NCU News
Events: November 2026
"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.
Autumn in the KOI kitchen
The KOI Edible Garden invites you to a cooking-and-eating-together afternoon. A 15-person team will cook for us, and everyone is welcome to join us for a meal! The event will take place on 5th November at 5:30 pm.
The two-course dinner and dessert will be prepared largely from the crops we managed to collect in our garden.
This year, the cooking team will be led by Michał Jędrzejewski, a soul food advocate and enthusiast of culinary magnetism in the social sphere.
- If you'd like to be part of the cooking team, sign up here (link). You'll learn how to prepare tasty dishes.
- If you'd like to support the cooking team, sign up here (link). You'll learn how the Edible Garden works, taste the dishes and take part in a quiz.
The number of places is limited.
Facebook event
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.
IAS Excellence Lecture: linguistic iconicity
The Institute of Advanced Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University organises a free event as part of the IAS Excellence Lectures, a series of lectures organised by the Institute under the patronage of the Rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University. The next lecture will take place on November 18 at 5:00 p.m.
As part of this series, researchers representing Priority Research Teams are invited to present the most important recent achievements in their fields in an accessible and inspiring way. These meetings provide an opportunity to learn about pioneering research, participate in discussions, and exchange ideas.
On November 18, Prof. Bodo Winter (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom) will deliver a lecture titled “The linguistic sign isn't arbitrary.”
Abstract: Iconicity is the perceived resemblance between aspects of a sign’s meaning and aspect of a sign’s form. It occurs across spoken and signed languages, including iconic prosody, co-speech gestures, onomatopoeia, ideophones, and basic vocabulary. A recent wave of experimental, corpus, and typological research has revealed that iconicity is far more widespread than previously thought. In this talk, I will review recent empirical work from our lab and highlight how it fits a construal-based perspective of iconicity (Bellugi & Klima, 1976; Wilcox, 2004; Occhino et al., 2017; Winter et al., 2026). Much of the opposition that the concept of iconicity has received in linguistics stems from an over-emphasis of the universal nature of iconicity, and an under-appreciation of the extent to which it is based on construal, and hence variable between individuals and different communities.
I then turn to a central conceptual problem: the confusing, and often conflicting definitions of ‘arbitrariness’. Recent philosophical work (Planer & Kalkman, 2021; Gasparri et al., 2022) highlights that the label ‘arbitrary’ means different things in different contexts, such as arbitrariness as non-iconicity, arbitrariness as non-systematicity, or arbitrariness as conventionality. A closer look at this web of interrelated senses reveals that the banner notion of arbitrariness is not needed and, in fact, actively damaging as it leads to false dichotomies, such as the idea that conventions are somehow inimical to iconicity. Drawing on Keller’s (1998) sign theory and Flaksman’s (2017, 2020) notion of de-iconization, I will show that everything that is generally attributed to the principle of arbitrariness results from the interplay of conventions and regular processes of language change. I will conclude that in order to get a clear picture of the linguistic sign and the different evolutionary forces that act upon it, we need to abandon the notion of arbitrariness altogether.
More informations
Meeting details:- Date: 18 November 2026
- Time: 17:00
- Location: IAS (Wileńska 4 Street, Toruń), room B.1.9
- Admission: Free
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