NCU News
Upcoming events
YUFE Academy: Young Scientists on a Social Mission
YUFE Academy invites everyone to an online event titled "Young Scientists on a Social Mission II - Tackling urban challenges and opportunities". The event will take place on October 20 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.; advance registration is required.
This YUFE Academy event brings together 3 postdocs from the YUFE4Postdocs programme, supported by Horizon Europe’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme, who will present their work to a broad audience and demonstrate how scientific knowledge can help address environmental and social challenges.
The session is open to anyone interested in how research can shape a more sustainable future and how young scientists communicate their work beyond academia. Each speaker will give a 20-minute accessible presentation, followed by questions from the audience. The speakers:
- Dr. Joffrey Fuhrer (University of Eastern Finland): Where you live shapes not only how you feel, but also why you live
- Dr. Lucia Cores Sarria (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid): Does bad news pull us in or push us away?
- Dr. Cedric Neutel (Maastricht University): Are “forever chemicals” harming hearts?
Registration for the event is open until October 18 on the YUFE Virtual Campus website. A link to the event will be emailed to registered participants on October 19.
Gingerbread Job Fair
On October 21, the Faculty of Economics and Management will host the Gingerbread Job Fair, during which several exhibitors – including both local companies and international corporations – will present their job openings, internships, and apprenticeships.
The Gingerbread Job Fair is an event organized by the UMK Career Office. All students, graduates, and anyone interested in developing their career path are invited to visit the exhibitors’ booths.
During the fair, you’ll not only have the opportunity to speak with employer representatives but also receive career counseling, help with preparing your resume, and guidance on planning your career path.
More details.
Scientific Wednesdays at Psychologists: body language
The Institute of Psychology invites you to the meeting in the "Scientific Wednesdays at Psychologists" series. On 21 October, dr Elina Rubertus from Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) in Berlin will give a lecture entitled "The role of the body in early language acquisition".
"Scientific Wednesdays at Psychologists" is a series of short lectures held at the Institute of Psychology every Wednesday at 2 p.m. in room 105. Admission is free.
Lecture summary: Producing speech demands fine-grained coordination across different body parts. On the one hand, there is the vocal apparatus, a whole orchestra of muscles spanning the respiratory system, the larynx with its vocal folds, and the oral cavity, tuned and timed precisely to create an acoustic signal that others can understand. On the other hand, the rest of our body is usually active too when we speak – we move our head, upper limbs, or even whole body to underscore meaning, rhythm, or emphasis. One of the many challenges infants face is learning to conduct this orchestra of speech along with the additional body movements.
In this talk, I will introduce our current project Voc2Speak which takes a more holistic, multimodal view of early language acquisition than most previous work. In addition to vocalizations, we also address respiration and body motion in infants between 6 and 14 months of age. Our longitudinal design allows us to track developmental changes and investigate how the three measures interact at a given age. As data collection is still underway, I will outline our framework and hypotheses and share first glimpses of how infants learn to bring breath, voice, and body into concert.
Roma, Citizen, European - Through Memory to the Present
The Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University invites everyone to a poster exhibition titled “Roma, Citizen, European - Through Memory to the Present”, which will be on display in the outdoor space in front of the Faculty of Fine Arts (Sienkiewicza Street 30/32) at the trawa.lab.hub Gallery and the BO Gallery (one billboard). The opening reception will take place on October 22 at 2:00 p.m.
How can one convey identity, memory, and a shared European history through a poster? The answer can be found in this exhibition, which showcases works by graphic artists from the international poster competition "Roma, Citizen, European - From Memory to the Present". The diverse ideas and interpretations encourage reflection and invite viewers to look at history and the present from a new perspective.
The exhibition will be on view through January 31, 2027. The event is organised by dr hab. Krzysztof Skrzypczyk, prof. UMK and dr Piotr Florianowicz from the Department of Graphic Design at NCU.
Strengthening the University’s Social Engagement – Training
From November 16–27, Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) will host a training session for academic staff titled “Social and Civic Engagement in Practice: Socially Beneficial Education and Research.”
This training opportunity is open to UMK employees in teaching, research, and research-teaching positions who are interested in strengthening the social dimension of education and increasing the social impact of their research.
The program aims to develop competencies related to designing social initiatives, implementing innovative teaching methods, and conducting research that addresses contemporary social challenges.
The training programme consists of eight thematic modules:
- University-Community Engagement in the European Higher Education Area;
- Models of Collaboration with the Wider Community;
- Integrating Social Engagement into Academic Curricula;
- Supporting Student Initiatives;
- Co-Creating Knowledge: Community-Engaged Research and Citizen Science;
- Evaluating Social Impact;
- Internationalisation of Social Engagement;
- Recognition of Social Engagement and Academic Career Development.
The modules are highly interactive and workshop-based, drawing on practical case studies, collaborative work, and the exchange of experiences. Participants may register for selected modules or for the entire programme.
The training will be delivered by Prof. Bojana Ćulum Ilić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Rijeka (Croatia) - an expert in university-community engagement, civic education, and service-learning. She has extensive experience in international projects and initiatives dedicated to advancing universities' third mission, including work within the YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) Alliance.
Language: English (minimum recommended proficiency level: B1);
Dates: 16-27 November 2026 (Monday-Friday);
Total workload: up to 40 hours (up to 4 hours per day), scheduled either between 8:00-12:00 or 14:00-18:00.
Those interested in participating are invited to complete the registration form. Applications will be accepted until the 20th of October 2026. The number of places is limited. If the number of applications exceeds the available places, a selection committee will make admission decisions based on the information provided in the application form.
Participants who complete the training programme will receive a certificate of participation.
Questions? Feel free to ask Magdalena Stremplewska or Aleksandra Śnieć from the Department of International Partnerships and Educational Mobility: civic-yufe@umk.pl, 56 611 43 48, 56 611 20 98.The programme is organised as part of the YUFE ( (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) initiative.
Visegrad Fellowship Programe Open Call
The International Visegrad Fund has opened applications for the Visegrad Fellowship Programe, aimed at researchers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine.
The applicant’s country of citizenship and permanent residence must be different from the host institution's country. Fellowships are awarded for 2 to 10 weeks and support research projects, participation in research activities, teaching lectures or seminars, as well as work with materials available in public archives and libraries.
Applications should be submitted online via the My Visegrad. The application should include an identity document, a PhD diploma or confirmation of enrolment in a PhD programme, an invitation letter from the host institution and a letter of recommendation. Applications are assessed based on the applicant’s academic qualifications, experience, project justification, and the rationale for selecting the host institution.
Key information:
- Application deadline: 30 November, 12:00
- Fellowship amount: EUR 500 per week, paid in two instalments (80% and 20%)
- Further information is available on the website