Polish Academy of Learning

History

The Academy traces its origins to Academy of Learning founded in 1871, itself a result of the transformation of the Kraków Learned Society, in existence since 1815. Though formally limited to the Austrian Partition, the Academy served from the beginning as a learned and cultural society for the entire Polish nation. Its activities extended beyond the boundaries of the Austrian Partition, gathering scholars from all of Poland, and many other countries as well. Some indication of how the Academy's influence extended beyond the boundaries of the Partitions came in 1893, when the collection of the Polish Library in Paris, the largest collection of Polish materials amassed by the Great Emigration, was transferred to the ownership of the Academy, and a branch was founded in Paris, though this latter step had been preceded by the establishment of the Rome Expedition (annual trips to Roman archives).

After World War I, the Academy was renamed "Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences" (PAU), and became the official representative of Polish learning, which entailed its participation in works of international learned organizations. Among other things, the PAU was a founder member of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI). The period between the world wars was the time of greatest activity at the PAU, especially in the sphere of publications: over 100 publication series were then in print, among them the monumental Polish Biographical Dictionary (Polski Słownik Biograficzny). It was also in this period that the Scientific Station in Rome replaced the Rome Expedition.

The PAU was initially organized into four sections:

Philological

Historical-Philosophical

Mathematical-Natural Sciences

Medical (from 1930)

In 1942 a successor body of the Polish Academy of Learning, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, was established in New York City by Bronisław Malinowski, Oskar Halecki and other scholars associated with the Academy, which had been forcibly closed down by the occupying Germans. Following the collapse of communism in Poland, the Polish Academy of Learning was revived and became affiliated with the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (as the latter had meanwhile been renamed).

Presidents of the PAU

Józef Majer (1872–90)

Stanisław Tarnowski (1890–1917)

Kazimierz Morawski (1917–25)

Jan Michał Rozwadowski (1925–29)

Kazimierz Kostanecki (1929–34)

Stanisław Wróblewski (1934–38)

Stanisław Kutrzeba (1939–46)

Kazimierz Nitsch (1946–57)

Adam Krzyżanowski (1957–58)

Gerard Labuda (1989–94)

Kazimierz Kowalski (zoologist) (1994–2001)

Andrzej Białas (2001–2018)

Jan Ostrowski (since 2018)

Secretaries general of the PAU

Józef Szujski (1872–83)

Stanisław Tarnowski (1883–90)

Stanisław Smolka (1890–1903)

Bolesław Ulanowski (1903–19)

Kazimierz Kostanecki (1919–21)

Stanisław Wróblewski (1921–26)

Stanisław Kutrzeba (1926–39)

Tadeusz Jan Kowalski (1939–48)

Jan Dąbrowski (historian) (1948–57)

Adam Vetulani (1957–58)

Józef Skąpski (1989–94)

Jerzy Wyrozumski (1994–2015)

Szczepan Biliński (from 2015)

Honorary members

Among the honorary members of the PAU were:

John Paul II

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański

Władysław Bartoszewski

Franciszek Macharski

Structure of the PAU

At present, the Academy is organized into six distinct sections (Classes), consisting of multiple dedicated and interdisciplinary commissions and committees.

Philology

This section brings together scholars who represent philologies (Polish, Classical, English, Germanic, Romance, Slavic), including linguistics and literary studies (literary history and theory), as well as art historians.

The primary fruits of the section's labors are its publications, presently consisting of three series: Papers in Philology, Library of Translations from Ancient Literature (including eight volumes published before World War II), and Old Polish Source Materials. The first series, Papers in Philology, includes several publications, such as a study by Stanisław Urbańczyk dealing with the history of linguistics in Poland, collection of essays by the Italian Slavicist Riccardo Picchio (translated into Polish) as well as the following works: by Aleksander Szulc on national varieties of German language, by Romuald Turasiewicz on the life and artistic works of Lisias, by Magdalena Sitarz on Jewish and Polish proverbs and by Mosze Altbauer on the two-way Polish-Jewish influence in the field of language. There are now five more volumes in the classical translation series: two translated and edited by Mieczysław Brożek (Statius's Thebaid and Lucan's Bellum Civile), one translated and edited by Romuald Turasiewicz (Lysias's Speeches), one translated and edited by Michał Bednarski (Apollonius Dyscolus's Essay on Syntax) and one translated and edited by Ireneusz Ptaszek (Andocides's Speeches). In the series of source materials from the earliest history of Poland, Kazimierz Rymut and his co-authors have published a collection entitled Polish Letters from the 16th Century, in a critical edition by Marian Plezia. Some publications written by members of Class I have appeared in the publication series of Class II, such as the Latin text of Vincent Kadłubek's Chronicles, in a critical edition by Marian Plezia.

