Campus life [2025-10-03]

Awards for the best

— Editors

The inauguration of the new academic year was an opportunity to honour the greatest scientific, sporting and artistic achievements of students at the Nicolaus Copernicus University and the University High School.

Traditionally, during the ceremonial inauguration, the titles of the  'Best Graduate', 'Best Student' and 'Best Student Athlete' of the Nicolaus Copernicus University were awarded. The University Senate decided who would receive them. The best student of the University High School was also awarded.

Karol Gostomczyk, a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the NCU Collegium Medicum was named the best graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in the past academic year. The winner is the author and co-author of 17 scientific publications and conference papers with a total IF of 36.0 and a total number of points awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of 815. He presented his research results at international conferences in Austria, Lithuania, Germany and Poland. He was the head and author of the concept of three research projects:

• 'New biomarkers in cancer diagnosis',
• 'The use of nanomedicine methods in targeted therapy',
• 'The role of the tumour microenvironment in the progression of haematological cancers'.

These projects received funding through grant competitions, and their results were published in Philadelphia-listed journals and presented at international conferences. The candidate was also a member of the team implementing the project 'Modern therapeutic strategies in adult leukaemia', the results of which were published in a journal indexed on the Philadelphia list.

Since 2024, he has been a reviewer for renowned journals, including Clinica Chimica Acta (Elsevier), Advanced Healthcare Materials (Wiley), International Journal of Nanomedicine (Taylor & Francis), PLoS One (Public Library of Science), as well as Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) journals such as Cancers, Cells, and International Journal of Molecular Sciences. He is the author of five reviews of scientific publications. He received the prestigious Wacław Mayzel Medical Laurel awarded by the Polish Academy of Sciences, a scholarship from the Minister of Science and Higher Education (2024/2025) and twice a scholarship from the Rector.

The Laureate was active in the Student Research Society, was the founder and chair of the H&O Research Team (Hematology and Oncology Research Team) Student Research Club, and was also the initiator of the Cancer Research Team, which brings together researchers from leading domestic and foreign centres, including the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, and Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital. The collaboration has resulted in publications, conference presentations, and work on biomarkers for the detection of circulating tumour cells (CTCs).

He holds Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Training certificates. He is socially involved as a volunteer for the DKMS Foundation, and also works with the Polish Adult Leukaemia Group (PALG) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). He is currently developing his research skills in Dr Rhanderson Cordoso's team (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School), where he is mastering the skills of conducting complex meta-analyses and international cooperation.

The title of 'Best Student of the Nicolaus Copernicus University' for the 2024/2025 academic year was awarded by the NCU Senate to Paulina Błaszczyk, a fourth-year law student who, in the academic year 2024/2025, was awarded the title of 'Best Student of the NCU Faculty of Law and Administration' with a grade point average of 4.96. She was also the holder of a research scholarship under the Municipal Scholarship Programme for students of Toruń universities and the NCU Rector's Scholarship in the field of science.

The winner is the author of articles on family and inheritance law, based on a comparative analysis of Polish and Swedish law. Her interest in this subject led to research work under a grant from the National Science Centre OPUS, which aimed to analyse ways of balancing the interests of the testator and his or her immediate family in the Swedish legal system.

Among Paulina Błaszczyk's achievements and activities, it is worth mentioning her presentations at the National Scientific Conference entitled 'Contemporary issues and challenges of non-code criminal law' and at the National Scientific Conference entitled 'Inheritance – the issue of succession in civil law' organised by the Student Law Research Club at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, as well as during the National Scientific Conference entitled 'Information as a subject of legal regulation' organised by the Department of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Judiciary of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław and the Doctoral School of the War Studies University in Warsaw.

The student is also a winner of numerous competitions, including:  the 1st National Competition in Family and Inheritance Law organised by the Department of Civil Law at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, the 6th National Moot Court in Civil Law and Procedure CIVILIS  and the 1st National Competition in Criminal Law 'Na tropie' organised by the European Law Students' Association ELSA Poland, as well as the 9th edition of the National Arbitration Competition UW MOOT under the patronage of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

The title of 'Best Student Athlete' for the 2024/2025 academic year went to Zuzanna Błażejczak, a canoeist (trained at KST Włókniarz Chełmża), a student of tourism and recreation at the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, and a participant in the Dual Career Program.

The winner's most important sporting achievements:

• 4th place at the World Championships in Portugal, K4 500 m
• Successes in the Polish Junior Championships:
  • 1st place K2 200 m,
  • 1st place K2 500 m,
  • 1st place K4 500 m
  • 3rd place K1 1000 m
• Successes in the Polish Senior Championships:
  • 2nd place K2 200 m
  • 3rd place K2 1000 m
  • 3rd place K1 5000 m

The NCU Senate also decided to award a distinction for promoting the University internationally. It was awarded to a team from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, consisting of:

• Paweł Aniszewski
• Paweł Czarkowski
• Alicja Kluczek
• Łukasz Skabowski
• Mateusz Sobkowiak
• Mikołaj Juda

In the 2024/2025 academic year, the team achieved a very good result in the prestigious, multi-stage programming competition in team programming, ICPC Central European Regional Contest CERC 2024 (Central European Championships, Wrocław, 13-15 December 2024), in which 70 teams participated. The students also participated in the Polish Academic Team Programming Championships AMPZZ 2024 (Warsaw, 15-17 November 2024), as well as in the international technology conference Tech of Tomorrow (Poznań, 19-23 March 2024) and the Hack of Tomorrow programming marathon organised during the conference, where the team took second place in the prestigious AI Agents category and received a prize of USD 1,200. All team members were active members of the Computer Science Research Club at the NCU Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. They helped organise the 31st Baltic Olympiad in Computer Science (Toruń, 24–29 April 2025).

During the ceremony the rector also awarded the winners of the Interfaculty Olympics – Copernicada. The trophy went to the team representing the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences.

The Teaching Council of the University High School selected the best student of the 2024/2025 school year. The award went to Artur Ziółkowski, a 17-year-old fourth-year student specialising in mathematics, IT and physics, who achieved an average grade of 5.17. Artur also won a silver medal at the 18th International Astronomy and Astrophysics Contest and came second in the 68th National Astronomy Contest.

He is also a finalist in the 51st National Youth Astronomy Seminar and Provincial Physics Contest, and a laureate of the Marian Rejewski Kujawsko-Pomorskie Mathematics Competition. Artur's greatest passions are astronomy and astrophotography, as well as cycling and playing the guitar.