The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (NCU) was founded in 1945. It is one of the largest universities in Poland, currently comprising 17 faculties (including 3 medical faculties at Collegium Medicum UMK in Bydgoszcz). It provides graduate and postgraduate courses for almost 30 000 students, offering education in over 80 fields of study, 100 specialisations and 50 postgraduate courses. The university employs 4300 staff on both Toruń and Bydgoszcz campuses, over half of whom are academic teachers. NCU alumni now number nearly 200 000.
The university participates in student and staff exchange programs at both international (the Erasmus program) and national (the MOST program) levels. It develops studies in cooperation with universities abroad and is currently collaborating with the universities in Angers (economics) and Moscow (history).
NCU has state-of-the-art research infrastructure including the National Laboratory of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (FAMO), the Center for Quantum Optics and the Interdisciplinary Center for Modern Technologies to name but a few, as well as modern teaching facilities comprising, among others, Collegium Humanisticum and the brand new University Sports Centre. The Centre for Astronomy in Piwnice near Toruń houses a unique 32-meter radio telescope. Spitsbergen (in the Arctic Sea) is home to NCU Polar Station. The university has also organized the Polish Historical Mission at the University of Würzburg. NCU researchers can boast a number of spectacular successes which include, among others, the design and construction of an Optical Coherence Tomography instrument, an ultra-modern device for medical eye examinations.
The University Library holds an imposing collection of nearly 3 million printed volumes, periodicals and special collection items. NCU campus hosts the Academic Centre for Arts and Culture ‘Od Nowa’, one of the oldest students’ clubs in Poland.
This has contributed to the Nicolaus Copernicus University’s position as one of the five best universities in Poland and it is also the reason why QS World University Ranking has placed NCU in the top 4% of universities in the world.