The nature of the Commission's work is to bring together representatives of various humanistic disciplines who share an interest in the study of Greco-Roman antiquity, broadly conceived, and its reception in the culture of Medieval and modern Europe. It gathers Hellenists and Latinists, specialists in history and literature, as well as linguistics (classical linguistics): Byzantinists, neo-Latinists, ancient historians, historians of ancient culture and philosophy, Patristicists, archaeologists, numismatists, specialists in ancient law (especially Roman), and scholars interested in the reception of antiquity in the culture and literature of Europe, especially Poland.

The thematic scope of the Commission's activities covers virtually all areas of knowledge about antiquity.

History and Philosophy

This section comprises historians, archaeologists, philosophers, lawyers, theologians, sociologists, and psychologists. The section holds monthly meetings, some of which are organized jointly with Class I.

The section is involved in studies and publications on the following topics:

Sources for the history of the Polish Government-in-Exile: minutes of the meetings of the Council of Ministers. Eight volumes are planned; Volumes I-IV have already been published.

History of Poland in the two decades between the world wars. A book by Janusz Pajewski on this subject has already appeared, and two more volumes are anticipated.

The history and organization of Polish learning. This subject is treated in a broad program of publications and expositions.

Continuation of the re-edition of Jan Długosz's History of Poland (personal grant to Marian Plezia, now held by Jerzy Wyrozumski) – completed in 2007.

The publication of the acts of the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland, a project which is recommended by the Academy of Arts and Sciences (four large volumes were produced between 1915 and 1952), was being continued by the Polish Historical Institute in Rome, under the direction of Karolina Lanckorońska (20 volumes appeared). The PAU joined the project and now it is its only manager and executor, but the enterprise is still financed by the Lanckoroński Foundation (three volumes have appeared).

In keeping with tradition, the Class also publishes several series of source materials for Polish history: two volumes of Monumenta Poloniae Vaticana. A new series has been added: Monumenta Sacra Polonorum (two volumes have already appeared).

The Class has organized three scholarly symposia: one devoted to the Senate of the Republic of Poland, its historical role and its present status; the second, to the anniversary of the Soviet attack on Poland on 17 September 1939; and the third, to research on the settlement of the first agricultural peoples on both sides of the Western Carpathians in the fifth millennium BC.

Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry

The section awards the Marian Mięsowicz Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of physics. This prize is funded by the Kraków scientific institutes involved with physics; the first prize winner was Władysław Wolter in 1997.

his Commission is involved with observational astronomy in the areas of optical electromagnetic radiation of radio waves, infrared, X-rays and gamma rays, detection of loaded particles, and the astronomy of neutrinos. The Commission's interests also extend into the sphere of such fields of physics as the theory of relativity, atomic and molecular optics, nuclear physics, the physics of elementary particles, and the theory of phase transitions. One of the goals of the Commission's activities is to organize conferences. The first, in June 1996, was devoted to solar astrophysics, neutron stars, and gamma flashes. The conference materials, published in English with funding from the PAU, bear the title Solar Astrophysics, Structure of Neutron Stars, Gamma Flashes.

The Commission undertakes publication initiatives, aimed at providing the Polish market with up-to-date textbooks and monographs. Work has begun on translating into Polish a modern textbook devoted to the structure of the Sun and the stars.

The Commission actively supports educational initiatives associated with astrophysics. Among such initiatives was a master's level area studies program in astrophysics at the Jagiellonian University, established in 1997.

This Commission was founded in 2003 and comprises seven sections: of Civil Engineering; of Construction, Technology and Operation of Machines; of Engineering and Technology of Ceramic Materials; of Informatics, Automatics and Robotics; of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering; of Mining and Power Engineering; of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering.

Natural Sciences

The PAU's Natural Sciences section brings together representatives of the biological, agricultural, and geological sciences. The lectures at the section's meetings, typically held jointly with the PAU Mathematics Section, Physics, and Chemistry, and the Medical Section, have dealt with current interdisciplinary problems in biology and earth sciences. In addition to Polish members, the lecturers have included foreign members of the Academy, such as Andrzej Bartke (Carbondale, Illinois, USA), and Otton H. Walliser (Göttingen). The section has also taken part in organizing symposia, e.g. the National Conference on Cell Biology (1996) and the International School on the Biophysics of Membrane Transport (1997).

