Life changes science
Discussions, workshops, poster sessions, networking meetings and a lot of talks about science, research potential and cooperation - the EuroScience Open Forum is taking place in Katowice. It is one of the most important international conferences, having an impact on the transformation of science and the world, which has been held since 2004 in subsequent cities honoured with the title of the European City of Science.
– “Katowice is the first city in Central and Eastern Europe to receive this prestigious title” – emphasized the city’s president, Dr Marcin Krupa, during the opening ceremony. “This achievement is a reward for the hard work we have put into the transformation of our post-industrial region, which today is associated with science,” he added.
- “Our region is changing positively also thanks to various universities that practice technical, humanistic, medical, artistic and economic sciences,” said Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Arkadiusz Mężyk, the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology. - “It gives us a broader perspective on the world.”
The EuroScience Open Forum, which takes place every 2 years, aims to explore the relationship between science and society, the conditions for conducting scientific research and their impact on society. It aims to stimulate debate on science-related changes, as well as to analyse the social, cultural, and economic consequences of scientific breakthroughs on regional, national, European, and global levels. Faced with the global challenges of this year’s edition, the motto is “Life changes Science.”
“We all think traditionally that science changes lives, and here we say that it is in fact life that changes science,” explained Professor Marek Pawełczyk, Rector Elect of the Silesian University of Technology, Vice-President of the ESOF2024 Program Committee. -” Life is full of challenges, as we have seen in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic, or when the war broke out in Ukraine. It was then necessary to switch to more concrete thinking, one that is used to solve current goals and problems. These challenges may surprise, and therefore science must be ready to respond to what life brings.”
Katowice will be visited by leading European and global representatives of the world of science, academic researchers, representatives of public and non-public institutions supporting science, representatives of business and media, as well as people interested in the role of science in the modern world. Scientists of the Silesian University of Technology had the opportunity to show the research potential of the university during panels and workshops, but also at the university stand, where informal networking meetings took place since the morning.
– “During this conference we present our priority research areas and key scientific areas of which we are very proud” – emphasized Dr Hab. Eng. Alicja Kazek-Kęsik, Prof. of SUT, coordinator of POB 3 - Materials of the future. - “There is a lot of interest in our research, many people ask me about topics related to biomaterials, organic materials, or coatings that I deal with. Establishing cooperation and good communication, especially on the international arena, is a key issue”.
The ESOF 2024 conference program is structured around six main areas that are the most important challenges of science: Energy transformation, sustainable environment, cultural identity and social transformation, changes in scientific excellence, healthy society and digital transformation.
Dr Hab. Eng. Paweł Kasprowski, Prof. SUT led a workshop on discovering the artificial intelligence ecosystem. - “The idea of this workshop is to show people that there is no such thing as one artificial intelligence that we turn on and it does everything for us, but that there are many different architectures, algorithms and methods that together make up what we call colloquially artificial intelligence. I tried to discuss the principles of operation of each neural network, their different types and applications,” said Prof. Kasprowski.
As part of the thematic area of digital transformation, during the first day of the conference, a panel organized by the Silesian University of Technology and Katowice Special Economic Zone was also held: "Latest digital solutions for supporting SME processes".
– “Companies are undergoing digital transformation today, they need new technologies and knowledge how to implement them, what costs will be and how to move from the regional environment to the global world” – said Dr Hab. Eng. Dariusz Mrozek, Prof. SUT, Vice-Dean for Cooperation and Development of the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science of the Silesian University of Technology, who moderated the discussion. – “Today, companies are increasingly reaching for scientific achievements by cooperating with universities, but also reaching for grants and this is a huge support for them to implement innovations.”
The guests of the panel were: Dr Hab. Rafał Żelazny, President of the Katowice Special Economic Zone, Prof. of the University of Economics in Katowice; Dr Erich Wimmer, Scientific Director of Materials Design, Prof. Shahid Mumtaz from the Department of Applied Informatics of the Silesian University of Technology; Dr Eng. Artur Pollak, president of APA Group and Dr Eng. Karol Jędrasiak from the WSB Academy.
- “Small and medium-sized enterprises are characterized by flexibility and dynamism that allows them to adapt to change faster than large organizations,” said Dr Erich Wimmer, Scientific Director of Materials Design, a software developer for materials research. - “When talking about digital solutions and new technologies in the context of enterprises, we have to remember about two aspects: There are companies that are users of new technologies, but in this group, there are also active players, creators of these technologies,” he added.
- “Let’s note that big corporations like Vodafone, Google, Amazon started out as small and medium-sized enterprises. Today, there are many new technologies on the horizon to be used by the small and medium-sized enterprises sector, such as artificial intelligence, big data analysis, and when it comes to communication, the 5G and 6G network, we strive to create robots that will become more and more human-like” - said Prof. Shahid Mumtaz, a scientist associated with the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science of the Silesian University of Technology, thanks to the program enabling the recruitment of outstanding scientists as part of the Initiative of Excellence Research University project.
The EUROSCIENCE Open Forum is an excellent opportunity for young scientists to present their scientific passions and research.
–“ I appreciate such events very much, mainly because of the possibility of gaining new contacts, exchanging experiences, interest of people from all over the world in our research” – enumerated Konrad Kołodziej, PhD student of the Silesian University of Technology, “– and the most important thing is inspiration, sometimes a small thing entails an avalanche of valuable experiences”.
The conference will last until Friday at the Katowice International Congress Centre. On Saturday participants will be visiting universities in the region.
Detailed information can be found on the event page.
