– Under the new law, the rector has a stronger legal mandate than before. He gets a number of competences that were previously assigned to other university bodies. This is connected with great responsibility, but I am convinced that thanks to the new prerogatives management will be much more efficient – said Prof. Wiesław Bielawski, rector of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) in Warsaw.

He commented the implementation of the Constitution for Science. The provisions of the new act have been in force since October 2018, but only the 2019/2020 academic year brings noticeable changes in the functioning of the university.

Prof. Bielawski emphasizes most important changes in a new model of PhD students’ education within doctoral schools, creation of a new academic careers for outstanding didactics, the possibility for universities to create their own strategies for the development of academic staff based on a stable scholarship system, development of dual studies and practical education with maintaining the principle of free study.