Regional student mobility programme “Śląski Most” to be launched
From the next academic year 2026/2027, the regional student mobility programme “Śląski Most” (Silesian Bridge) will be launched. The project takes place as part of the Academic Consortium – Katowice City of Science.
The program will enable students studying at the universities of the Consortium to take advantage of the didactic offer of partner universities. As part of the “Śląski Most” programme, students will be able to choose and pursue modules at a partner university without having to change their field of studies or move to another university.
The agreement was signed on the 26th of February 2026 by seven Silesian universities. The Silesian University of Technology was represented by the Rector Prof. Marek Pawełczyk. The signatories were addressed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education Dr Eng. Marcin Kulasek.
- This agreement shows that the events within the European City of Science Katowice 2024 were not a one-off initiative. As a minister, I am proud to observe that from the next academic year, Silesia is becoming a true laboratory of the future of Polish science. The seven best universities of the province open their doors as part of the “Śląski Most” programme – regional student mobility, which was created by the Academic Consortium Katowice City of Science. It is cooperation instead of competition, competence over silos. Thank you for this initiative, congratulations to the rectors and the entire teams. This is the modern Polish higher education – said the Minister of Science and Higher Education Dr Eng. Marcin Kulasek.
The “Śląski Most” programme will be available to every student studying at one of the seven Universities that signed the agreement.
- We are opening the doors of our universities, using Erasmus solutions or the nationwide MOST programme. Students will be able to choose a specific subject, and in the future perhaps they would like to take the entire semester at a university other than their own. It is an opportunity to broaden their education by creating combinations that may never have come to our minds. Maybe someone will want to combine medicine with fine arts or humanities with economics – said the Rector of the University of Silesia Prof. Ryszard Koziołek.
A similar teaching model is already used by the Silesian University of Technology, which offers its students a University Base of Electives.
- Silesian University of Technology is a precursor of such a solution because the University’s Base of Electives allows our students to choose any subject that is in the sphere of their additional interests and is not related to their field of study. In this case, students have more than 250 classes to choose from. Now the “Śląski Most” is an opportunity to expand this base – emphasized the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology Prof. Marek Pawełczyk.
For now, the “Śląski Most” project is a pilot project, but over time it is to develop.
- We decided to use the experience of cooperation on the occasion of the European City of Science, as well as the important issue that we are very close to each other, actually we are neighbours, e.g. the University of Silesia and the University of Economics are practically one campus. It is also not a problem to get to another city using public transport, so this territorial aspect of life in the agglomeration, in the metropolis, is even more conducive to openness to cooperation - said Prof. Koziołek.
- What is important, together we create a complete educational offer - from culture, art, science and humanities, medicine to engineering and technical sciences, so this offer is very rich. If a student is interested and ambitious, I imagine that during individual semesters of studies they will build a very wide profile of education - adds Prof. Pawełczyk.
The “Śląski Most” programme will be available to students who have completed the first year of first-cycle studies or the first semester of the second-cycle degree.
Signatories of the “Śląski Most” Agreement
University of Silesia in Katowice, Silesian University of Technology, Medical University of Silesia, University of Economics in Katowice, J. Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.
