An international team of experts selected 10 universities, from among the 20 best universities in Poland entitled to take part in the competition, which in the years 2020–2026 will receive a subsidy increased by 10%. Other universities participating in the competition but which were not in the top 10, will also receive financial support – a subsidy increased by 2%.

The aim of the competition was to select and support universities that will strive to achieve the status of a research university, and will be able to successfully compete with the best academic centres in Europe and in the world.

"The result of the first competition under the "Excellence Initiative - Research University" programme is a key element of the 4-year reform period of the Polish higher education system. This is one of the most important initiatives implemented by the Constitution for Science. It is also the culmination of several years of efforts to select research universities" ‒ the Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin said while announcing the results of the competition.

20 best universities in the country were qualified to participate in the first "Excellence Initiative – Research University" competition. All of them met the statutory conditions regarding scientific categories obtained during the last comprehensive assessment of scientific units in relation to the number of fields of study and disciplines in which the university conducts scientific activity. In addition, none of the fields of study conducted by the university could have a negative assessment of the Polish Accreditation Committee. An international team of experts associated with the science and higher education sector has selected 10 universities that will become research universities in the future.

List of universities: University of Warsaw; Gdańsk University of Technology; Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; AGH University of Science and Technology; Jagiellonian University; Warsaw University of Technology; Medical University of Gdańsk; Silesian University of Technology; Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń; University of Wrocław.

"The formula of the programme allows to state that there are no losers among the universities participating in the competition. All 20 universities are winners. All participating institutions met the restrictive conditions for participation in the competition related to the quality of scientific research and diversification of the profile of activity" ‒ the Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin pointed out. As a result of the assessment, 10 universities were selected, which in the years 2020–2026 will receive an annual increase in subsidies (in the amount of 10% of the subsidy obtained in 2019). Other universities that took part in the competition, but were not selected, will also receive additional financial support – an increase in the subsidy for the period 2020–2025 in the amount of 2% of the subsidy obtained in 2019.

Among these universities are Lodz University of Technology; Wrocław University of Science and Technology; University of Gdańsk; University of Łódź; Medical University of Białystok; Poznań University of Medical Sciences; Medical University of Łódź; Pedagogical University of Cracow; Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences; University of Silesia.

For more details visit the website of Polish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.