Inter-Class Commissions

These commissions are inter-faculty commissions, which means that the interdisciplinary topics they address extend beyond the scientific profile of the individual faculties. They report directly to the PAU Council. They are: History of Science, Threats to Civilisation, School-Textbook Evaluation, European Affairs, Philosophy of Science, Research into the Polish Diaspora, Anthropology, Ergonomics, Culture and Media Management, and the Polish CIHEC (Commission Internationale d’Histoire Ecclésiastique Comparée) Subcommission.

Commission on the History of Science

The commission was established in 1998 on the initiative of Faculty III. Here, the physicist and PAU member Andrzej Białas played an active role. He was then director of Faculty III and, in 2000–2018, he served as PAU’s president. Its first chair and organiser - until 2006 - was the physicist and PAU member Adam Strzałkowski. He was succeeded by the mathematician and PAU member Andrzej Pelczar and then by the geologist and PAU member Witold Alexandrowicz, by the philosopher, logician, lawyer, and PAU member Jan Woleński (2014–2018), and by the physicist, historian, philosopher of science, and correspondent member of the International Academy of the History of Science Michał Kokowski.

Its task is to stimulate research into the history of the various scientific disciplines carried out by their exponents rather than by historians, who lack the knowledge required to grasp the substantive issues involved in specialised fields.

The commission found itself on fertile ground, as there had already been considerable interest within PAU in the history of the organisation of science (see, e.g. Julian Dybiec, PAU 1872–1952 (1993); Piotr Hübner, Siła przeciw rozumowi (1994) [Force against Reason: PAU in 1939-1989]; Danuta Rederowa, Z dziejów Towarzystwa Naukowego Krakowskiego [Episodes in the History of the Kraków Learned Society]; Jan Piskurewicz, Prima interpares. Polska Akademia Umiejętności w latach II Rzeczypospolitej (1998) [PAU in the years of the Second Polish Republic], and in profiles of scholars: a number of symposia and exhibitions devoted to scholars and the first two volumes of the In the Service of Learning series (1998); 29 volumes have so far been published in this series).

The commission is very active, organising monthly meetings with papers and discussions, in addition to scientific sessions. Its findings are reported in the journal Studia Historiae Scientiarum (formerly Prace Komisji Historii Nauki PAU [Proceedings of the PAU History of Science Commission]) and in the following series:

Go to the webpage of „Studia Historiae Scientiarum”

See also the archive webpage of this journal.

 The purpose of the commission is:

• to initiate and stimulate research into the history of individual scientific disciplines by both their representatives and historians of science using source material collected in specialist scientific archives, including Archiwum the PAU and PAN Scientific Archive in Kraków;
• to research and promote outstanding achievements of Polish science and of the science of the countries of central and eastern Europe;
• to promote the idea of international dialogue based on the history of science (continuing the tradition begun by Samuel Dickstein (1851–1939), Ludwik Birkenmajer (1855–1929), and Władysław Natanson (1864–1937), who were the AU (Academy of Arts and Sciences) or PAU (Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences) members that had already seized upon the idea of forming an inter-faculty history of science commission at the end of the nineteenth century); to analyse the methodological questions involved in the historiography of science;
• to promote the idea of the reliable citation of publications (not discriminating against any authors) and the modernisation of journals of the history of science and associated disciplines (using DOI, ORCID, open access free mode, social media and repositories; indexation of journals, including in International DOI Foundation, Crossref, Scopus, Web of Science, Directory of Open Access Journals, SherpaROmeo).

