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It is with great pleasure that we inform of yet another award won by Assoc. Prof. Piotr Rzymski from PUMS Department of Environmental Medicine - on December 3rd, 2021 the Jury of the 'Popularizer of Science' competition has decided to present this year's Grand Prize to dr. Rzymski.

This was the 17th edition of the competition organized by Polish Press Agency and Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The Grand Prize was awarded in recognition for Assoc. Prof. Rzymski's commitment and the enormous amount of work associated with the dissemination of medical knowledge in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To quote the awarding body:

“He accessibly explains the content of scientific publications concerning SARS-CoV-2 and educates tirelessly. He wrote 90 articles in Polityka, and since March 2020 he has given numerous interviews. He is one of the initiators of the project Science Against the Pandemic. He has been promoting science for several years, and is a high level scientist.”

The scientist has been working diligently as a science communicator, promoting results of scientific research, fact-checking, fighting misinformation and fake news. He has also authored over 20 papers on the pandemic and vaccines, provided information to various media outlets covering this topic, and to Polish Press Agency, giving over 800 media commentaries.

In his acceptance speech dr Rzymski said:

"We live in a society that enjoys the benefits of scientific achievements on a daily basis, and yet it is surprisingly ignorant of that fact. (...) We live in a society in which some individuals take pride in their abhorrance of science, while others ignore science on purpose to build up their own economic or political capital. We live in a society that is currently paying this high prize for decades of neglect in the education system on its various levels. A system that has for too long treated people as empty vessels in which we should pour as much knowledge as possible, without giving a second thought to development of skills of crtitical thinking, reliable-sources research, recognizing fake news, and to teach people what science is and how does it work. The task of today's science communicators is, among other things, to limit the tragic consequences of these failures. Therefore, popularizing science is not about awards, prestige, fame or media presence. Popularizing science is the road to a better today and a peaceful tomorrow."

Congratulations!