From 17 to 19 May 2022, representatives of the University of Silesia in Katowice took part in a number of meetings organized in Leiden, the European City of Science 2022.
During the visit, the European Commission and the EuroScience Association were presented with the main directions of development of the University of Silesia, which were adopted for implementation in the coming years. These include the creative and digital industries, including video games. The Game Lab project is part of the adopted strategy.
The meetings were study visits and exchange of good practices. They are related to the mutual exchange of students or the implementation of international projects. During the visit, the possibilities of cooperation with the European Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology were discussed. Its members are researchers and academic specialists of public and private universities from all scientific disciplines as well as representatives of enterprises, media, local authorities and non-governmental organizations from as many as 75 countries.
The visit allowed to start talks with the European Commission and EuroScience about the University of Silesia taking over the role of the host of the ESOF 2024 conference and the main partner of the City of Katowice in the organization of the European City of Science 2024 event for Katowice. One of the main areas of development of the University of Silesia and other universities that will be visible in the coming years is the creative and digital industry, including video games.
The University of Silesia was represented by prof. Ryszard Koziołek – Rector of the University of Silesia, prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski – Vice-Rector for International and National Cooperation, Dariusz Laska – Deputy Chancellor for Development and Cooperation with the Economy, Justyna Szotek-Aksamit, director of the Rector’s Office and Dr. Anna Budzanowska from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Silesia.
On the part of the host city, they were attended, among others, by : prof. Hester Bijl JM Rector of Leiden University and the mayor of the city of Leiden Henri Lenferink, as well as the organizational team of the European City of Science Leiden 2022, represented by prof. Corinne L. Hofman, prof. Ferry Breedveld and prof. Pedro Russo from Leiden University.