The commission refers here to the activities of previous AU and PAU commissions (see R. Makowski 2003; A. Strzałkowski et al. 2003; M. Kokowski 2019), such as:

• The AU/PAU Commission for the History of Literature and Education in Poland (established in May 1875 as the philology and literature section of the Bibliographical Commission of the AU’s Philology Faculty (1872–1887); it became independent in November 1875).
• The AU Commission for the Publication (with commentaries) of the Work of Copernicus and of a Biography of Copernicus (XIX/XX);
• The Bibliographic Commission of the AU’s Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1900–1904; a section of the AU’s Bibliographic Commission);
• The AU’s Commission of History and Commission of the Bibliography of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1904–1909; a section of the AU’s Bibliographic Commission);
• The AU’s Commission of the Bibliography of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1909–1918);
• The AU and PAU History of Mathematical and Natural Sciences Commission (1909–1932);
• The PAU History of Medicine and of Mathematical and Natural Sciences Commission (1932–1952);
• The PAU Commission for Classics in the Natural Sciences and Medicine (1946–1952).

The commission organises a monthly meeting for discussions and delivering papers (see PAU Events Archive; see PAU Events Archive; PAU Scientific Exchange Platform – History of Science Commission PAU (KHN PAU), (a list of papers is published in the commission’s annual report – see below). The commission furthermore organises or co-organises regular scientific conferences (see List of events ).

The commission’s findings are reported in the following series:

• Komisja Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności. Monografie [PAU History of Science Commission: Monographs], Volumes 1 ( 2000) – 23 (2016),
• Studia i Materiały do dziejów Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności [Studies and Materials for the History of PAU], Volumes  I (2002) – VI (2010),

in the journal Studia Historiae Scientiarum from volume 15 (2016);

• earlier names: Prace Komisji Historii Nauki PAU [Proceedings of the PAU History of Science Commission], volumes 9 (2009) – 14 (2015); Prace Komisji Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności [Proceedings of the History of Science Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences], volumes 1 (1999) – 8 (2007);
• this journal existed previously as Prace Komisji Historii Medycyny i Nauk Przyrodniczo-Matematycznych [Proceedings of the History of Medicine and Natural and Mathematical Sciences Commission]: volume 1 (1939); volume 2, fascicles 3.1 and 3.2 (1949); fascicle 3.3 (1950); fascicles 4.1 and 4.2 (1952); fascicle 3.4 (1953; published after the suspension of PAU in 1952).

The journal Studia Historiae Scientiarum is indexed in International DOI Foundation, Crossref, Scopus, DOAJ, ERIH+, ICI Master List, MIAR: Information Matrix for the Analysis of Journals and EBSCO.
It is distributed in diamond open access mode, i.e. free access without a time embargo for both readers and authors.

The articles published in it, including the commission’s annual report, appear in Polish and English (see Author Index; Thematic Index).

Please note: these indexes contain articles published in the following journals:

• Studia Historiae Scientiarum, which appears beginning from volume 15 (2016);
• Prace Komisji Historii Nauki PAU [Proceedings of the PAU History of Science Commission], volumes 9 (2009) – 14 (2015);
• Prace Komisji Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności [Proceedings of the PAU History of Science Commission of the Polish Academy of Science], volumes 1 (1999) – 8 (2007);
• Prace Komisji Historii Medycyny i Nauk Przyrodniczo-Matematycznych. Polska Akademia Umiejętności [Proceedings of the PAU History of Medicine and Natural and Mathematical Sciences Commission], volume 1 (1939); volume 2, fascicles 3.1 and 3.2 (1949); fascicle 3.3 (1950); fascicles 4.1 and 4.2 (1952); fascicle 3.4 (1953).

Michał Kokowski is the journal’s editor-in-chief.

Go to the webpages of the journal „Studia Historiae Scientiarum” (free access to all volumes from 2015), see also the archive page of the journal (free access to all volumes from 1999).

 The commission works together with national institutions, institutions from abroad, and international institutions:

• Archiwum Nauki PAN i PAU;
• Instytut Historii Nauki im. Ludwika i Aleksandra Birkenmajerów PAN;
• Komitet Historii Nauki i Techniki PAN;
• European Society for the History of Science;
• International Academy of the History of Science.

