S-DISCO students started their education

19.02.2024

Second edition of the S-DISCO Orientation Week took place from 12th to 16th of February 2024 at our University. It was organized for students of the Sustainable Drug Discovery (S-DISCO) joint study program which has been offered at the Faculty of Pharmacy since the academic year of 2022/2023. S-DISCO is a two-year, 2nd degree program organized by Medical University of Gdańsk, Ghent University (Belgium), University of Lille (France), and University of Groningen (the Netherlands) as part of the International Master in Sustainable Drug Discovery project, financed by the European Commission under the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) program.

In the summer semester, our University will host 22 international students who have come to Gdańsk from such countries as Egypt, the Philippines, Bangladesh, the USA, New Zealand, Spain, Nepal, Indonesia, Cuba, Colombia, Kazakhstan, India, Canada, Syria, Peru, Pakistan, Italy, and Vietnam. The Erasmus+ international exchange program students, who came to MUG for the summer semester, also participated in the Orientation Week.

During the first Freshman Seminar, students were welcomed by: Prof. Agnieszka Zimmermann, Vice-Rector for the Quality of Teaching; Prof. Michał Markuszewski, Vice-Rector for Science; Dr. Habil. Bartosz Wielgomas, Assoc. Prof., Deputy Dean for Teaching Affairs of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Małgorzata Wacławik, Ph.D., student advisor.

from the left: Prof. Michał Markuszewski, Dr. Habil. Bartosz Wielgomas, Assoc. Prof., Prof. Agnieszka Zimmermann

During the first three days, Welcome Point organized a series of events and lectures including a lecture on communication presented by Dominika Bosek from the Center for Competence Development, Integrated Care and e-Health, a meeting with the University lawyer, library staff, dormitory representatives, and a Police officer to facilitate students’ adaptation to academic life and ease them into the challenges they might encounter in a new country and city. At the end of the first day of classes, students participated in an integration lunch during which they had the opportunity to taste Polish dishes including pierogi.

Newly arrived students also took part in Polish lessons and had the chance to go on a campus tour with some senior colleagues who showed them all the essential buildings and places around the main campus of the University. Marzena Kołtoniak and Emilia Wiśniewska, Welcome Point coordinators, have been supported in the event’s organization by employees of the: Admissions Office, Department of International Relations, Student Campus, Department of Promotion, as well as: Center for Competence Development, Integrated Care and e-Health, Main Library and the Legal Advisers Team.

The following two days of the Orientation Week were organized by Dr. Habil. Bartosz Wielgomas, Assoc. Prof. and Małgorzata Wacławik, Ph.D. Students had the opportunity to meet the entire S-DISCO program team, visited the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Pharmacy, received information about subjects and Extranet and were given a tour of the Faculty of Pharmacy by Małgorzata Wacławik, Ph.D. and Renata Wawrzyniak, Ph.D.

More at the Welcome Point’s website and its Facebook profile. We also encourage you to read the Welcome Point’s Guide.

photos by Karolina Derda/MUG