The Rector met with scholarship holders of the Minister of Education and Science
Outstanding scientific achievements are one of the aspects of developing research interests of students of the Silesian University of Technology who were awarded scholarships by the Minister of Education and Science for the academic year 2020/2021. The ceremonial presentation of diplomas by the Rector, Professor Arkadiusz Mężyk, was held on May 14.
The scholarship of the Minister of Education and Science is a distinction awarded to students for scientific, artistic or sports achievements. The criteria for its award include, among others authorship or co-authorship in a scientific monograph, scientific journal, a significant participation in a research project of a high level of innovation, presenting a paper at a national or international conference, obtaining an individual award or significant participation in the creation of an achievement.
Among the winners of the scholarships of the Minister of Education and Science for the 2020/2021 academic year are four students of the Silesian University of Technology: Anna Krzak (student of chemical technology), Jakub Silka (student of computer science), Patrycja Wąsik (student of technology and chemical engineering) and Michał Wieczorek (student of computer science). They received their diplomas and congratulations by the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology, Professor Arkadiusz Mężyk and the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Education, Professor Wojciech Szkliniarz.
Laureates from the Silesian University of Technology are people involved in scientific activities, developed during joint work with scientists from the Silesian University of Technology, as well as foreign universities. Undertaking research challenges gives an opportunity to broaden knowledge and experience, as well as skills in the area chosen by the students. In the case of Jakub Siłka and Michał Wieczorek, students of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, it is an area related to artificial intelligence and data processing, exemplified by publications in "IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL INFORMATICS" and presentations at international conferences.
– The Minister's scholarship is very important for me, because all the effort, work and sleepless nights put into developing myself in the field of artificial intelligence and writing all the articles, is to show that it was worth it and to appreciate that it is a job well done, emphasizes Michał Wieczorek. – I am going to spend the money from the scholarship partly on savings, and partly on investment in myself and scientific work, i.e. for example to buy better equipment, so that I can do slightly bigger calculations, bigger works and try to publish new articles in the future.
The motivation for many people submitting applications for a scholarship is the awareness of its value and great distinction: "It is a reward for all the hard work put in, working through the night, says Jakub Siłka, also explaining that he donated the money he received to improve his research. - In my case, I allocated a scholarship to a computing server that will allow for new research, which is always important. Thanks to this, we can use new research, algorithms, cryptography methods that would take 2 weeks to calculate and now take one day.
One of the winners was also Patrycja Wąsik, a student of the Faculty of Chemistry. She is a beneficiary of the Best of the Best! 4.0 programme, in which she received funding as part of a non-competitive project. Moreover, her most important achievements are also related to publications devoted to, among others, the synthesis of carbon nanotubes from plant milks. However, success in the field of chemistry is not the only achievement of the laureate from the Silesian University of Technology. She is also a two-time finalist of the National English Language Olympiad of Technical Universities.
– For me, the greatest motivation was to obtain some kind of distinction, appreciating my efforts put into scientific work outside the classroom. The motivation was also a certain financial boost, which guarantees this scholarship – says Patrycja Wąsik.
The scholarships received by students motivate them to take up new challenges and shape their scientific career path. Some of them, after graduating from engineering and master's studies, continue high-quality education at the Doctoral School, developing scientific research, often in cooperation with the socio-economic environment. This, in turn, translates not only into employment opportunities in enterprises and companies, but above all into introducing solutions that are truly responsive to the needs of science, the economy or industry.
