On November 10, the Warsaw University of Life Sciences hosted a delegation of the Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine as part of the conference “Polish-Ukrainian Rectors’ Forum (PURF)” organised by the Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences of the Warsaw University of Technology. The conference was organised within the framework of the fourth stage of the first cycle from the period 2018-2021 of the support project of the Ministry of Education and Science in Poland entitled “Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Of Academic Stakeholder Organisations Representing Rectors For Improving University Performance”.

One of the items on the agenda of the two-day conference “Polish-Ukrainian Rectors Forum (PURF)” was a visit of a delegation of the Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine to the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

Rector of Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Prof. Michał Zasada welcomed the guests to the university and said: “After yesterday’s day of discussions on the implementation of the project and cooperation between the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine, the time has come to see some examples of the functioning of Polish universities. I hope you will find today’s meeting useful and interesting.”

The Rector of SGGW also talked about the history of the university, the origin of its name combining tradition and modernity, the faculties in which students are educated, the way the university is financed, its assets and experimental facilities located not only in Warsaw.

After the official part of the meeting, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of Warsaw University of Life Sciences Dr. Marta Mendel accompanied a delegation of the Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine on a tour of the university campus. The guests visited the Water Centre, including the Laboratory of Water and Sewage Sludge Chemistry, Water Quality Laboratory and the Laboratory of Mechanical Property Research of Land and Rocks. The Water Centre is the oldest research centre at SGGW and the largest facility in Poland dealing with water management issues.

Another item on the agenda was a visit to the Institute of Food Sciences and the Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences. Here the guests had the opportunity to see, among other things, the artificial gastrointestinal tract – a device allowing the very faithful imitation and monitoring of processes

occurring in the stomach, small intestine and large intestine under controlled conditions, equipment used for research work. SGGW is the first university in Poland to have a dynamic model of the artificial gastrointestinal tract. The guests were also shown around the lecture halls and then made their way to the SGGW Sports Facilities, where they saw an indoor swimming pool, sports halls, indoor tennis courts, a gym and sports fields.

The last item on the agenda was a visit to the Limba Student House, where the delegation was able to see the conditions in which students live and what a typical dormitory room looks like. After the visit, the Rector of Warsaw University of Life Sciences and the Vice-Rector for International Cooperation met with the delegation of the Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine in order to exchange observations regarding Ukrainian and Polish universities.

The conference “Polish-Ukrainian Rectors Forum” was organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine with the support of the national conferences of rectors in both countries – Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP) and Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine (URUU), in partnership with Polish Rectors Foundation. Rector of Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Prof. Michał Zasada is the Vice-President of CRASP.

The aim of the Polish-Ukrainian Rectors Forum is to present a substantive report on the implementation of the project, in the form of a collective scientific monograph published in Polish and Ukrainian, with particular emphasis on the results of the research carried out by the invited experts, respecting the methodological requirements of social sciences. The research was conducted in 50 member HEIs – 25 each from CRASP and URUU, respectively. The conclusions and recommendations addressed by the national conferences of rectors to the ministers and HEIs in both countries constitute a kind of summary of the first cycle of the project.

The Polish-Ukrainian Rectors Forum will also present preliminary ideological and directional assumptions for the content of Annex No. 2, which will be signed in Kiev by the signatories of the

Tripartite Agreement, as expected at the turn of November and December of this year, and will be followed by the presentation for discussion and further agreement of programme proposals covering activities planned for implementation within the framework of the second cycle of the project in 2022-2024.

The conference was organized in a hybrid format, with the participation of about 40 rectors from Poland and Ukraine and invited guests, including official representatives of both countries – physically present within the walls of the Warsaw University of Technology, as well as other invited participants representing member HEIs of Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools and Union of Rectors of Universities of Ukraine and academic stakeholder organisations.