NCU News
Events: October 2026
Composing Color – art exhibition
The University Library in Toruń invites everyone to an exhibition titled "Composing Color: Józef Jarema and Maria Sperling", which will be presented from 6 October 2026 to 19 February 2027 at the University Museum (pl. Rapackiego 1).
The exhibition will feature works by two outstanding artists of the 20th-century Polish avant-garde, who were united by a long-standing friendship and shared artistic explorations. Among them are paintings, artistic textiles, and set designs by Józef Jarema, co-founder of the Cricot Theatre, as well as collages, tapestries, and mosaics by Maria Sperling, who spent most of her life creating art in France.
The works of Jarema – for whom color was "the power of visual sounds" – will be accompanied by Sperling’s compositions, which use color as a tool for building subtle relationships between form, light, and space. All the works complement one another, revealing the ongoing dialogue between two distinct artistic personalities and their evolution from figurative painting to abstraction. Together, they offer a glimpse into the rich world of postwar European art, which both artists helped shape through their experiments in France and Italy.
The exhibition is curated by Katarzyna Łomnicka and Agnieszka Kurto. The opening reception will take place on October 2 at 5:00 p.m. The exhibition will run from October 6, 2026, through February 19, 2027.
Welcome Days at KOI
Copernican Integration Centre invites all first-year international students & doctoral students on full-cycle degree programmes to Welcome Days, which will take place from October 6th to 11th. The event is organised by International Point KOI.
Join our academic society, meet new people and get the necessary information at the beginning of the adventure at NCU! The following events are scheduled during Welcome Days:
- presentations on legalising your stay in Toruń, safety, psychological first aid at NCU, the Copernicus Integration Centre, and the KOI Edible Garden,
- intercultural workshops,
- a visit to the Collegium Medicum,
- International Day,
- mycological walk.
All information & the full programme are available on the website and Facebook. For the Welcome Days meetings and events taking place from 6–9 October, registration is required.
"See you again" – an exhibition at the Artus Gallery
From 8 October, the Artus Gallery will host an exhibition of original posters by staff and students of the Department of Graphic Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Nicolaus Copernicus University. The exhibition has been organised as part of the 80th-anniversary celebrations of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Toruń.
The works in the exhibition "See You Again" ("Do zobaczenia") explore themes related to the problems and challenges of the modern world. Although the poster makes use of abbreviations, symbols and messages, it can become a space for posing questions. The works on display do not offer definitive answers; each one encourages the viewer to form their own interpretation. Here, the image becomes not only a vehicle for information, but also a stimulus for thought and a closer look at reality.
The diversity of the themes addressed is reflected in the formal aspects of the works on display. Alongside minimalist, synthetic graphic solutions, there are compositions with a complex structure, utilising painterly qualities, visual expression, typography and multi-layered meanings. This diversity demonstrates that the contemporary original poster can take many forms and remains an open field for artistic and design experimentation.
The very title of the exhibition, "See you again", leaves room for many interpretations. It may simply mean a farewell and a promise to meet again. It may also refer to the future, to what we are yet to see and cannot yet foresee. "See you again" can also be taken literally: as an encouragement to look, to notice what often goes unnoticed.
The works will be on display from 8 October to 1 November 2026 at the Artus Gallery (Rynek Staromiejski 6, Toruń) daily from 1.00 pm to 7.00 pm. The exhibition opening will take place on 7 October, starting at 6.00 pm. Dr Piotr Florianowicz is responsible for the exhibition description and graphic design.
"Winning in life, winning in sport" - conference
Participants at the conference summarising the implementation of the Erasmus+ Sport project, “Winning in life, winning in sport”, will discuss how to effectively combine competitive sport with education and support the personal development of student-athletes. The meeting will take place on 12 October in the conference room of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Main Library, starting at 9.00 am.
“Winning in life, winning in sport” is a European project focused on running dual-track programmes for student-athletes. In addition to Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU), the international team also included Margherita Sport e Vita Basket from Italy, the University of Malta, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from Greece and NYSA Sweden. The University of Latvia was an associated partner, whilst the project was coordinated by the Latvian non-governmental organisation Andrea +.
The aim of the conference is to summarise the international team’s two years of work. The event was divided into sessions devoted to, amongst other things, modern teaching methods, flexible teaching models, the role of coaching in building skills, and the promotion of universities through dual-track careers. The highlight of the event will be a discussion with medallists from the World University Canoeing Championships, who will share their experiences regarding time management, collaboration with lecturers and coping with pressure.
The event is open to the public and is aimed at students, athletes, coaches, academic staff and anyone involved in the development of university sport. The event will also be streamed live (link).
Conference programme (PL)
IAS Excellence Lectures: prof. Taciano L. Milfont
The Institute of Advanced Studies invites the academic community to a series of free lectures as part of the IAS Excellence Lectures - a series of lectures delivered by internationally renowned scholars. The first session will take place on October 14.
The IAS Excellence Lectures are addressed to the entire University community, including researchers, doctoral candidates and students beyond the speakers’ immediate fields of expertise. The invited speakers present key recent advances in their fields in an accessible and inspiring way, offering opportunities to discover cutting-edge research, engage in discussion, and exchange ideas. The series fosters intellectual exchange across disciplines and contributes to a culture of research excellence at NCU. The series brings to NCU internationally renowned scholars representing the University’s Priority Research Areas.
