Oxford lays foundations for new Polish research initiative

StAntony's College: photo - wikipedia

Seminars, lectures, books, conferences and ultimately scholarships will be part of the British university's drive to increase academic engagement with contemporary Poland.

Noted Oxford academics, among them Professor Jan Zielonka, Professor Norman Davies and Professor Timothy Garton Ash are involved in creating the programme.

In their opinion, although Oxford has long been engaged in research on contemporary Poland, the university has lacked its own centre for such studies.

Under the terms of today's agreement, St. Anthony's College will host the centre for the Polish research programme.

St. Anthony's, which is one of the university's seven graduate colleges (the majority of the 38 colleges take a mixture of graduates and postgraduates), specialises in international relations, economics, politics and history.

The project is being backed by Poland's Noble Bank, one of the signatories of today's agreement.

For the time being, the college is looking for a director of the programme, namely “an outstanding figure in the field of social sciences and humanities.”

The first publications are expected as early as 2013. (nh)