First prize for a dissertation on urban public space
The competition committee awarded the first prize to Dr Patrycja Grzyś for her doctoral dissertation entitled "Wpływ nieformalnych inicjatyw obywatelskich na kształtowanie przestrzeni publicznej miejskiej. Przykład Łodzi” [The Impact of Informal Civic Initiatives on Shaping Urban Public Space. The Case of Łódź].
The dissertation was prepared at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Lodz, under the supervision of Prof. dr hab. Marcin Wójcik, with the support of the assistant supervisor Dr hab. Paulina Tobiasz-Lis.
Distinction for research on the circular economy
Dr Małgorzata Grodzicka-Kowalczyk is also among those distinguished. She was honoured for her dissertation "Ekonomia cyrkularna w rewitalizacji zdegradowanych obszarów miast” [The Circular Economy in the Revitalisation of Degraded Urban Areas].
The dissertation was prepared at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, under the supervision of Dr hab. Aleksandra Nowakowska, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, and assistant supervisor Dr Agnieszka Rzeńca.
About the competition
The Konrad Czapiewski Award competition is organised under the patronage of the Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences and aims to recognise outstanding doctoral dissertations devoted to issues of spatial management. The evaluation criteria include, among other things, the relevance of the research topic, scientific value, innovation and the social significance of the research.
The results of this year’s edition were approved by the Presidium of the Committee for Spatial Economy and Regional Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences during a meeting held on 9 June 2026 at the Staszic Palace in Warsaw.
We would like to warmly congratulate the award winners as well as their supervisors. Their achievements are yet another proof of the high standard of research conducted at the University of Lodz and of the important role our university plays in advancing knowledge on contemporary challenges related to urban and spatial development.