Particularly noteworthy is the study by Andrzej Falniowski, Ways and Byways in the Evolution of Mollusks (2001), which appeared in the section's series of Papers.

The Commission's activities are focused on the organization of scientific symposia, whose materials are published either in the form of separate single-topic volumes or in the series of Works. Currently, the Commission has been working on the issues connected with Polish agriculture, forestry and animal breeding in Europe united in EU.

This Commission was founded in 1979 within the Kraków branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, but since 1993 it has been a part of the PAU. Its roots can be traced back to the Committee for Palaeological Research, founded by the PAU in 1928, and to its official publication, Palaeology, in print since 1933. The Commission integrates various disciplines involved in the study of the Quaternary Period: geologists, geomorphologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, and others. The Commission's works are published in the Folia Quaternaria. To date, volumes 64—74 have appeared under the aegis of PAU publications; these have comprised collections of papers dealing with neotectonics, Paleolithic settlement on the loess uplands of the Kraków region, paleomalacology, and dendrochronology. The Commission's meetings have heard papers on the stratigraphy of Pleistocene and Holocene sediments in the light of malacological and palynological analyses, the age of shifts, the conditions for the deposition of lake chalks, and the formation of cave dripstones.

Within the scope of the Commission's activities, Kazimierz Kowalski was pursuing a research project on Rodents of Pleistocene Europe (an individual grant from the Scientific Research Committee). The results of this research project are incorporated in volume 72 of Folia Quaternaria and was awarded the City of Kraków Prize.

Medicine

The members of this section include physicians, pharmacists, and biologists whose scientific work is directly connected with medicine. The meetings of the section are regularly held jointly with the Mathematics and Natural Sciences sections, and have included papers on the general problems of medicine, presented both by members of the section and by foreign scientists visiting Kraków.

Two scientific symposia in the medical sciences took place in 1995 under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. One of them, organized in cooperation with the Medical Research Center of the Jagiellonian University and the Polish Physiological Association, dealt with the centennial of the discovery of adrenaline, which was made simultaneously by Polish and English researchers. The second symposium dealt with the problem of the role of infection by Helicobacter pylori in inflammations of the mucous membranes of the stomach. In this area a crucial role has been played by the research of Stanisław Konturek and Jerzy Stachura, members of our Academy who are also affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Within the Medical section there is the PAU Commission on Medical Ethics. The members of the section also take part in the work of the PAU Commission on Threats to Civilization.

On the initiative and on behalf of the section, the Tadeusz Browicz Prize has been awarded since 1999 to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of medicine and pharmacology. Until recently the Prize was funded by the Pliva pharmaceutical company. The English Language School of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University's Collegium Medicum, previously the second sponsor, was the sole sponsor in 2001. The Tadeusz Browicz Prize is formally awarded to the winners at the June meeting of the PAU's General Assembly.

Artistic Creativity

This section was founded in 1994, after the PAU's charter was amended to allow for its creation. The goal of the new Section was to include persons from the world of art among the members of the Academy, outstanding creators whose careers have made a significant contribution to the development of culture. The areas of artistic creativity represented in the section include literature, music, architecture, painting, sculpture, theater, and film.

The section's activities were inaugurated by two lectures, one delivered by Jerzy Nowosielski, "The Growth of Consciousness in Time: Truth or Illusion?" and the other by Jan Józef Szczepański, "The Concept of Morality in Literature".

The speakers at the section's meetings in recent years have also included Andrzej Wajda, Witold Cęckiewicz, Jerzy Jarocki, Stanisław Lem, Stanisław Rodziński, and Bronisław Chromy.

Independent Interdisciplinary Commissions

This Commission is interdisciplinary in character, and is composed of members of different PAU classes, from the History and Philosophy sections to the Creative Arts section. Threats to the harmonious development of humanity should be a subject of interest and research, not only for representatives of the exact sciences and engineering, biology, and medicine, but also for historians, philosophers, lawyers, and even literary scholars and creative artists from other areas of culture. Threats are associated in the public mind with the improper use of the results of scientific research and the development of technology and industrial operations that are hostile to the natural environment. Yet there are also dangers for the future of the human race lurking in climatic changes, population growth, and the appearance of new diseases. Other threats emerge from ideologies that generate fundamentalism, mendacity, and hatred, the primary causes of terrorism and war. We should bear in mind in this context that during the century now drawing to its close humanity achieved the capability of annihilating itself.

Ethical evaluations are not applied to the results of scientific research. The criterion of scientific value as such is truth. Evil lurks in our very selves, and this is what causes the results of research to be exploited to the detriment of humanity. The multiplication of pseudo-sciences and the contradiction of rationalism are leading us into blind alleys, and for many people are replacing their lost faith in the value of scientific progress. The general public needs to be convinced that it is only through the further development of science and learning that the consequences of all these threats can be averted. Scientific truth and the love of one's neighbor are the basic principles that create the opportunity for humanity to survive and develop in harmony.

The Commission discusses the threats that have arisen, and provides society at large with accurate information about their causes and the ways to avert their consequences. The scientific meetings are used to present and discuss selected issues involved with the threats that have already emerged, are just becoming apparent, or are expected, and to indicate the directions for scientific research and actions to avert these threats. Extensive summaries of the papers are published in a PAU periodical, Zagrożenia cywilizacyjne [Threats to Civilization], which in the future will occur periodically in the form of a quarterly. In addition, the Commission intends to organize public lectures for a broad spectrum of society, and will also attempt to reach public opinion through the mass media: the press, radio, and television.

Contemporary activity

Currently, the PAU consists of six sections, each of which has its executive board, with a director, deputy director, and a secretary; in some cases, there is also a deputy secretary. Within each class there are commissions and committees, the latter standing or temporary, which, though, must be headed by a regular member of the PAU (with few exceptions), may include persons who are not PAU members.

The sections hold monthly scientific meetings, where papers are read and discussed. The PAU's activities are described and documented in the "PAU Annual". Each of the classes issues its own "Papers" or other publication series, where they publish works that fall within the scientific purview of the section or other texts of scientific or scholarly value, especially historical sources. The commissions have their own series of "Works" or periodicals, according to their respective specialties.

As of June 2009, the PAU had 476 members, including 146 regular members, 148 corresponding members and 182 foreign members, each of whom maintains active contacts with Polish science and learning.

Seminars of the PAU

Since 2002, monthly Seminars of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences have been organized and attracted attendance up to ca. 200 participants. Currently, the leading topic is "Patriotism yesterday and today". To the group of speakers invited to deliver their lectures belong eminent representatives of science, culture, and public life, such as Władysław Bartoszewski, Bronisław Geremek, Maciej Grabski, Jan Nowak Jeziorański, Archbishop Alfons Nossol Archbishop Józef Życiński, Archbishop Henryk Muszyński and others.

Science Café

Since 2004, the PAU has organized, together with the daily "Dziennik Polski", a series of events called the Science Café. These are scientific meetings open for public. Each of the meetings is dedicated to a lecture on a scientific subject for general public and is followed by a discussion and conversations over a cup of coffee.

"PAUza Akademicka" Weekly

An online weekly PAUza Akademicka (Academic PAUse) subsidized by the Municipality of Kraków, has been available since September 2008. On special occasions a paper version is printed. The weekly is devoted to the issues related to scientific life in Poland, with special attention paid to the scientific environment in Kraków. Andrzej Kobos PhD and Marian Nowy are the editors.

Supporting Young Scholars and Junior Research Workers

Since January 2009, the "PAUeczka Akademicka" [Academy of the Young], has been working in the PAU. Directed by vice-president of the PAU Andrzej Szczeklik, it organizes monthly meeting of PhD students, assistant lectures and students representing various scientific disciplines from the academic environment in Kraków. The meetings are devoted to discussions aiming at humanization and integration of academic circles. The PAU co-finances the Winter School of Theoretical Physics of Wrocław University (for students in senior years, PhD students, and junior research workers), international workshops, and the Kraków School of Theoretical Physics (for junior research workers from Poland and abroad).

