About the Faculty

About the Faculty

The modern research and teaching infrastructure of the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography is located in two places: Gdynia Campus (Institute of Oceanography) and Baltic Campus (Institute of Geography). The Faculty has also two field stations: the Marine Station in Hel at the Baltic coast and the Limnological Station in Borucino at Lake Raduńskie.

The Faculty operates a new research vessel – 50m long catamaran ‘OCEANOGRAF’ for interdisciplinary research of the Baltic environment as well as education of students from our Faculty.

Academic staff

The Faculty employs 213 people. Among them, there are 131 academic teachers (Professors, Assistant Professors and Assistants). Scientific and technical, as well as technical and engineering staff constitute a large group of 54. The Faculty also employs 18 administration staff and 10 seamen.

Research/international cooperation

The Institute of Oceanography conducts interdisciplinary research in the coastal zone of the shelf seas. While research focuses primarily on the southern Baltic Sea, the polar regions are also investigated. The principle areas of research include the following:

• coastal waters and the ecosystems occurring there with a special focus on designated NATURA 2000 areas;
• levels of pollution in the marine environment and the degrees to which coastal ecosystems are impacted by the human exploitation;
• new research methods and ecohydrodynamic models to evaluate the state of and to forecast changes in selected Baltic Sea basins;
• interdisciplinary research on sustainable exploration of marine natural resources;
• evaluating the socioeconomic significance of the marine ecosystems.

The scope of research conducted by the Institute of Geography area is closely related to sustainable development and human-environment interactions and their effects on environment, society, economics and space. This knowledge allows for understanding complex issues like climate change, the impact of human activities on the natural environment, business location and natural conditions of the investment, exploration and exploitation of renewable energy, the creation and functioning of cities and development of the regions and countries.

Faculty staff members are involved in scientific cooperation with a network of marine research institutes and observatories within the EuroMarine+ Consortium. Within international cooperation in the field of geography and spatial management scientists cooperate mostly with institutions from the countries of central and eastern Europe.

Achievements/successes

The Faculty of Oceanography and Geography ranks among the top research institutions in the field of Earth Sciences in Poland (category A). In 2012, the Faculty was awarded the highest note confirmed by the Certificate of Education Quality by the Presidium of the Polish Accreditation Commission (valid till year 2020).

The Faculty is a publisher of the Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies, an international journal with the objective to provide comprehensive and reliable source of the current knowledge in the fields of science related to both oceanology and hydrobiology.