The University of Gdańsk is a dynamically developing institution of higher learning, and one that combines respect for tradition with a commitment to the new. We offer a very wide range of academic subjects, and an equally wide range of subjects that lead to professional qualifications in demand on the job market. An increasingly large proportion of students pursue their studies in state-of-the-art facilities on the University's Baltic Campus, which is one of the largest university complexes in northern Poland.

The University of Gdańsk was founded on 20 March 1970. It was formed from an amalgamation of two institutions of higher education: the Higher Economics School in Sopot and the Higher Pedagogical School in Gdańsk. Later, it also included the Higher Teacher Training School. The precursor of the Higher Economics School in Sopot was the Higher School of Maritime Trade in Sopot, which opened in 1945 and awarded its first degrees in 1947.

Currently, the University of Gdańsk is the largest educational institution in the Pomerania region. We have eleven faculties with over thirty thousand students, doctoral students and post-graduates, who are taught by one thousand seven hundred academic staff. In such fields of study as Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Oceanography, Quantum Physics, Pedagogy, Psychology, Law  and Economic Sciences, the University of Gdańsk is one of the best institutions in Poland. 

Academic staff 

The members of the academic staff of the University of Gdańsk conduct scientific and scholarly research on a world-class level, not only creatively expanding the frontiers of knowledge, but also serving the whole of the Pomerania region with their knowledge and experience, thus aiding its dynamic modern development. As an effect of the developing connections between scientific activity and economic practice at the University of Gdańsk, many expert opinions and opinions in the form of studies protected by  copyright are being written. Because of the development and the activities of its academic staff, the University of Gdańsk  has become an incubator for entrepreneurship in such areas as Biotechnology, Biology and Chemistry. The University of Gdańsk cooperates with institutions of higher education in most countries in Europe and also with many countries around the world. Research and other activities are conducted within the framework of over one hundred international agreements with foreign partners.  A series of  University institutes and departments have obtained, or are in the process of obtaining, the prestigious status of centres of excellence, which is the European certificate and stamp of quality. The numerous foreign placements undertaken by the University’s academic staff  help them to offer students a  modern and open education.

In mari via tua

One of the assets of the University of Gdańsk is its relationship with the sea. The  reputation of the  university in marine matters is built  on its excellent research stations with their international reputations: the Hel Marine Station of the Institute of Oceanography, the Bird Migration Research Station and the Biology Station. The marine image of the university is also enhanced by  its fields of study, specialisations and scientific research connected with the sea and with the Baltic coast in particular. This concerns, above all, the Faculties of Biology, Oceanography and Geography, and such subjects as Biology, Geography, Environmental Protection and  Oceanography. It also concerns  the Faculty of Chemistry, where research is conducted into protection of the marine environment, and the Faculty of Law and Administration,   which  carries out  important research into maritime law, international maritime law, the laws and systems of towns in Pomerania and maritime criminology.

The Faculty of Economics includes the Institute of Maritime Transport and Trade, the members of whose staff conduct research into the economic aspects of the functioning of transport and trade at sea.  They also offer the speciality of International Maritime Transport and Trade, educating specialists in this field.

The interests of the University’s literary scholars are focussed on the city and the region. Long-term research is being conducted into the connections between the literatures of various epochs and maritime issues in Pomerania. Works are also being prepared on the folklore of north-eastern Poland and on Balto-Slavic mythology. In their research, historians concentrate on the problems of the Baltic Sea region and the history of Gdańsk and Pomerania.

The University of Gdańsk  implements its  motto of  in mari via tua, and serves the development of the Pomerania region, whose wealth is the very sea itself.

Foreign cooperation

The University of Gdansk cooperates with universities, tertiary colleges and scientific and research institutions in almost every country around the world. Participation in the European and international programmes allows for the expansion of the University of Gdansk and has an impact on its research and teaching base. From 2002 to the end of 2015 the University of Gdansk participated in nearly 280 European and international projects.

The University of Gdansk has a large experience in the implementation of projects under the Framework Programmes and Horizon 2020 - 72 projects. Among the greatest successes there are three European centres of excellence in the 5th Framework Programme: Research and Education Centre for Urban Socio-Economic Development (RECOURSE), Centre of Excellence for Baltic Development, Education and Research (BALTDER), Centre of Excellence in Bio-safety and Molecular Biomedicine (BioMoBil); the networks of excellence in the 6th Framework Programme: Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MARBEF), European Vigilance Network for the Management of Antiviral Drug Resistance (VIRGIL); and the large-scale projects in the 7th Framework Programme: Exploring Marine Resources for Bioactive Compounds: From Discovery to Sustainable Production and Industrial Applications (MAREX) and Quantum Interfaces, Sensors and Communication based on Entanglement (Q-ESSENCE), Quantum resOurces: conceptuaLs and APplicationS (QOLAPS), CENTRE OF MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR HEALTHY LIFE Biotech solutions bringing health to living organisms and environment supported by mass spec-focused research platform (MOBI4Health), in the Horizon 2020: Electrification of public transport in cities – ELIPTIC and Development and implementation of Grouping and Safe-by-Design approaches within regulatory frameworks — NanoREG II, Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value - Virus-X and Structural Transformation to Attain Responsible BIOSciences – STARBIOS2.

The membership of Poland in the European Union has opened up some new possibilities for Polish science and scholarship in the area of financing activities, including the exploitation of structural funds, such as the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and community initiatives. During the 2007-2013 programme period the University of Gdansk signed a total of 71 agreements for projects under the Operational Programmes, while during the 2014-2020 programme period - 4. Scientists from the University of Gdansk also obtain other European and international grants for example within the framework of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, LIFE, the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme, the European Territorial Cooperation and Erasmus+.