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It was a special celebration. On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, Lublin University of Technology inaugurated not only the academic year 2022/2023, but also its 70th jubilee. The invited guests, including members of parliament, local government officials, representatives of the clergy and other universities, together with the employees and students of our university, celebrated the start of the new year of work and education.

"The university was quite strange: it has authorities, students, several lecturers and appropriate official seals, but it does not have a single square meter of its own space and the most necessary teaching aids" - this is what was said about the beginnings of the Evening Engineering School in Lublin.

- Indeed, the first years of the university's operation were difficult. Apart from the problems with the housing base, the shortage of appropriate staff was the biggest obstacle to the development of the Higher Engineering School - said the rector of Lublin University of Technology, Prof. Zbigniew Pater. In order to understand how many obstacles the university overcame and how much it achieved thanks to the people involved in its development, the rector recalled the most important events in the university’s history. - On May 13, 1953, the Council of Ministers established a one-faculty Evening Engineering School with just over a hundred students. The first university building intended for the Faculty of Electrical Engineering was put into use in 1967. The breakthrough date was 1977, when we obtained the right to confer a doctoral degree and, most importantly, the Higher Engineering School was transformed into Lublin University of Technology.

Prof. Zbigniew Pater, presenting the 70 years of Lublin University of Technology, used the numbers that best show the development of the university.

- Today, the group of first-year students admitted to studies in the last recruitment is almost 3,000 people. And the total number of students is nearly 7.5 thousand. Since 2018, the number of foreigners has increased by 28% from 650 to 830 people, the largest group of which are citizens of Ukraine. In this year's evaluation of scientific activity, we received two A+, two A and three B+ categories, which means that all the disciplines have the right to award doctoral and postdoctoral degrees. With 136 decisions on obtaining a patent, we are a leader in innovation and protection of inventions. Our employees carry out 29 research projects for almost PLN 9.5 million - mentioned the rector of LUT.

The Rector informed about the planned investments on the campus. - The IT Tower building will be located in the place of the current car park, between the dormitories and the chapel. Its cost is approximately PLN 100 million. It will help to integrate the IT environment of the city and the region, and it will also help to identify IT talents among students. On the other hand, the "Center of Knowledge and Culture of LUT" will be intended, inter alia, for the Scientific and Technical Information Center, as well as our artistic groups. There will also be a modern Senate hall, as well as a conference and entertainment room - announced the Rector of LUT.

Referring to the results of the evaluation, the Rector pointed out that Lublin University of Technology meets all the conditions for applying for the status of a research university. - As soon as the Ministry of Education and Science announces the competition, we will be ready and will certainly participate in it - assured Prof. Zbigniew Pater.

To support the employees and students in their development, pro-quality programs were launched. - This year, 92 projects were awarded co-financing for a total amount of PLN 1.5 million. It is especially worth looking at the cooperation with the economic environment and the commercialization of research results. One of the basic goals that we are setting ourselves now is to regain the dynamics of work performed jointly with the industry - dynamics slowed down during the pandemic - emphasized the rector.

There was also information about the rankings. - The PERSKEKTYWY ranking perfectly shows the systematic progress of Lublin University of Technology. Comparing the data from 2012 to those obtained in the current year, we can see a big jump from position 52 to 32. It is no different in the list of technical universities, in which we moved from 15th to 8th position. However, in the categories of "innovation" and "inventiveness" we have been on the podium for many years. This is confirmed by the annual report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, in which Lublin University of Technology is also a leader among domestic and foreign entities with the largest number of patents granted in 2021.

At the end of his speech, the rector referred to the Jubilee Year. - The academic year that has started today will be full of events, both strictly scientific, such as conferences and symposia, educational events, as well as artistic and sports events. The culmination of the 70th anniversary of the university will be the next year's celebration of the University Day with a gala at the Center for the Meeting of Cultures and the accompanying two-day Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities.

An important point of the inauguration was an inaugural lecture entitled "Evaluation of scientific activity at present and in the future", delivered by Prof. Jan Pomorski from the Science Evaluation Committee.

During the lecture, Prof. Pomorski shared his feelings after the first evaluation. - All parties see the need for evaluation, but a necessary condition to maintain public confidence in the evaluation process, is TRANSPARENCY of all decisions made by the Science Evaluation Committee and the Minister. Another necessary requirement is the CLARITY and STABILITY of the legal provisions on evaluation.

He congratulated Lublin University of Technology on the results of the evaluation. - The university is in the 5th position among technical universities. However, it is a leader in the discipline of mechanical engineering, ahead of universities such as Warsaw University of Technology and Wrocław University of Science and Technology.