Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

Voivodeship: kujawsko-pomorskie

City: Toruń

Description:

The Decree of the Council of Ministers of August 24, 1945 on the establishment of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, approved by the Presidium of the National National Council on September 11, closed almost 550 years of efforts to establish a university in the Pomeranian lands. The idea seemed close to realization several times, the last time in the interwar period. Ultimately, however, an academic university, located on the lands of northern Poland, became a reality only in the year that World War II ended

In 2004, the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz became part of the university, forming the Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University. The university operates a research station on Spitsbergen, and also manages the University High School in Torun. 

Currently, UMK is made up of 16 faculties (13 in Torun and three in Bydgoszcz). UMK's offerings include: 106 majors, 37 postgraduate studies, 49 other forms of education, 5 field doctoral schools and 18 types of doctoral studies.

The university has almost 18,000 students, 67.6 percent of whom are women, and 6 percent are foreigners. Citizens of 57 countries study at the university. The largest groups are students from Ukraine, Belarus, Ireland and China.

Almost 4,200 graduates left the university building last year. In the 2023/2024 academic year, nearly 6.5 thousand male and female students began their studies, including 322 foreigners.

The university employs 2,000 full-time academic staff, more than 50 percent of whom are women.

Prominent figures who have studied within the university's walls include. Michal Zaleski - local government official, from 2002 to 2024 president of Toruń, Zbigniew Herbert - poet, playwright, Iwona Chmielewska - author and illustrator of books for children and adults, Bogdan Holownia - jazz artist, Rafał Kapeliński - director and screenwriter; Robert Małecki - writer, political scientist, philosopher, journalist, teacher of creative writing; Janina Ochojska - founder and president of the Polish Humanitarian Action Foundation, member of the European Parliament, social activist; Aleksander Wolszczan - astronomer, discoverer of the first three planets outside the solar system; or Tomasz Organek - guitarist, composer, producer.