Interdisciplinarity in practice, pursued by lecturers and students, combined with the implementation of the results of teamwork in the business environment. This is how the innovation of stage II of the “Railway to the South” competition can be summarised. The initiative was submitted for the Fahrenheit Universities Prize competition and awarded the prize by a unanimous vote of the members of the Assembly of the Fahrenheit Universities at its meeting on 13 February this year. 

In line with the idea of the two-stage competition “Railway to the South”, students from the three universities created teams to develop a concept for the operation of future PKM South railway stations. Each team had to include at least one representative of each of the universities within the FarU – the Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology and the University of Gdańsk.

The second stage, which was reported for the FarU Prize, ended in 2023 and resulted in proposals for innovative environmental, social and economic solutions enhancing the attractiveness of the new PKM South line for future users. Participants not only met with one another in project groups, but also took part in thematic workshops held on the campuses of the three universities. Prizes for the winners were sponsored by the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway.

View the final works 

The initiative also contributed to the integration of academic staff involved in project implementation between the universities. Collaboration between lecturers has continued until now, including work on other public space-orientated projects involving the business environment.

The  Chapter of the Fahrenheit Universities Prize recognised the innovation, sustainability and range of the initiative's impact on the communities of the three universities in this year's competition. The winners are:

From the Medical University of Gdańsk – Faculty of Health Sciences:

• Prof. Lidia Wolska, Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences
• Maciej Tankiewicz, Ph.D. Eng.

From the Gdańsk University of Technology – Faculty of Architecture:

• Prof. Agnieszka Gębczyńska-Janowicz, PhD. Eng. Arch., Professor of the GUT
• Magdalena Podwojewska, Ph.D. Eng. Arch.
• Elżbieta Marczak, Ph.D. Eng. Arch.

From the University of Gdańsk:

• Maciej Tarkowski, Ph.D., Faculty of Social Sciences
• Anna Gołębiewska, Ph.D., Faculty of Chemistry

The prize will be presented on 26 May, during the 3^rd Fahrenheit Science Picnic.

fot. K. Zygmunt