85 people joined this year's edition of the "Very Talented at Wrocław University of Science and Technology” project. During the conference "Novices in Science", our students talked to schoolchildren about the benefits of participating in this program and about the effects of cooperating with a tutor.

– Here, at WUST, we try to recognize, scout for, and later appreciate and support people with potential as early as possible – said Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, WUST Rector, thus encouraging young people to participate in the "Extremely talented at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology" project, which has been run since 2013.

To date, almost 700 people have participated in it. It is addressed to the most talented candidates who start studies at Wrocław University of Science and Technology: winners of national contests and competitions, as well as new students who recruited with outstanding results. Any such candidate may apply to join the program.

This year, 85 people were selected out of over 100 applicants. Each of them will receive support in the form of a scholarship 400 to 700 PLN per month, a place in a dormitory and tutor's care.

– In such projects, and we offer really a lot of them at the University and for each age group, we have one goal in mind – to promote scientific excellence – said Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs. – The last of such projects in an academic career is Professor Magnus, in which, following the example of the best universities in the world, we recognize our most outstanding professors. I hope that today there are some among you who will follow this path from novice to professor.

During the second edition of the conference "Novices in Science", talented students from Wrocław University of Science and Technology who participate in the program "Very Talented at Wrocław University of Science and Technology" talked about the results of their research conducted under the supervision of their tutors. They also shared their experiences and talked about the benefits of individual work with a tutor.

– It is really important for us here at Wrocław University of Science and Technology that so many people gathered in one room/ I can see so much enthusiasm and joy in you – said Prof. Agnieszka Bieńkowska, vice-rector for education. – I am glad that the today's event is attended by people who have already participated in our program for gifted students, those who are taking part in it now and, above all, I welcome those who – I hope – will soon become our students.

It is worth having a scientific tutor

One of the biggest advantages of the program for students is the chance to cooperate with a tutor. It allows students to be quickly included in scientific and research work at the university. So far, almost 300 students have taken advantage of this option.

– For me, tutoring is crucial in making it possible for you to be introduced as soon as possible to what is the coolest thing at the university, which is scientific research – said the rector, Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs.

During the conference, four students presented the results of their first research works carried out at Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Katsiaryna Viarenich studies at the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. She comes from Minsk and her passion has always been mathematics. In her country, she successfully competed in many contests, and in one of them she was ranked eighth in the country, in her age category. Looking for opportunities to study in Poland, she came across the WUST competition "Mathematics – Our Common Language." By winning it, she qualified for the program "Very Talented at Wrocław University of Science and Technology."

– I really appreciate the opportunity to participate in this project, and to cooperate closely with a scientist. I found an interesting topic, in which I can develop my skills, and a team that supports me. If someone really wants to self-develop quickly, this is the best possible option – says Katsiaryna Viarenich who – together with her tutor Tomasz Kajdanowicz, Ph.D., D.Sc., University Professor, focuses on artificial intelligence.

During the conference, she explained how to turn things into a vector, i.e. to present various issues in numerical form so that they still have their characteristics, and then to feed them, for example, into machine learning models.

According to Prof. Tomasz Kajdanowicz from our Faculty, being a guide for an outstanding student is linked to a certain type of responsibility: – At some point, you grow up to share your organizational capabilities and knowledge and I think that each of us should do it.

Our scientist estimates that his tutee has made a great effort for the past year, comparable to the work expected from a doctoral student. At the same time, he encourages students to make the most out of everything that their tutor offers and to find challenges for their tutors, too.

– In our discipline, we desperately need enlightened minds who want to discover new things and learn the truth hidden in artificial intelligence – says Prof. Tomasz Kajdanowicz. – And this will not be possible if we do not take care of the most talented and smartest at our university, and from the very beginning of their education.

Students from high schools cooperating with Wrocław University of Science and Technology gathered in the Congress Centre also listened to a presentation about the location of particles in disordered crystals by Piotr Tokarczyk from the Faculty of Fundamental Problems of Technology (tutored by Patrycja Łydżba, Ph.D.). The topic of building bridges was presented by Dariusz Banaś from the Faculty of Civil Engineering (tutored by Paweł Hawryszków, Ph.D.), and the issue of perovskites as the technology of the future was described by Barbara Sznyrowska from the Faculty of Mechanical and Power Engineering (tutored by Jacek Lamperski, Ph.D.).

The event was finished with a lecture titled "Working Noses – or the Pursuit of Smell" by Elżbieta Romanik, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering.