photo: Dominika Hull-Bruska
Meet our Arqus Office
Emilia Wilanowska in the Alliance of European Universities Arqus has the role of Institutional Coordinator. She is the head of the Arqus Office at the University of Wrocław, which is located in the building of Collegium Anthropologicum at ul. Kuźnicza 35. What does the Arqus Office do? We invite you to read a short interview. And if you would like to find out more about UWr’s Arqus in April, we invite you to online meetings organised by the Arqus Office every Wednesday at 12.00.
What does the Arqus Office do?
The main purpose of the Office is to organise all our activities within the Alliance. Specific working groups have been set up to carry out various tasks. Collaboration within Arqus develops through meetings either more or less within or between the functioning of these groups, both at university and international level. One of the most important responsibilities of the Office is to find and delegate suitable representatives of the University to these teams and then support them in the activities undertaken. The tasks of these working groups are to implement joint international activities of a teaching or research nature. When proposals for such joint initiatives arise, we try to pass them on to the appropriate people at the University. The office also acts as a contact point for Arqus.
What is your role in the Arqus European Universities Alliance on behalf of the University of Wrocław?
Following the Alliance’s organisational structure, I fulfil the role of Institutional Coordinator. I regularly meet with my counterparts from the other Arqus Universities. At these meetings, we discuss the progress of the work in the various work package groups, analyse whether the tasks they have taken on can be implemented together, and keep an eye on the timetable for their implementation. I also participate in several work package groups myself.
Do you think the idea of University Alliances is needed at all? If so, why?
I think this idea is very useful. It is a new form of academic exchange between different countries. All Arqus universities face similar challenges. Thanks to the Alliance, we have the chance to develop common, long-term strategic goals in the areas of education, conducting research, implementing innovation and cooperating with the social and economic environment. Within the framework of the Alliances, European teams are being formed to generate new ideas; our task is to enable, facilitate and coordinate their implementation.
How can you find out more about the functioning of the UWr in Arqus?
Some time ago I started a series of meetings in our Faculties. Depending on the needs, we meet online or stationary. So far I have been to the Faculty of Letters, the Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy. I intend to visit all the other Faculties by the end of the academic year. In addition, in April I invite you to a series of online meetings on the Microsoft Teams platform, which will take place every Wednesday at 12 p.m. The link to the meetings can be found here. In addition, I always recommend visiting the website www.arqus-alliance.eu and Facebook and our Office located at ul. Kuźnicza 35.
What future prospects/ideas do you see?
I hope that the Arqus community will grow in number at our University every month, but the priority of my work is to promote the Arqus brand enough to make it recognisable to all University employees. I am also keen to ensure that they see the opportunity to develop their academic activities through international collaboration within Arqus and that they want to take advantage of this opportunity. We will work to provide all those interested with such opportunities. This is a responsible challenge that faces me, but I believe that we will soon be able to talk about our concrete achievements in the Arqus Alliance.
