Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń


Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, founded in 1945, is a public research university in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the Renaissance astronomer and mathematician who was born in Toruń in 1473 and whose formulation of the heliocentric model of the solar system is regarded as a landmark in the development of modern science. Its operation refers both to the life’s work and attitude of its patron, and to the academic heritage of the former Stefan Batory University in Vilnius and John Casimir University in Lviv.
The university consists of over 17 faculties, including biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics, astronomy and informatics, mathematics and computer science, law and administration, economic sciences and management, political science and international studies, philosophy and social sciences, history, languages and applied linguistics, Polish philology, fine arts, education sciences, and theology, as well as the Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz">Nicolaus Copernicus University Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz">Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, which includes the faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and health sciences.
UMK has been designated a Leading Research University under Poland’s Excellence Initiative and was the first Polish institution to receive the HR Excellence in Research distinction from the European Commission.
Research in astronomy and astrophysics is a distinctive area of activity. The Piwnice Astronomical Observatory, located near Toruń, operates a 32-metre radio telescope—one of the largest in Central Europe—which is used in international collaborations in radio astronomy, astrophysics, and space science.
In medicine, the Collegium Medicum has in recent years established itself among the top three medical schools in Poland, as reflected in national examination outcomes and academic awards.
Institutionally, UMK is a member of the Young European Research Universities Network, which also includes universities such as the University of Ulm, Paris Dauphine University, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Maastricht University, and the University of Antwerp.
In national evaluations, UMK is regularly ranked among the top universities in Poland. In the Unirank 2025 listing it placed 6th nationally. In the Shanghai Ranking 2025 it was positioned 5th nationally among Polish universities.
Among the university’s notable alumni are the poet and essayist Zbigniew Herbert, who from the 1960s was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and whose works have been translated into 38 languages; humanitarian activist and MEP Janina Ochojska, founder of the Polish Humanitarian Action; astronomer Aleksander Wolszczan, discoverer of the first confirmed exoplanets; jurist Piotr Hofmański, former President of the International Criminal Court; musician Grzegorz Ciechowski, a leading figure in Polish rock music who won ten Fryderyk Awards, more than any other musician; and politician Sławomir Mentzen, entrepreneur, chairman of the Confederation party, candidate in the 2025 Polish presidential election, and initiator of the eight-point Toruń Declaration - a political manifesto presented to the presidential runoff candidates.
The university’s academic and cultural life is embedded within Toruń’s UNESCO World Heritage–listed historic cityscape, giving it a distinctive European identity.

History

The beginnings of higher education in Toruń

The first institution of higher education in Toruń, the Toruń Academic Gymnasium was founded in 1568. It was one of the first universities in northern Poland. The Academic Gymnasium was the precursor to scientific and cultural life in the region. Thanks to the efforts of Heinrich Stroband, city mayor in 1594, academics in Toruń received good working conditions for teaching and research. Among his professors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were meritorious scholars of Polish and Prussian history, authors of textbooks and papers from various disciplines of humanities, and associates scientific journals.
The establishment of the university in a modern form began in the nineteenth century. During the partitions of Poland, the Prussian government planned to create a University of Theology, which was to include faculties of law and economics, but this project did not materialise.
In the interwar period the city authorities of Toruń again sought to establish a university. Soon after the annexation of Pomerania to the reborn Poland in 1920, a new phase of efforts to develop the university began. Even before 1920, the Supreme People's Council had considered the proposal to establish higher educational institutions in the Polish territories annexed by Prussia at the University of Gdansk and in Toruń. However, political developments and the uncertain future of Pomerania prompted the council's leadership to accept the December 1918 resolution of the Sejm to overlook Toruń as a location for a new university and instead go ahead with the development of a university in Poznań.
In 1920, the first declaration requesting the establishment of a university was put forward in November by the National Workers Party whose members chose Toruń-born Nicolaus Copernicus to be the patron of the university. For this purpose a number of educational societies, such as the Baltic Institute amongst others, were established in the town.
Finally, in 1938, it was decided to set up the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń as a subsidiary of Poznań's Adam Mickiewicz University; work was to start at the beginning of 1940. This program, however, was interrupted by World War II. It was not until 1947, two years after the creation of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. that Prof. Karol Górski revealed that there had been an approved plan to open Poznań University long-distance division in Toruń in 1940, which was supposed to teach the humanities and theology. In the first years after the war, many of the teaching staff consisted of professors, assistants and administrative workers from the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius.

Faculties

Image:UMK w Toruniu.JPG|thumb|The Collegium Maximus houses the university's museum collections

Staff

Number of students

Levels of study offered by institution

  • Shorter/intermediate university level qualifications
  • First main university level final qualifications
  • Advanced/postgraduate study
  • Doctorate
  • Higher/post doctorate
Image:Bdg Swietojanska CMUMK 4 07-2013.jpg|thumb|A part of the university's Collegium Medicum which is based in neighbouring Bydgoszcz.

Diplomas and degrees

  • Licentiate
  • Engineer
  • Magister
  • Ph.D. Degree
  • Habilitated Doctor Degree.

    Rankings

In 2018, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally.

International cooperation