Commission Members

Commission on European Matters

The commission was established in 2003. Its first chair was prof. dr hab. Andrzej Pelczar (2003-2006). From 2006–2021, the commission was chaired by prof. dr. hab. Michał Turała and, since December 2021, it has been chaired by prof. dr hab. Zdzisław Mach. Its initial aim was to hold discussions and form opinions on issues related to Poland’s planned integration into the European Union.
Now it is engaged in a debate on the mechanisms whereby the European Union functions and the effects they have and on the phenomena that are and are not conducive to processes of integration. The debate is conducted in the broad context of an analysis of the global socio-political and economic situation and the interests of the EU’s member states. The commission focusses particularly on changes observed in the realms of culture, national heritage, national identity, and science in its broadest sense (in its purely cognitive and applied dimensions and taking account of the question of innovation). These discussions are held with the participation of invited national and international specialists representing the scientific, political, and social communities.
In recent years, 76 working sessions of the commission at which papers were delivered have taken place. The majority of the papers have been published in its seven volumes of proceedings.
In conjunction with the Jagiellonian University, the commission has held scientific Conferences to commemorate the five-year, ten-year, and fifteen-year anniversaries of Poland’s accession to the European Union.

Commission Members

Read more: Commission on European Matters

Commission on Threats to Civilization

The commission was established in 1998 on the initiative of Faculty III; its founder and first chair was prof. Andrzej Hrynkiewicz. It is an interdisciplinary commission whose members are drawn from various PAU faculties – from History and Philosophy to Creative Arts. Indeed, threats to the harmonious development of humanity should be a subject of interest and research not only for representatives of the exact sciences and technology, biology, and medicine, but also for historians, philosophers, lawyers, and even for writers and artists from other cultural fields. People associate hazards with the misuse of research results and the development of environmentally hostile technologies and industrial processes.
Yet the future of humanity is also jeopardised by climate change, population growth, and the emergence of new diseases. The ideologies that give rise to fundamentalism, lies, and hatred, which are the main causes of terrorism and wars, are hazards too. It should not be forgotten when stating this that in the twentieth century humanity achieved the capacity for self-annihilation. Ethical evaluations do not apply to the findings of scientific research.
Instead, truth is the criterion by which their value is measured.
The evil lies within us and it is this that results in the use of research results to the detriment of humanity.The proliferation of pseudo-science, which amounts to a denial of rationalism and is replacing many people’s lost faith in the value of scientific progress, is leading us up a blind alley. It is necessary to persuade the public that only further development of science can prevent the effects of emerging threats.Scientific truth and love of one's neighbour are fundamental if humanity is to develop harmoniously and survive.
The commission considers emerging risks and provides reliable information on their causes and how they can be prevented.
In addition to its own regular meetings, the commission has organised public lectures for a broad audience and sought to reach the public through the mass media of press, radio, and television.
The commission has published seven volumes of "Proceedings".