The first lecture titled "Understanding Public Policy Through a Temporal Lens" will take place on October 14 at 5:00 p.m. at the Institute for Advanced Studies (4 Wileńska St., Room B.1.9, ground floor), and will be presented by prof. Taciano L. Milfont (University of Waikato, New Zealand). The lecture will be held in English.
Abstarct of the event: The cognitive ability to mentally travel through time allows people to project themselves backward and forward in time. Research has shown that anticipating and envisioning possible future events, and imagining ourselves experiencing those events, have important implications for health, finance, and environmental protection. While many public policies in these domains concern events that may occur decades into the future, current evidence suggests that we typically consider a much shorter temporal distance when spontaneously thinking about the future.
In this presentation, I will first provide a theoretical summary of the links between time perspective and distinct life domains, with a particular focus on environmental issues. I will then review evidence examining associations between future time perspective and environmental engagement at the individual and societal levels. Overall, I will argue that a better understanding of psychological time can improve the design and implementation of public policies.
Information on upcoming lectures and speakers will be published on the IAS website.
Library: a space for building social relationships
The Open Library is a new series of academic conferences organised by the Institute of Information and Communication Research at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The first edition will take place on October 15th.
The first edition of the conference will be held under the motto "A space for building social relationships". The main topic will be the library as a "third place" - space for encounters, dialogue, and the building of interpersonal bonds. The conference will address issues related to the transformation of library functions in the context of technological development, the digitisation of resources, and new forms of communication. Participants will wonder how modern information tools and organisational solutions influence the relationship between institutions and their users.
The conference is open and interdisciplinary – it combines academic perspectives with practical experience, creating a space for discussion about libraries as institutions of the future: accessible, socially engaged, and close to people. The conference provides a forum for the exchange of research findings, practical experiences, and best practices in library science, information science, social communication, sociology, cultural studies, and related disciplines.
Event details, including the program and registration information, are available at bibliotekaotwarta.umk.pl.
Debate: From Toruń to the Stars
The International Centre for Copernican Studies invites you to a debate entitled ‘From Toruń to the Stars’, dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus’ path of scientific development. The event will take place on 15 October at the Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University and will be broadcast.
What was Nicolaus Copernicus’s journey like, from a schoolboy in Toruń to the man who changed our perception of the Universe? Who were his teachers, what did his studies bring him, and which experiences shaped the future astronomer? During the debate ‘From Toruń to the Stars’, the guests will present Copernicus not only as a brilliant astronomer, but above all as a pupil, a student and a young man who, step by step, acquired knowledge, developed his interests and discovered his own scientific path: from Toruń, via Kraków and Italian universities, right up to the revolution that stopped the Sun and set the Earth in motion.
The debate will feature Prof. Marian Chachaj, Prof. Janusz Małłek and Prof. Stanisław Sroka, and will be chaired by Prof. Krzysztof Mikulski. The event will take place on 15 October at 5.00 pm at the Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University (24 Gołębia Street, Room 30).
Link to the live stream
Film poster exhibition at the ctrl+plant Gallery
The Institute of Advanced Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University and the Department of Graphic Design at Nicolaus Copernicus University invite you to an exhibition by Dr Jakub Sobczak entitled “Cut!”. The opening will take place on 15 October at 5.00 pm at the ctrl+plant Gallery in the Institute of Advanced Studies (4 Wileńska Street, Toruń).
The exhibition “Cut!” is a collection of 24 diverse original posters created as commentary on films and TV series. Selected screen adaptations served as a pretext for developing socially engaged forms and creating illustrative compositions. The works vary in style and the means of expression used, in order to accurately convey the mood of the production or issue being commented on.
Jakub Sobczak was born in 1995 in Suwałki. He graduated from the Art School in Supraśl and studied graphic design at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Toruń, with which he has also established a professional association. He works as a lecturer in the Department of Graphic Design at Nicolaus Copernicus University. He specialises in poster art, illustrated books and icon painting, drawing inspiration from folk art and historical graphic techniques. He is the author of the illustrated publications "Polish Proverbs" and "Podlasie Legends: 4 Cultures". He has won awards in poster competitions and in the field of traditional printmaking. He has taken part in dozens of exhibitions across Poland and abroad, in the fields of graphic design, linocut and woodcut.
The exhibition will run until 1 December 2026.
TASQ Seminar Series
The Faculty of Chemistry invites all researchers, PhD students, and students to the upcoming TASQ Academic Seminar. Our guest speaker will be the distinguished theoretical chemist Professor Sir David Clary from the University of Oxford.
The event will take place on October 16, 10:00 AM at the Library of the Faculty of Chemistry. Prof. Clary will deliver a lecture titled: “One Hundred Years of the Schrödinger Equation”.
About the Speaker: Prof. Sir David Clary (FRS) is an internationally renowned theoretical chemist, Fellow of the Royal Society, and former President of Magdalen College, Oxford (2005–2020). From 2009 to 2013, he served as the first Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
His research focuses on quantum scattering theory and chemical reaction dynamics. He is also a leading authority on the history of quantum mechanics and the life of Erwin Schrödinger, having authored books such as “Schrödinger in Oxford” (World Scientific, 2022).
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.