He came up with the topic and co-authored it, receiving 100 points for publication. A professor from AGH revealed the system left behind by Czarnik

Professor Konrad Zasielowski, a photophysicist from AGH University of Science and Technology, shed light on Polish science, and more specifically on the scientist evaluation system.

His article, which was prepared for publication, presented “a little-known aspect of the Pope’s life and his passion for collecting matches.” And so he sparked a debate because for spreading this contrived nonsense that John Paul II collected unique matches, that each match told the history of a particular nation, and that he ecumenically expressed the understanding of other religions through matches, he theoretically scored 100 points. Half of it you can get by publishing in international journals “Nature” or “Science”. The co-author of the publication “Musicologist from Turkmenistan” was also written by Professor Kapila Belaka.

– I felt bitter, frustrated, and hopeless at the way the scientific achievements of scientists were evaluated. Specialized journals with a very questionable reputation have been equated in scoring with internationally recognized journals – comments Prof. Dr. Happ. Konrad Szaciłowski from the Academic Center for Materials and Nanotechnology at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow.

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Scientists earn points by publishing papers about their achievements in journals. This translates into funding for the university that employs a qualified scientist and the right to award degrees. The scientist himself gains opportunities and gets promoted.

– This ambiguity, or the revelation of these problems, is an absolute shame for Minister Czarnik, who, as Minister of Science, distributes these points right and left to journals of a very low scientific rank, and sometimes even to pseudoscientific journals – comments Dr. Lukasz Kerznowski from the Faculty of Law of Białystok University.

The system of evaluation by publications previously existed, but under Minister Czarnik, the list of journals was supplemented several times. The last one, in November, included Przegląd Mleczarski and Zapiski Kujawsko-Dobrzyńskie, and could give Pedagogika Katolicka 200 points in the world.

Spending years in laboratories or archives trying to get publications abroad loses its meaning when points can be obtained more easily by writing in Polish.

– Creating such a dysfunctional caricature of this system risks pushing ourselves to the margins of global science – warns Dr. Dawid Myslewiec, science advocate and creator of the channel “Uwaga! Naukowy Bełkot”.

The Ministry of Science talks about the new list of journals and its changes. -We have to get away from this points system. We need to evaluate universities comprehensively, says Darius Wieczorek, science minister from the New Left party.

See also: Ministry of Education after the Czarnik government. “We found financial shortfalls wherever possible.”

The first changes occurred in the magazine that allowed the printing of John Paul II’s matches. The editor-in-chief resigned. But the editorial team confirms that it has been working for more than twenty years, and in its opinion, the inciting scientist violated the standards, relying on the authority of his title of professor and the university.

Professor Szaciłowski emphasizes that it is only a matter of justice and wisdom. – I wanted to express opposition, perhaps in a slightly perverted way – he sums up.