Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, received the fifth edition of the Ujazdowski Hospital Pro Publico Bono Award. The prize is granted by the Award Committee for special achievements in social activity and commitment to others.

The Pro Publico Bono Award was introduced to commemorate Poland’s first military medical establishment, whose traditions are inherited by the Military Institute of Medicine – National Research Institute (WIM). It is awarded to the people whose passions go beyond medicine, who devote their time to those in need, or combine medicine with other fields of science and art “pro publico bono”.

Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, is this year’s recipient of the award. The distinction was presented by the Director of the WIM, Lieutenant General Prof. Grzegorz Gielerak, MD, PhD during the inauguration of the 2023/2024 academic year at the Institute.

“The Pro Publico Bono award is a great honour for me. The idea of bringing medicine back to the University of Warsaw appeared over ten years ago. We have very strong research facilities at the UW – the Centre of New Technologies, and the Biological and Chemical Research Centre – with excellent biologists, physicists, chemists and nanotechnology experts working there. Their publications can be read in prestigious national and international journals. We felt it was high time to join forces with the Military Institute of Medicine. Our institutions work closely together, conducting joint research, applying for grants or preparing publications,” Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the UW Rector, said during the award presentation.

Joining forces

The collaboration between the UW and the WIM is a new chapter in the history of the University, which draws on its more than 200-year tradition of the medical activity. As by the resolution of Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Warsaw accepted the first medical students, who began their education on 1st October 2023.