Poland’s £62 million chemistry centre sparks debate over university finances
Construction started on the facility last year but some university staff are worried by falling chemistry student numbers and budget shortfalls
Poland’s University of Silesia in Katowice is spending PLN318.5 million (£62 million) to build a new 30,000m2 eight-storey building for its Silesian Interdisciplinary Chemistry Centre. The new facility will be fitted with more modern equipment that the university’s Institute of Chemistry says is necessary for its lecturers to ensure high teaching standards for students.
However, the investment in Katowice, a city in southern Poland, has stirred controversy among the university’s lecturers. The project’s critics argue that the institute has only around 400 students and a staff of 96, and the number of candidates applying to study chemistry in Katowice continues to fall every year.