German-Polish Foundation for Science

Polish budget will spend 5 million euro in aid of German-Polish Foundation for Science, but it is possible that we will not have any influence on what kind of research is going to be conducted by this foundation. On 2th June the Minister of Science Barbara Kudrycka will sing an intergovernmental agreement concerning scientific cooperation.

In 2005 president Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder decided to form this Foundation. Scientists exchanges and joint research projects should build an agreement between Poland and Germany.
The agreement between the ministries of science is to be signed as early as next week. Gesine Schwan, rector of the Viadrina’s European University in Frankfurt is going to be at the ceremony.
The problem is that it is not known on what projects the money will go. We know, however, that Poland will have little to say in determining the directions of the research.

Prof. Mariusz Muszynski, representative of Polish-German cooperation, pay attention to the fact that Germany, instead of jointly working out the shape of foundation, they founded it by themselves and they wrote the statute. After the analysis of this statute Muszynski alert that it does not make sense to spend 5 million euros.

Since July 2007 little has changed. A week before the signing the agreement, Polish Ministry of Science claims that the German party is working on the changes in the statute. The aim is to increase to two the number of Poles in seven person department of education (right now there is only professor Władysław Bartoszewski) and the record which impose that German should consult with us the rules concerning the allocation of means on research projects. - Our representatives will have the right to veto resolutions concerning these issues - says Katarzyna Dziedzik, spokesman of the ministry of science. – Government of the Republic of Poland decision about approval of the contract depend on the changes in statute.

The German Ministry of Education and Research’s spokesman said however that - the case of Foundation is not yet all set but only technical details are being negotiated.