Commission Members

Commission on the Philosophy of Sciences

The commission was brought into existence by a resolution of the PAU Council of 26 June 2012 and as a result of the union of two previously existing commissions: Philosophy of the Natural Sciences and Fides et Ratio. The first, which was formed in 2005 on the initiative of prof. Jerzy Janik, was the professor’s original idea based on his experiences of interdisciplinary meetings dating back to his encounters with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła.
Its purpose was to engage in scientific reflection on the borderline between philosophy and the sciences addressed by Faculties III, IV, and V of PAU; it published five volumes of proceedings. The aim of the second, which was established in 2007 by Rev. prof. Michal Heller and a group of other PAU members, was to reflect in a scientific fashion on the thought of Jan Paweł II, including by examining the broad intellectual context of this thought in the contemporary world.
Fides et Ratio issued two books of proceedings. As the successor of the two previous commissions, PAU Philosophy of Science combines the programmes of both.
The reflection the commission cultivates continues and develops a long tradition of thought on the philosophy of the natural sciences in Kraków that reaches back into the nineteenth century. This style of thinking, which distinguishes the commission and is situated in an interdisciplinary context at the intersection of the exact sciences, philosophy and theology, enables scholars working in different fields of knowledge to meet and hold fruitful discussions on the fundamental philosophical issues shaping science in the past and present.
Its research interests include formal sciences such as mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, the cognitive sciences, as well as the humanities and the arts. The Philosophy of Science Commission is committed to a programme of 'philosophy in science', which considers the influence of philosophical ideas on the formation of scientific theories, traces the traditional philosophical problems involved with these theories, and reflects philosophically on the assumptions of the empirical sciences.
This approach reveals science’s continuity with the philosophical heritage of European thought, whose origins lie in ancient Greek philosophy, in a particular way. Its reflections on science and its role in culture direct the commission’s attention to theological issues and, in particular, to the dialogue between science and theology and the related methodological and historical issues.
At the commission’s monthly meetings, selected topics are presented by eminent scientists, philosophers, and theologians. The Krakow Methodological Conferences, a series of philosophical conferences with a well-established national and international reputation, are organised annually in conjunction with the commission. It also organises occasional conferences, including on the anniversaries of various events and of the works of outstanding Polish and foreign scientists.
The Philosophy of Science commission publishes the work of members and invited guests in the pages of the journal Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce [Philosophical Problems in Science], which is indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases and elsewhere. This work fills either entire issues of the journal (no. 57, no. 58, no. 59, no. 62) or appears in the relevant section of Z prac komisji Filozofii Nauk PAU [Proceedings of the PAU Philosophy of Science Commission].
The work of the commission is available online with open access on the journal’s webpage: https://zfn.edu.pl/

Commission Members

Commission on the Evaluation of Textbooks

Concerned about the quality of school textbooks, the PAU Board decided at the end of 2000 to form a commission made up of specialists in the various subjects taught in schools, especially secondary schools, to give a completely independent opinion of the approximately fifty textbooks that enter school use every year. It was thought that the commission’s work would be of great public benefit. Indeed, the existence of a body with oversight of textbooks should in itself make authors and publishers more sensitive to the quality of textbooks introduced into schools. The predictions proved accurate. The commission’s activities and the proceedings issued by it stimulated a great deal of interest.
As directed by the commission, certificates of distinction are presented at the PAU General Meeting in June to the authors and publishers of the best textbooks.

Go to the Internet page of the journal:  "Educational Opinions of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences: Proceedings of the PAU School-Textbook Evaluation Commission".

Commission Members

Commission for the Studies on the Polish Diaspora

The commission was established in December 2007, on the initiative of a group of researchers – largely from the former Institute of Polish Diaspora Studies at the Jagiellonian University – studying various centres and communities of Polish émigrés and emigration. The majority of them became members of the commission too.
Given that the staff of the former Jagiellonian University Institute for Polish Diaspora Studies are now in a number of different universities and university departments, the commission offers a means of integrating their research. At the same time, the commission works with the Kraków branch of the Współnota Polska [Poland United] association, thereby responding to the needs of emigrant communities seeking intellectual support from PAU.

