The World Copernicus Congress will begin in Toruń on Sunday – on the 550th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. Its main objective is to present the state of research on the life and work of the eminent scientist and astronomer, as well as his impact on the development of science, culture and the arts.
The event will have a twofold character: on the one hand, it is a state initiative sanctioned by an act of parliament to establish the Copernican Academy; on the other, it is an undertaking of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (UWM). Due to the rich and still alive and developing Copernican traditions in those centres, the Congress will have a rolling programme. After the opening ceremony, sessions will be held in Kraków (24-26 May), Olsztyn (21-24 June) and Toruń (12-15 September).
Sunday’s celebrations in Toruń will begin with a Mass at St Johns’ Cathedral Basilica, after which a commemorative plaque will be unveiled in the Copernicus Chapel. After the service, the scholars will lay flowers at the Nicolaus Copernicus monument in Toruń’s Old Town Square. Afterwards, the ceremony will move to the Nicolaus Copernicus University Auditorium, where speeches will be delivered by the Minister of Education and Science, Dr Przemysław Czarnek, and Professors Andrzej Sokala (rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University), Jacek Popiel (rector of Jagiellonian University) and Jerzy Przyborowski (rector of UWM). The inaugural lecture will be given by Professor Phillip James Edwin Peebles, Canadian astronomer and cosmologist, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics.
In the second part of the celebration, Copernican Awards and nominations will be presented to members of the Copernican Academy and its Secretary General. This will be followed by the presentation of the Awards of the Minister of Education and Science at the Polish Science Gala. The following days will see meetings of the various chambers of the Copernican Academy and lectures on areas and issues that Copernicus dealt with.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński