Summary of the IX LUMEN Conference 2023

Two days of discussions, 10 panel sessions, 12 presentations, and 45 speakers from Poland and abroad – that’s how the just-concluded LUMEN 2023 Conference looked in numbers.

The ninth edition of the largest event dedicated to higher education management attracted over 250 participants, including university management leaders and representatives from key institutions and companies in the higher education sector. We gathered in person at the Narvil Hotel in Serock on November 20-21, 2023.

The opening ceremony of the conference was inaugurated by Prof. Łukasz Sułkowski, President of the PCG Polska Board. Short commemorative speeches were delivered by William S. Mosakowski, President and Founder of the Public Consulting Group, Prof. Jerzy Woźnicki, President of the Foundation of Polish Rectors, and Prof. Michał Zasada, Vice Chairman of KRASP and Rector of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

SESSIONS OF THE FIRST DAY OF THE CONFERENCE AND THE AWARDS GALA

The first speaker was Łukasz Wawer, Deputy Director of the Center for Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Education and Science, who presented a summary of the ministry’s activities in the field of digital projects in Polish higher education in 2023. Director Wawer discussed, among other things, the launch of the “People of Science” portal by the Ministry of Education and other legislative and technological initiatives related to the introduction of e-diplomas, e-deliveries, and e-IDs.

Following that, the first rectorial debate took place, moderated by Prof. Jerzy Woźnicki. Summing up the five years of the Science Constitution, the following individuals provided their insights: Prof. Roman Cieślak, Rector of SWPS University; Iryna Degtyarova, Assistant from the Foundation of Polish Rectors; Prof. Jerzy Lis, Rector of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow; and Prof. Jan Szmidt, Honorary Chairman of KRASP, Warsaw University of Technology. The rectors assessed the effects of the law’s implementation so far and shared their opinions on the necessary directions for future changes.

The second panel session focused on the global perspectives on the transformation of Polish higher education. In the debate, led by Prof. Łukasz Sułkowski, participants included Prof. Jarosław Górniak, Vice-Rector for Development at Jagiellonian University, Shadi Awwad, EMEA Regional Director at Elsevier, and Magdalena Marzec, Regional Manager UK & Europe at Times Higher Education. The discussion utilized data illustrating the positions of Polish universities in the international context, sourced from the international Scopus database (Elsevier) and DataPoints (Times Higher Education).

This year’s conference also welcomed rectors from leading Ukrainian universities. In the panel dedicated to the reconstruction of the Ukrainian education system, Prof. Vasyl D. Karpusha, Rector of Sumy State University, Prof. Yevhen Sokol, Rector of the National Technical University Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, as well as Vitaliy Kukharskyy, Vice-Rector of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and Prof. Tetiana Fesenko from Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, participated. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Volodymyr Bugrov, Rector of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The rectors discussed the impact of the war on the condition of the Ukrainian education system and the approach to its reconstruction after the conclusion of military activities.

The highlight of LUMEN 2023 was the grand Gala for the presentation of awards to leaders of Polish and Ukrainian universities classified in THE World University Rankings 2024 – the latest edition of the most prestigious and recognizable ranking of higher education institutions worldwide. The awards were presented by representatives of Times Higher Education: Lachyn Italmazova, Commercial Director UK & Europe, and the aforementioned Magdalena Marzec, along with Prof. Łukasz Sułkowski and Prof. Jerzy Woźnicki.

The list of awarded universities is provided in the summary of the Gala available here:

The Gala for presenting awards from THE World University Rankings during the LUMEN 2023 conference.

SESSIONS OF THE SECOND DAY OF THE CONFERENCE

On the second day of LUMEN, we started with a discussion on artificial intelligence. Views on the possibilities of applying AI in education were presented by Mateusz Rafał, Director of the Center for Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Education and Science, Barbara Michalska, Director of Education at Microsoft, and Katarzyna Patyrak, RI Solutions Manager for CEE at Elsevier. The panel was moderated by Dr. Maciej Madziński from the Leon Koźmiński Academy.

In the next panel, we examined this year’s legislative changes and their impact on the organization of digital processes in universities. In a panel moderated by Dariusz Wronikowski — IT Director at the Leon Koźmiński Academy and Coordinator of the IT Section of the Dean’s Office Forum Association — representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, namely Łukasz Wawer and Marcin Czaja, Director of the Department of Higher Education, participated.

We continued the theme of current changes implemented by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in the next session, moderated by Piotr Masalski, Director of the Business Line at PCG Academia. The discussion focused on new guidelines for sending scientific information for evaluation, featuring voices such as Marek Michajłowicz, Deputy Director of the Information Processing Center – PIB, Halina Bojkowska, Head of the Institutional Analysis and Reporting Office at Jagiellonian University, and Tomasz Jałukowicz, Director of the Science Administration Department at SWPS University.

A significant change facing the public sector by 2025 is the transition from paper in communication with citizens. Invited experts, including Łukasz Wawer (Ministry of Education and Science), Łukasz Wróbel, Vice President of WEBCON, and Dariusz Żelasko, IT Director at the Krakow University of Technology, presented the current status of implementing electronic document management systems in universities and government administration. The panel was moderated by Łukasz Nowak, Vice President of PCG Academia.

The final panel was dedicated to sharing experiences and insights from the first competitions for universities within the framework of EU funds for 2021-2027. In a discussion led by Małgorzata Lelińska, Director of the Department of EU Funds and Digital Education at the Lewiatan Confederation, participants included Anna Marciniak, Head of the ESF Programs Section at the National Center for Research and Development, Marcin Kowalski, Chairman of the EdTech Group at the Lewiatan Confederation, and Edyta Siuda, Project Office Director at the Leon Koźmiński Academy.

LUMEN THEATRE

During the conference, the LUMEN Theatre, a theater of EdTech innovations, took place. As part of a series of short, expert presentations, participants were introduced to specific, proven solutions supporting universities in the fields of teaching, evaluation, data analytics, digitization of processes, and management.

Trusted university partners presented their solutions: Anthology, Dolphin Consulting, Elsevier, Inspera, Learnetic, PCG Academia, PRODATA, Promethean, SIGNIUS, Skarbiec TFI, UpWare, WEBCON, and Wolters Kluwer.

Recordings from this year’s edition of LUMEN are available on our website and YouTube channel.

The organizers of the 9th LUMEN Conference 2023 were PCG Academia, Times Higher Education, and the Foundation of Polish Rectors.

Partners of LUMEN 2023 included Anthology, Dolphin Consulting, Elsevier, Inspera, Learnetic, ProData, Promethean, Signius, Skarbiec, UpWare, WEBCON, and Wolters Kluwer.

The honorary patronage of the conference was held by the Minister of Education and Science. The conference was also under the patronage of the Chairman of KRASP, the Polish Accreditation Commission, the Information Processing Center – PIB, NASK, the Forum of Dean’s Offices Association, the LEWIATAN Confederation, and the PRom Association. Media patronage of the conference was provided by the Academic Forum.