Commission Members

Commission on Anthropology

The Anthropology Commission constitutes one of the oldest groupings of scholars at PAU. It was formed in 1873 – in the same year as the Academy of Arts and Sciences (AU) – as the Anthropological Commission of the AU. It was intended in its origins to synthesise the totality of research into humans and to provide a forum for discussing the findings of the precursors of folklore studies, for scholars interested in the biological variation of human populations, and for prehistorians oriented towards collaboration with naturalists. In this way, the founders of PAU Anthropology sought to involve the Kraków scientific community in the debate on evolutionism that divided European society in the second half of the nineteenth century. The lasting results of the commission’s activities during this period include its enormous publishing legacy (especially the journal Zbiór Wiadomosci do Anthropologii Krajowej [National Anthropology Bulletin], which was published from 1877 and later became Materiały Antropologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne [Anthropological, Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials]), the creation of important museum collections (the prehistoric collections, which are central to the Kraków Archaeological Museum, and the rich osteological collections now gathered at the Natural Education Centre of the Jagiellonian University) and, above all, the creation of an environment in which a nucleus of specialists building academic physical anthropology, ethnography, and archaeology – in Kraków and beyond – was able to develop.
When all of the PAU agencies were taken over by PAN in 1952, PAU Anthropology was brought into the PAN structure and began operating there. On the initiative of a group of anthropologists, including prof. Krzysztof Kaczanowski of the Jagiellonian University, and in agreement with the Kraków Branch of PAN, the commission requested that it be transferred to PAU. By a resolution passed in 2010, the PAU Council established an anthropology commission within its structure.
It began operating on 16 March 2012. The primary aim of the revived commission is to integrate scientific communities dealing with man in the biocultural dimension. including biological and cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnologists, and specialists in psychology, medicine, and physical education.
Its core activities involve organising symposia, lectures, talks, and conferences, as well as interdisciplinary panel discussions, during which members and guests share their research results, which are derived from a variety of disciplines, and so provide a holistic view of the uniqueness of our species.

Commission Members

Commission on Ergonomics

PAU Ergonomics was established in December 2013 and constituted in February 2014 as an interdisciplinary, inter-faculty commission of PAU. Having a nationwide scope, it brings together scholars from throughout Poland and from virtually all fields and disciplines – as befits the applied and multi-faceted science that is ergonomics. It continues the tradition and scientific output of the PAN Ergonomics Committee, which was active in 1974–2012.
It functions as part of a union of other ergonomic organisations in Kraków (i.e. the local branch of the Polish Ergonomic Society and the Ergonomic Commission of the local branch of PAN) and organises joint meetings with them. The commission has established annual traditions of holding symposia and issuing a scientific publication in book form. They are devoted to topical ergonomic issues arising from the context and needs of the knowledge economy, as well as from the changes associated with technological progress and the global economy. The idea behind its work is to increase public understanding of ergonomics and its relevance to a modern, people-centred economy that pursues human physical, mental, and social well-being.

Commission Members

Commission on Culture and Media Management

The commission was established on November 19, 2013 on the initiative of the Institute of Culture of the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University with the support of PAU member prof. dr hab. Lucjan Suchanek.
From the first term onwards, prof. dr hab. Emil Orzechowski has performed the function of its chair.  The purpose of this inter-faculty commission is to exchange ideas and stimulate research on management in the cultural sector in the broadest sense, to search for new methods and research tools for the cultural sector, and to use knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines in doing so.
As an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with the interplay and relationship between culture and the economy, including tourism and cultural tourism, cultural management incorporates elements of the social sciences and the humanities, including economics, law, sociology, business studies, cultural studies, press studies, journalism, social communication, marketing, international relations, and, importantly, the organisation of cultural activities (in both historical and contemporary contexts). Cultural management, including media management, involves the study of all of the methods (forms, models) of organisation that have appeared in societies in different historical periods. It is also about the study and analysis of the tools used to effect change and to solve problems in the way that will have the greatest impact on development and on efficient action in society and in the market.
Due to the non-market nature of many cultural fields, the methods and tools of cultural management aim to generate a profit expressed not so much in financial terms, but in terms of humanistic values that promote human well-being and build civil society. The strand of thought represented by humanist management lends these values a broader dimension, which goes far beyond the sphere of culture, but which is, as it were, evoked by cultural management.
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Commission Members

Polish CIHEC Subcommission

Commission Internationale d’Histoire Ecclésiastique Comparée

The group was active in 1970–2011 at the PAN Committee of Historical Sciences within the International Committee of Historical Sciences. When PAN was reorganised, the group no longer had a secure position in that organisation’s structure.
By a PAU Council resolution of 20 November 2012, the group was established as a part of PAU under the temporary leadership of Jerzy Kłoczowski, who had been the group’s chair when it was a part of PAN.