The opening ceremony of a scientific and educational project Adamed Smart UP, set up by the Adamed Group Foundation, established in July 2014, was held at the Library of the University of Warsaw on 17 October 2014. During the ceremony, there was also a scientific debate entitled: “How should young talent be polished?” joined by Małgorzata Adamkiewicz, MD, PhD (Chairperson of the Adamed Group Foundation), Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge), Prof Władysław Wieczorek (Vice-Rector for Student Affairs at Warsaw University of Technology), Prof Jakub Gołąb (Head of the Department of Immunology at the Medical University of Warsaw) and young ambassadors of the Adamed Smart UP programme. The meeting was attended by students from middle and high schools based in Warsaw, invited guests and the media.

At the opening, Małgorzata Adamkiewicz emphasised successes achieved by Poles in different aspects of life, such as sports or business; she also pointed out that the innovative economy needs to be boosted so that Poland can gain a competitive edge on the international scene.

“The ambition of our foundation is to propagate cooperation and integration between the scientific community and the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnological industries. We also would like to cooperate more closely with entities with similar tasks and objectives, acting both in Poland and abroad,” said Małgorzata Adamkiewicz, MD, PhD, Chairperson of the Adamed Group Foundation.

In her presentation, Małgorzata Adamkiewicz addressed the issue of the current level of interest that young people demonstrate towards exact science, referring to the results of surveys conducted among students and statistics with regards to Olympiads.

Later, the Chairperson of the Adamed Group Foundation presented the assumptions of the first, innovative ADAMED SmartUP educational programme to the guests.

Then there was a debate. The aim of the debate was to arrive at an answer to the question “How should young talent be polished?”. The discussion was joined by Małgorzata Adamkiewicz and representatives of the academic community – Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge), Prof Władysław Wieczorek (Vice-Rector for Student Affairs at Warsaw University of Technology), Prof Jakub Gołąb (Head of the Department of Immunology at the Medical University of Warsaw), and ambassadors of the project – Kinga Panasiewicz and Jerzy Szuniewicz.

The debate was moderated by Jacek Żakowski, journalist and publicist. The subject of education and educating the youth in Poland sparked off a heated debate, which engaged both the debate participants and the youth that was present at the meeting.