“Foreign students in Poland 2023” Conference hosted by the Medical University of Bialystok

A three-day conference on “Foreign Students in Poland 2023” ended in Bialystok. Over 200 people attended the event and discussed various topics, including the internationalization of science in the context of the war in Ukraine. The conference was attended by Deputy Minister Dariusz Piontkowski.

Conferences in the series “Foreign Students in Poland” have been organized annually for 16 years. It is a place of in-depth debate on the strategy and practice of internationalization. This year’s outstanding topic was the internationalization of science in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

The program of this year’s conference included seven plenary sessions, five parallel sessions, two accompanying events, the “Stars of Internationalization 2023” award gala and the INTERSTUDENT competition, as well as a parallel meeting of the Presidium of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP) and a meeting of the program universities “Incubating Freedom”. The event was held in a hybrid formula.

In his speech, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage spoke about the “Solidarity with Ukraine” and “Solidarity with Belarus” programmes. He noted that thanks to financial support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the “Solidarity with Ukraine” program, over 80 universities accepted Ukrainian students. Scientists from Ukraine also received support.

Deputy Minister Dariusz Piontkowski informed that over 85,000 foreign students study in Poland and he noted that there are fewer and fewer students from Western Europe in this group. There are more and more students from Asia and Africa. The Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Science indicated that the ministry was interested in attracting students from Europe. The way to attract them may be the still lower cost of living than in other countries, while maintaining a high level of education.

As Deputy Minister Dariusz Piontkowski said, recruitment for the next edition of the “Poland My First Choice” programme will be announced in 2023.

The Poland My First Choice scholarship programme aims to encourage young talented people from the countries listed below to pursue studies at the best Polish HEIs.

The Programme offers an opportunity to pursue full-time second-cycle studies at public and private HEIs on all fields of study offered by institutions offering education at highest level – i.e. those classified to the A and A+ category under the latest parametric evaluation – subordinate to the Minister of Science and Higher Education, with a monthly NAWA scholarship amounting to PLN 2,000 (ca. EUR 460) to cover the living allowance during the period of education in Poland specified in the Regulations. In the case of public HEIs, the Programme also offers an exemption from education fees. The Programme provides the participants with an opportunity to study in Polish or in another language. The Applicants select HEIs and fields of study in which they want to enrol based on the educational offer of Polish higher education institutions and apply for the curriculum of their choice. Final decisions regarding admissions of Applicants and financial conditions of education shall be made by HEIs.