The Academic Library of the PAU and PAN

The Academic Library of the PAU and the PAN has been in the structure of the PAU since 1 January 2000. Its origins go back to the 19th century and to the Kraków Learned Society. Until 1952 it functioned as the Library of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1872) and of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1920), and starting from 1953 as an independent unit of the Polish Academy of Sciences. As a result of the agreement between the PAN and the PAU concluded on 20 October 1999, the Library became an institution managed by the PAU. The Library numbers ca. 660,000 volumes and inventory units, including nearly 144,250 volumes and inventory units of special collections, which comprise nearly 13,700 old prints, about 13,000 manuscripts and over 96,000 graphics and drawings. The Library exchanges publications with more than 1,000 institutions in 77 countries, publishes its "Annual" (of a volume of c.a. 50 publisher's sheets), prepares and successively issues catalogues of its collections, and is engaged in gathering and providing information, for instance on didactics in tertiary education institutions in Kraków. The Library has its own Council appointed (on a fifty-fifty basis) by the PAU and the PAN.

The Archives of the Science of the PAN and PAU

The activities of the PAU are closely connected with the Archives of the Science of the PAN and of the PAU. Besides the PAN's collection (starting from 1953) the Archives gather also files of the Kraków Learned Society and other Kraków societies, and, first of all, of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1872) and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (1920–1952 and from 1989). The collection contains also numerous legacies of many scholars, not only those who were the PAU members. As a consequence of the agreement between the PAN and the PAU, since 1 April 2002, the former Warsaw Branch of the Archives of the Polish Academy of Sciences has been functioning under the name of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków. The Archives belong to the structure of the PAN Branch in Kraków but have their own Council appointed and financed by both the academies. Besides storing, working out the collected items and making them available for researches, the Archives systematically organize various exhibitions and scientific conferences. They also publish the PAU series entitled "In the Service of Science". The Archives work in close cooperation with the PAU's Commission on the History of Science.

Polish Library in Paris

The Polish Library in Paris has become an important PAU's department. The PAU exercised its former owner's rights (since 1893) and settled the issue by arbitration reaching an agreement with the Historical and Literary Society in Paris, the body currently managing the Library. Having agreed on the Society's co-ownership, the PAU has been co-financing (from the funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education) the Library and co-organizing its activities since 2004.

Polish Biographical Dictionary

The PAU collaborates with the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the preparation and publishing of "Polski Słownik Biograficzny [Polish Biographical Dictionary]". From 1935 until 1949, the Dictionary was published by the PAU. Then, because of ideological reasons, the publishing was discontinued. It was two years after the political breakthrough in October 1956 when the editing unit was reactivated in the structures of the PAN. Since then the Dictionary has been continuously published. Starting from 1999 the PAU has been also involved in making of the "Polish Biographical Dictionary" by rendering its rooms of a total area of 193 m2 available for the editorial staff.

Scientific Scholarships

The PAU controls the foreign research fellowships funded by the Lanckoroński Foundations. This involves a large number of scholarships for resident fellowships in Rome, Vienna, and London, and occasionally in other cities as well. The PAU Scholarship Commission, which also includes representatives from five Polish universities—Jagiellonian University, Warsaw University, Wrocław University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń—awards these scholarships each year. In 2005, the Maria Zdziarska-Zaleska Scholarship Fund was set up at the Historical and Literary Society in Paris to provide money for research in the Polish library in Paris. A commission attached to the PAU awards the scholarships.

International Cooperation

Since its foundation, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences has been actively involved in cooperation with foreign institutions and activities on the international forum. Already in the 19th century the Academy initiated archival expeditions to study sources from the history of Poland (among other the so-called Roman Expedition to Vatican Archives connected with its opening in 1881), and sent its representatives to international congresses. In 1898, the Academy of Arts and Sciences became the owner of the Polish Library in Paris and opened a scientific station there. The Academy's library in Kraków carried on a broad exchange of publications from the very beginning. In 1921, the PAU became a founding member of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI). After its activities were resumed, the PAU's membership in the UAI was renewed in 1993, and the PAU began to take part in the research and publication projects of this organization. The publication of the Polish series of the "Corpus vasorum antiquorum" (CVA) was completed with volume 10, devoted to Cypriot pottery from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. The Kraków sheet in the "Tabula Imperii Romani" (TIR) was worked out and published, and the material for sheet 12 of the "Atlas du Monde Grec et Romain" was prepared. Three volumes of the Polish series in the "Corpus antiquitatum Americanensium" (CAA) have been published; the first two volumes are devoted to the ceramics and Peruvian textiles in the collection of Kraków Archaeological Museum (the Kluger Collection, formerly the property of the PAU), and the third one deals with the materials of the Polish archaeological mission in Peru. The edition of the Polish series "Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum" (SNG) has been commenced; its first four volumes are devoted to the collection of Greek coins from the Archaeological Museum in Łódź. PAU members are also participating in the realization of such UAI projects as "Corpus philosophorum medii aevi, Civitas litteraria Europaea, Moravia Magna". The PAU has declared its intention of joining new UAI projects, such as the realization of the series "Monumenta palaeographica medii aevi" (volume 1 already worked out), "Mundus Scytho-Sarmaticus et Graeco-Romanus" (together with Ukraine).

