AGATHONY – awards gala for outstanding employees of the Faculty of Chemistry | Faculty of Chemistry at the Gdańsk University of Technology

The gala was hosted by Agata Kot-Wasik, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, Marek Tobiszewski, Vice-Dean for Science, and Urszula Kampowska and Tomasz Laskowski as masters of the ceremony.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the hosts introduced the genesis of the name of the ceremony. Tomasz Laskowski explained it exhaustively and very interestingly. It is worth quoting his words: “The Dean's name is Agata and she awards prizes called Agathony, so the more insightful people probably sense some connection here. And from this place I would like - perhaps - to surprise you, because the matter is not so simple, and the meaning of the name Agathony can be interpreted on many levels. First of all, the word agathôn is of Greek origin and means "good". But what good is it? Well, we mean Good written with a capital letter, which was the highest Idea in Plato's philosophy. In the dialogue "Euthydeme" Plato - through the mouth of Socrates - will try to show that the only authentic good we have contact with in this world is wisdom. In the dialogue "Charmides" we read: "prudence is a great good and if you have it, then you are happy". In addition, just as Platonic ideas coexist in harmony, so in the proper development of man - in the name of prudence - work, passion and the so-called everyday life should also intertwine in balance. Ladies and Gentlemen, in addition to the word agathôn, we also have agathôs, which is the Greek equivalent of the word "good". In colloquial Greek, the word agathôs often means not good in an ethical sense, but good in a particular role, activity, or function. So we say "good man" in the sense of their decency, but we also say "good scientist", agathôs epistomonas, that is, the apostle of wisdom, or of the authentic Good. Our "Agathony" are therefore symbolic goods that we want to give to those who are especially agathôs - good at what they do. In the layer of graphic symbolism, you have certainly found silver - a precious metal, but relatively reactive - just as you react to the changing realities of the scientific world. The letter alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, is also shown. "Alpha" is the first, the most important, and sometimes the leader - so these awards are dedicated to the scientists and employees who lead us in many ways."

The Faculty of Chemistry awards its outstanding employees with a number of awards: prof. Włodzimierz Rodziewicz’s award, which has been awarded since 2000 in even years, the prof. Jacek Namieśnik’s award for exceptional pro-development activities for the Faculty of Chemistry, which was established quite recently, in 2020.

At the ceremony, awards were presented in various categories, the first one for outstanding scientific achievements:

The basis for awarding the prestigious Emil Taszner’s award is the authorship of an article in Nature or Science or in a journal with an impact factor greater than 20, or the authorship of a scientific book published by a reputable publishing house. The profile of the patron of this award was presented by Professor Maria Milewska. The award was presented to Mohammad Reza Saeb, PhD.

The Ernest Sym’s award for a young scientist has been divided into 3 equal thematic categories: the category of BIO sciences and 2 newly created ones:. Zofia and Włodzimierz Libus’ CHEM category and Wanda Szczepuła’s TECH category.

Dean Marek Tobiszewski presented the profiles of the patrons of the first prize for young scientists in the CHEM category. The Zofia and Włodzimierz Libus’ prize was awarded to Jan Alfuth, PhD.

Next, Professor Adam Macierzanka presented the biography of Professor Ernest Sym - the patron of the next award for young scientists in the BIO category. Recipient of the Ernest Sym’s prize was Szymon Mania, PhD.

The last category of awards for young scientists was granted in the TECH category. The profile of the patron of the award, Wanda Szczepula, was presented by Professor Paweł Sachadyn. The Wanda Szczepuła’s prize was awarded to Patrycja Makoś-Chełstowska, PhD.

The Tadeusz Pompowski’s prize was awarded for outstanding scientific and technological achievements with a large social impact. Professor Marek Lieder presented the profile of the patron of the award. The Tadeusz Pompowski’s prize was awarded to the team composed of: prof. Justyna Kucińska-Lipka and Maciej Sienkiewicz, PhD for scientific and technological achievement with a large social impact: "Commercialization of research results, granting the company a license to use property rights to the invention, implementation work for the production of hard packaging based on biodegradable polymer compositions."

Subsequently, the youngest of the awards was granted: the Golden Laurel of the Faculty of Chemistry for employees who are not academic teachers for outstanding activity for the Faculty of Chemistry. The award is granted by the Dean's College on the basis of submitted applications, justifying above-average activity, going beyond the scope of duties, readiness to cooperate and reliability. The Golden Laurel of the Faculty of Chemistry in the first edition of this award was granted to Mr. Karol Pałczyński.

Then, diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald didactic checks were handed, entitling the employees to a reduction in the workload, honoring the scientific work of the employees of the Faculty of Chemistry, measured by publications published in 2022, which already make a significant contribution to the next parameterization. It was the second edition of didactic checks, in which 39 checks were awarded for a total of 895 hours.

The gala ended with the publication of the results of the competition for the most beautiful Christmas tree at the Faculty of Chemistry. Christmas trees which presented a whole range of decorating concepts, from traditional trees sparkling with a rainbow of colors to slightly avant-garde and even minimalist versions took part in the competition. Voting for the most beautiful tree took place during the annual meeting of the Dean with Employees. The Christmas tree prepared by the employees of the Department of Organic Chemistry won the vote.

Congratulations once again to all the winners!

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