30 years of UO

30 years of the University of Opole in numbers: more than 110,000 graduates, 17 scientific disciplines for which the university has full promotion rights, 51 distinguished honorary doctors, the 7^th best university in Poland, membership in the European University Network and the EUA, and nearly 2,000 employees. “And we are ready for more,” assures the Rector of the UO, Prof. Marek Masnyk.

The University of Opole, the largest higher education institution in the region, has begun its 30th anniversary celebrations. “We are entering the fourth decade with considerable success, we have passed a difficult exam exceptionally well,” says the UO Rector. “This success would not have been possible without the outstanding scientific activity of our employees, the joint effort of all those employed at our university and the entire academic community, as well as the support of regional and national authorities.”

The University of Opole was established at the 14th session of the Polish Sejm of the second term, when the Act of 10 March 1994 on the establishment of the university was passed. It was then the twelfth university in Poland. The UO was formed through the merger of two institutions of higher education in Opole: the Higher School of Education (1954-1994), one of the best pedagogical universities in Poland, and the Opole Branch of the Catholic University of Lublin, existing since 1981, based on several decades of experience of the Higher Theological Seminary in Nysa (where the academic staff of the former Faculty of Theology of the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv worked). The UO opened its doors on 1 October 1994 with four faculties.

Today, the UO has 12 faculties, 17 institutes and approximately 80 study programmes. In recent years, more than 9,000 students (including almost a thousand foreign students) have studied here every year. In the latest evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science for 2017-2021, an assessment of the quality of scientific activity, the UO received one A+ grade, six A grades and ten B+ grades. “This means that in each of the evaluated disciplines, we have full promotion rights, i.e. we can conduct proceedings for granting doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. It also gives us full educational autonomy, i.e. we can make our own decisions about study programmes we want to offer to young people,” says Prof. Jacek Lipok, Vice-Rector for Science.

The UO has been a member of the European University Network since 2019 and, as of 2024, of the EUA (European University Association), a highly valued organisation of higher education institutions from across Europe, which is one of the European Commission’s main partners in the area of dialogue with academic communities in Europe. The University of Opole is also part of the FORTHEM alliance together with Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz (Germany), Université de Bourgogne (France), Jyväskylän yliopisto (Finland), Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), Latvijas Universitāte (Latvia), Universitat de València (Spain), Universitetet i Agder (Norway) and Universitatea ‘Lucian Blaga’ din Sibiu (Romania). We are also in the Erasmus+ programme, under which we have signed agreements with 241 universities from 27 European Union countries. In addition, we have bilateral agreements with 28 universities from 27 other countries around the world. Even
such distant ones as Australia, the USA, Brazil, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan or Mexico. Under the Europa Master programme it is also possible to obtain diplomas from foreign universities. Graduates receive diplomas from the UO, the University of Dijon (France) and the University of Mainz (Germany). The first students were admitted in the academic year 2013-2014. “Today, we can be proud of the 130 graduates of these studies from 25 countries around the world – many European ones, but also Mexico, the United States, Canada, Tunisia and Morocco,” says Prof. Jacek Lipok.

The past years, especially the last few, have also been a time of a huge leap for the University of Opole in the highly valued ranking of the “Perspektywy” Educational Foundation. In 2023, the University of Opole was ranked 7th among universities and 24th among higher education institutions in the country In 2022, we were ranked 9th among universities and 30th among HEIs in this ranking; in 2020, we were ranked 11th among universities and 38th among HEIs; and in 2016, we were ranked 15th among universities and in the sixth ten (places 50-60) of HEIs.

In addition to 9,000 students, the UO academic community also comprises nearly 2,000 employees, including more than 1,000 academics affiliated with the UO under various forms of employment.

Another extremely important part of our community is formed by eminent representatives of the world of culture, art, science or politics, who in recent years have been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Opole and the Higher School of Education (HSE). Over the three decades of the UO’s history, these titles have been conferred on 48 extraordinary personalities, and
in the last few years of the activity of the HSE, three doctorates were awarded. Among them were Pope John Paul II, Władysław Bartoszewski, Adam Hanuszkiewicz, Lech Wałęsa, Ryszard Kaczorowski, Wojciech Kilar, Kazimierz Kutz, Stanisław Lem, Archbishop Alfons Nossol, Jan Miodek, Hans Gert Pötering, Tadeusz Różewicz and Dorota Simonides.

For the UO, the passing three decades have not only been a time of building a scientific base, establishing international relations and strengthening its position in the world of science and in public awareness. It was also a time of major investments in infrastructure. The year 2000 saw the opening of the new building of the Collegium Pedagogicum, and 2002 saw the opening of the
Collegium Maius, which today is the main building of the university. A year later, the refurbishment of Collegium Minus, the seat of the UO administration, was completed. In 2004, the Niechcic Hall of Residence was opened and in 2007 – Collegium Civitas. The new seat of the Faculty of Law and Administration, i.e. Collegium Iuridicum was opened in 2010 and in 2011 – the Student Culture
Centre. The refurbishment of the Collegium Artium, the building of the Faculty of Art today, was finished in 2013.

Recent years have seen two further huge investments: in 2023, the UO’s International Research and Development Centre for Agriculture and Agri-Food Industry opened, and in 2017, the Collegium Medicum, where medical students have been trained since then.

“The establishment of the medical programme at our university was clearly a bull’s eye,” says Prof. Marek Masnyk. “And the challenge was enormous. It required a lot of work and commitment not only on our part, but also on the part of the whole community of Opole and the Opole Voivodeship. It is true that Minister Jarosław Gowin provided funds for the construction of the facility,
but a large portion of the money that ultimately made it possible to launch the medical school came from the voivodeship government and mayors from our region, as well as from the business community of Opole and even from local residents – in a word, from the entire community. There was enormous mobilisation, huge expectations, but also enormous social pressure. Today we are proud, we feel a great sense of satisfaction and we are delighted that we have succeeded.”

The efforts to establish a medical school at the UO began in 2015. A year later, the Ministry of Science gave its approval. In 2019, the Faculty of Medicine was established, and a year later the State Medical School in Opole was incorporated into the structure of the University of Opole and the twelfth faculty of our university was established on its basis: the Faculty of Health
Science The first 78 graduates of the UO’s medical school – the first graduating year to complete a full cycle of training at the UO – received their diplomas of graduation on 28 October 2023.

The past three decades have also not been short of dramatic events for our university. The most difficult one took place in 1997, when a flood wave during the so-called ‘flood of the millennium’ inundated the storerooms of the UO Main Library. 120 thousand books and journals were destroyed. Villa Academica and the building at 4 Wandy Street, which was the headquarters of the Department of
Crop Protection of the then Agrobiochemistry, were also flooded.

UO in figures: 12 faculties, 17 institutes, almost 80 study programmes 110,735 graduates between 1994 and 2023, including 92,865 full-time and part-time graduates, 17,440 postgraduates and 430 graduates of doctoral programmes 1,065 academic teachers, almost 9,000 students with 10 percent of foreign students
241 partners (universities, partner institutions) within the Erasmus+ programmes and 75 partners with whom we have signed cooperation agreements
51 honorary doctorates.

Rectors of the UO

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