Thanks to the effective cooperation of the PAU and the UAI, the annual plenary meeting of the UAI (involving representative of 44 academies around the world assembled in the UAI) took place in Kraków in 1999, during which the PAU's representative, Janusz Kozłowski, was elected officer of the UAI; since 2007 he has been the vice-president of the organization. A cooperation agreement has been signed with the Slovak Academy of Sciences. This bore fruit especially in the field of archaeology, for instance in the realization of joint investigation of archaeological sites in eastern and south-western Slovakia as well as in the research into the archaeology and natural environment of the Low Beskids mountains (volume II). Cooperation was also initiated and contracts were signed with the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts in Belgium, with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences, with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, with the Romanian Academy of Sciences, and with the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences. Somewhat looser forms of cooperation exist between the PAU and the Saxon Academy and Sciences, as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences and with the Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Class II of the PAU has signed a cooperation agreement with the Institute of History in Vilnius. The PAU has also been engaged in scientific cooperation based on treaties negotiated by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with several countries, including France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, and Egypt. Together with the universities in Rome (La Sapienza and LUMSA), in Lecce, in Angers, in Szeged, in Lublin (KUL), and in Tallinn, the PAU constitutes in accordance with the European Union requirements a scientific society named Centro Interuniversitario Internazionale per il Mediterraneo, l'Europa Centro-Orientale e l'Eurasia.

Prizes

The PAU awards prizes for outstanding research achievements. These include the following:

The Nicholas Copernicus Prize, funded by the City of Kraków by a resolution of the City Council passed on 9 July 1993, in conjunction with the foundation act of the Municipal Commune of 18 February 1973. By tradition, the PAU awards this Prize every year in the fields of astronomy, earth sciences, economy, natural philosophy, medicine, military defense sciences, and law. In 1995, for the first time since the revival of the PAU, six Prizes were awarded.

The Marian Mięsowicz Prize awarded every two years for outstanding achievements in the field of physics. The Prize, funded by institutes of physics working in Kraków, was awarded for the first time in 1997.

The Tadeusz Browicz Prize, awarded annually since 1998 for outstanding achievements in the field of medicine. To date, the prizes have been funded by the Pliva pharmaceutical company in Kraków, Novartis Poland, and the School of Medicine in English at the Jagiellonian University's Collegium Medicum.

In June 2003, the Marian Kukieł Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of military history was awarded for the first time. Prof. Leszek Suski, Gen. Marian Kukie's copyright heir, and the PAU co-fund the prize.

In 2008, with an effort and will of the PAU, the Erazm and Anna Jerzmanowski Prize was revived under the auspices of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Called "the Polish Nobel Prize", it was funded by Erazm Jerzmanowski in 1912 and secured by his inheritance. The prize was awarded within the years 1915–1938 for scientific and charitable activity. Its revival was possible thanks to the funds for Lesser Poland Voivodeship distributed by the local authorities under the leadership of Marshal Marek Nawara. The prize is supposed to be awarded annually. The first prizewinner was Ms Janina Ochojska-Okońska. She received the prize on 9 February 2009, on the centenary of Erazm Jerzmanowski's death.

Every year, upon a motion of the Commission on the Evaluation of Textbooks, the PAU confers honorary diplomas on the authors and publishers of highest rated textbooks for intermediate schools and secondary schools.

Noted members

Marie Curie double Nobel laureate

Emilian Czyrniański (1824-1888), chemist, co-founder of PAU

Michalina Stefanowska (1855-1942) biologist

Edward Flatau (1868–1932), neurologist

Tadeusz Banachiewicz (1882–1954), astronomer, mathematician and geodesist

Gerard Labuda (1916–2010), medieval historian

Kazimierz Piwarski (1903–1968), historian of Pomerania, Silesia, East Prussia

Zygmunt Wojciechowski (1900–1955), historian of state and law, founder of the Western Institute

George Zarnecki (1915–2008), art historian specializing in English Romanesque sculpture

Czesław Olech (1931–2015), mathematician

René Maurice Fréchet (1878-1973), mathematician, foreign member