Nauka

The interdisciplinary report is an effect of the work of a team of experts appointed by Division I for Humanities and Social Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). The team consisted of representatives of academic committees of the division. Its task was to formulate answers to 20 questions most frequently asked in public discourse regarding costs and benefits of the European integration, relations between Poland and the EU authorities, threats to the integration, the future of the EU and the place of Poland in the Community. The authors express concern about the potential results of the negative attitude of the current Polish government towards the actions of the institutions of the EU, the growing criticism towards the European integration and the threat of marginalisation of Poland within the EU or even the possibility of Poland’s leaving the EU (Polexit). They also indicate the possible economic, political and civilizational outcomes of the actions of the Polish authorities which weaken Poland’s ties to the EU. The report urges the academic community to increase their research activity and involvement in the public debate regarding these vital issues.

The present paper discusses the new Polish law on higher education in the context of the contrasted global and academic paradigms of university funding, governance, and organization. Its point of departure is the advent of international comparative data in higher education, the measurability of individuals, academic units and institutions in terms of research output, and the emergence of a new social contract between the state and universities. The key concepts used to evaluate the new law are competition in science, academic income structure and academic knowledge production structure, internationalists and locals in science, and vertical differentiation in national higher education systems. The new law is assessed in the context of the original reform proposal suggested by the national team of experts led by the present author and its long-term strategic choices are discussed in more detail, including a changing system of institutional evaluation, a revised system of academic degrees, and new excellence-focused national funding schemes.

In these remarks I make an attempt to understand and present the functioning of authorities in science. I do use in the first place the earlier claims which present this issue in a historical perspective. This allows to grasp the social process of emergence of the authorities as well the changing of their position in the way they are functioning. Especially the thoughts of Max Weber are being considered by my as useful in this matter. I do share his general thesis saying that even the greatest of scientific authorities – called by me in these remarks ”centennial” – couldn't occur and function without their social and cultural ”background”. This had led in large extent to the situation where these authorities fist played a significant role in the development of science and then went over to a more or less dignified ”retirement”. In this and other issues I present some of my own remarks and sugestions.

Empathy and psychopathy seem to be two distant extremes, which only differ, with nothing similar. Therefore, the question that seems to be surprising is whether such a theoretical perspective is justified. Empathy exerts significant influence on social relationships and is associated with moral development, whereas psychopathy seems to be an opposite phenomenon, as it is associated with the lack of deep interpersonal bonds and the violation of legal norms. As studies from various disciplines and scientific areas indicate, such concepts as behavioral effectiveness, morality or altruism might help explain the complex nature of the interrelationship between psychopathy and empathy. The authors tried to explore and describe the complexity of the two presented concepts in the light of the conducted research, and the resulting theoretical and empirical implications.

For centuries, identity has been an important existential issue, because it organizes human relation with the world. Identity is not only one man's being in a biological sense, but the principle of social and cultural order. The identity is the self-awareness, the result of the social actor's involvement in a variety of network connections which are forming a human being together with the biological dimension. Thus, the identity, on the one hand, is a kind of Erikson's tradition, namely the sense of being human, on the other hand interactionist tradition, modification of identity through a process of interaction. Contemporary world, the world of confronting cultures, raises the need for analysis of identity within many cultures, which has been shaped by continuous contact with different values, norms, patterns of behaviour. Upper Silesia has been our empirical reference point for the discussion on social (regional) identity. Identity of Upper Silesia is the result of a long and complicated history and present day. This identity is created by Polish, German, Czech and Jewish a cultural elements.

In the article the author discusses peculiarities of three areas of psychologists’ professional activity: conducting scientific research, educating new generations of psychologists, and having a private practice. He particularly stresses the significance of empirical testability of theories for correct and ethical assessment practice (according to Evidence-Based Assessment standard) and therapeutic practice (according to Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology standard). The author also explores the cultural immersion of psychological activity.

The cultivation of genetically modified crops has long been a contentious issue in the European Union. Now a group of biotech specialists and legal experts propose a mechanism to take the political edge out of the authorization process.

An outstanding Polish biochemist, laureate of the Foundation for Polish Science Prize in 2007, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a head of the Department of Molecular Biomedicine at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, PAS in Poznan

Professor Wlodzimierz Krzyzosiak’s research path led from the structural chemistry of nucleic acids, through molecular genetics and cancer genetics to molecular medicine. In the last years, Professor's scientific activity focused on understanding the role of RNA in the pathogenesis of human neurological diseases caused by the expansion of repetitive sequences. He also developed new methods of experimental therapy for this group of disorders using antisense oligonucleotides and RNA interference technology. He analyzed the factors influencing the microRNA biogenesis and used this knowledge to improve RNA interference technology tools in therapeutic approaches. Overall, Professor Krzyżosiak coauthored more than 130 publications, which have been cited more than 3500 times so far.