenheit universities: Gdańsk University of Technology and the Medical University of Gdańsk. They were very impressed by the cooperation between the Tri-City universities, emphasising that it is based on the same ideals as the European Union and is an excellent example of synergy of potential.
The talks were held behind closed doors, and their results will be made public at a later date.
