The EuroScience Open Forum begins tomorrow
Life changes science - this is the motto of this year's ESOF conference, which will take place from the 12th to 15th June. Katowice will be visited by leading European and global representatives of the world of science, academic and implementation 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.
EuroScience Open Forum is a biennial conference aimed at offering the scientific community a platform for interdisciplinary and cross-cutting debate on scientific culture, research, and innovation. The debate is addressed to the public and implemented with its participation, so we cordially invite you to participate.
The overarching objective of the ESOF2024 conference is to explore the relationship between science and society, the conditions of scientific research and its 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 at regional, national, European, and global levels. In the face of global challenges and in order to increase international cooperation, researchers want to discuss science as a factor of change in everyday life, as well as how life changes science.
- “Life changes science... The longer I thought about this slogan, the more wisdom I saw in it. I was convinced by it. Life really changes science. We, scientists, should react to what is needed at the moment. I do not deny that perhaps the strongest example of this was the coronavirus pandemic. Science draws its ideas from the wealth of other areas, including non-scientific ones, and this is of great value. Thanks to this, we can see more, we can be inspired” - said Prof. Marek Pawełczyk, Rector Elect of the Silesian University of Technology, Vice-President of the ESOF2024 Program Committee.
The conference program includes lectures, seminars, debates, workshops, poster presentations and exhibitions, interactive sessions, as well as a wide range of proposals for forms of public engagement.
The ESOF 2024 conference program is structured around six main areas, addressing the most important scientific challenges at the moment:
• energy transformation
• sustainable environment
• cultural identity and social transformation
• changes in scientific excellence
• a healthy society
• digital transformation
On Wednesday, June 12th, a panel co-organized by Silesian University of Technology: “Latest digital solutions for supporting SME processes” will be held.
Invited guests, including Dr Hab. Rafał Żelazny, President of the Katowice Special Economic Zone, will debate on strategies for SMEs in the field of using the latest digital technologies, the role of artificial intelligence in improving business processes and decision-making, the impact of modern technologies on cost reduction or techniques of quick adaptation to changing customer expectations, providing SMEs with an advantage in a rapidly changing market.
Dr Hab. Eng. Paweł Kasprowski, prof. SUT will conduct a workshop on discovering the artificial intelligence ecosystem, which consists of many algorithms and methods, optimized for specific tasks. During the workshop, the principles of operation of each neural network, their different types and applications will be discussed. The entire code will be available online, so participants will be able to train and test the models to learn more about their operation. The workshop is designed for all audiences, no prior programming experience is required, but people with some experience will benefit more.
Dr Hab. Eng. Krukiewicz Katarzyna, Prof. SUT, in a lecture titled “Brain hackers” on the achievements of bioelectronics, a discipline at the intersection of engineering, biology and medicine, will explain how artificial synapses can hack the brain and how they can be used to treat neurological diseases.
Dr Hab. Eng. Andrzej Katunin, Prof. SUT from the Department of Fundamentals of Machinery Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, will talk about the path to sustainable transport in the context of the life cycle of materials and structural parts made of them, their design, production, operation, aging, disposal, and possible recovery.
In turn, a PhD student of the Silesian University of Technology, and at the same time a traveller, explorer, member of many prestigious organizations, Mateusz Wrazidło will discover the lost worlds of the Guiana Upland. He will tell the listeners about the priceless natural treasures and their protection.
More details about the conference can be found on the event page.
