We are closing the year 2023, and closing a period also means taking stock. So what was 2023 like? It was certainly a year of major changes. It is impossible not to mention the significant change that took place in Polish politics, or the change of leadership at the Polish Academy of Sciences. AND Polish Academy of Sciences - Scientific Center in Rome? For us, too, this year was a watershed year. First of all, we got a clear signal that we were staying at Vicolo Doria 2, and this in turn meant that we could start the interdisciplinary activities we had already planned the Center. So as soon as we signed another lease agreement with the Doria Pamphilj administration in May of this year, we began organizing scientific and cultural events at the Center, supporting the internationalization of science.

But... before we started organizing events at the Center, we also initiated several other initiatives. Throughout 2022, we realized a series of 70 Polish-Italian stories of scientific collaborations. In 2023, meanwhile, we decided to prepare interviews with interesting Italian scientists working with Poles and Polish researchers on internships or conducting joint research with Italians. In the interviews, we met with chemist Prof. Marcin Górecki, archaeologist Massimiliano Nuzzolo, Prof. Sabina Casanova, working at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. Prof. Carlo Vascotto from the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Malgorzata Lorencka - a political scientist from the University of Silesia, Prof. Carmine Autieri from the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences - also told us about their work and passion. We also interviewed archaeologists working in Sicily: Prof. Roksana Chowaniec and Dr. Marta Fituła, Dr. Laura Pozzi from the Department of 20th Century History. UW, Prof. Miroslaw Lenart, a researcher of Polish-Italian relations, Chiara Rinoldi from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Problems of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Ireneusz Malik from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Silesia, and Angelo Solano from the Department of Vocal Studies at the Academy of Arts, University of Szczecin. What are we preparing for 2024? We will tell you about it soon.

Earlier this year, in February, we also met with Polish scientists working in Italy at the Polish Embassy in Rome. This was the first meeting of the Polish scientific diaspora in the "Embassy of Scientists" series we initiated. The beginning of the year also saw the publication of a printed version of Prof. Piotr Salwa's book prepared in 2022 in the stationary Conferenze series, entitled "Sulle orme di Ortensio Lando e altri studi." We also co-hosted with the National Agency for Academic Exchange a webinar, "Boost your research career with Polish grants," for Italian scientists on NAWA's programs targeting the arrival of foreign scientists at Polish research units. We also participated with NAWA and the Ministry of Education and Science in the "Edu&Science Meeting in Rome."

In May, in turn, we participated in the Silesian University's project "Culture and Literature in the Promotion of the Polish Language at Italian Universities," holding two meetings on effective social communication in an international context and comparative translation studies.

In June, the Center hosted an interesting archaeological conference "Current research of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the field of medieval Mediterranean archaeology conducted in Sicily and Andalusia", which brought together researchers from Poland, Italy and Spain. the Center In addition, we joined in celebrating the 550th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus' birth by opening the exhibition "Nicolaus Copernicus. Life and Work," which can still be viewed at Vicolo Doria 2. Also in June, a meeting was held on "The impact of the war in Ukraine on the international security system," co-organized with the Naval Academy in Gdynia.

Meanwhile, we started our vacation with a July talk about Rome with the author of the book "Roman Miniatures. Short Stories of Roman Myth," Julius Galkowski. In addition, the director of the Center talked about the unit's activities in Urszula Rzepczak's authorial program "Caput mundi or navel of the world" and in Gazzetta Italia, in an article "On science in the heart of Rome."

September, meanwhile, began with the National Reading, this year dedicated to Eliza Orzeszkowa's novel "Above the Niemen." We also participated in the European Night of Scientists, sharing with Italian audiences knowledge about Polish-Italian research, but also about famous Poles: Copernicus and Skłodowska-Curie. We were also among the co-organizers of the "Copernicus & Italy" conference, on which we worked together with Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica and the Polish Institute in Rome.

In October, we participated in the seminar "Triggering the change. Collective action in the landcscape", organized by doctoral students, including Polish, from La Sapienza University. In turn, at the Center , there was a discussion of the books "Postcards from Rome" by Rev. Prof. Waldemar Turek and "Man Needs an Island" by Rev. Prof. Arkadiusz Noconia, and a medical conference "The focus of Polish-italian cooperation in the area of biomedicine". We also had the opportunity to present Prof. Piotr Salwa's book "Sulle orme di Ortensio Lando e altri studi".

In November, meanwhile, we launched the NAWA grant project "Promotion of the Polish Language," entitled "The Feminine Side of Poetry," which the Station won in 2023. As part of it, we invited students from Lithuania and Ukraine to Rome to participate, together with students from La Sapienza, in a conference dedicated to Wislawa Szymborska, a translation workshop at the Center, a podcasting workshop and a walk "In Rome in Polish Footsteps." These are just the first chords of the project, and it will continue in the spring of 2024. We ended November with a three-day conference on "Polish-Italian artistic contacts in the years 1944-80" and a meeting with Polish youth from Genoa and the surrounding area.

It is also worth mentioning another project "Promotion of the Polish language", in which Polish Academy of Sciences - Scientific Center in Rome is involved, "Young Polish language at the crossroads of cultures - promotion, knowledge, education". This is a project of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, and we will implement a part of it in 2024.

This year we also prepared the book "Perché la Polonia? Storie e biografie di italiani noti e comuni legati alla terra Polacca". We hope to be able to share it with you early next year.

And finally, we must write about the project we carried out together with the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences - the film "Maria Skłodowska-Curie in Italy in search of radium". In order to share the story of the Italian Nobel laureate's little-known journey, we prepared Polish, Italian and English versions of the film. Those who have not yet had the opportunity, we invite you to watch.

Importantly, since October we have already been operating with a small but close-knit team of three.

For 2024, we have prepared 20 applications for Science Dissemination Activities, and this means only one thing: there will be a lot going on with us!

Thank you to all our friends for your support, presence and kindness. Stay with us in 2024 as well.