Explore POL‑on

POL-on is an IT system that collects data on science and higher education in Poland, which is then analysed by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science (MEiN). POL-on contributes to the effective coordination of MEiN and of the science and education sectors, for example in budget planning.

As required by Polish law, over 500 higher education institutions, research institutes and scientific institutions in Poland supply data to POL-on. These organisations are responsible for keeping the data up to date.

These organisations also require access to POL-on to meet their reporting obligations. See the Access tab for more details.

There are three methods of submitting data to POL-on:

• via Rest API – a channel that integrates POL-on and data provider systems, and enables automatic data transfer
• as XML files, which are particularly useful in situations that involve large datasets, such as student, PhD candidate and staff lists
• by authorised system users who are logged in to POL-on via web browsers.

• the Polish Ministry of Education and Science
• the Polish Ministry of Health
• the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
• the Polish Ministry of National Defence
• the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange
• the Polish National Science Centre
• the Polish National Centre for Research and Development
• Statistics Poland
• the Polish Science Evaluation Committee
• the Polish Council for Scientific Excellence
• the Polish Accreditation Committee
• the Łukasiewicz Research Network
• higher education institutions
• scientific institutes.

POL-on collects basic data on science and higher education organisations, including:

• degree programmes
• doctoral schools
• academic projects and publications.

POL-on also collects data on individuals, including:

• academic teachers and others who conduct classes
• people who conduct and participate in scientific activity
• students
• PhD candidates
• people authorised to sign documents.

POL-on additionally stores various other files and documents, such as those on promotion procedures, planning and reporting. 

The data is collected in modules. For an exhaustive list of modules and their descriptions, see the Modules tab.

Data and documents stored in POL-on are made available to the organisations that supervise Polish science and higher education.

Data is also supplied to other science and higher education information systems, which form a network that shares the name of its central system: POL-on. The POL-on network plays a key role in coordinating Polish science and higher education. Each network system caters to the specific needs of network users. Visit the POL-on network website and explore other systems.

Some POL-on data is available to the public. See the Public data tab for details.

POL-on data is used to ensure the seamless operation of public institutions that are responsible for executing essential tasks for the Polish state. In particular, the data is used to:

• coordinate activities in the Polish science and higher education sectors
• analyse and plan expenses
• evaluate the quality of education and the scientific potential of organisations
• document procedures that pertain to the awarding of the degrees of doctor, degrees of habilitation and titles of professor
• support public administration organisations, including the Polish Council for Scientific Excellence, the Polish National Centre for Research and Development, the Polish National Science Centre, and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange
• assist in the preparation of statistical analyses for Statistics Poland.

The POL-on database enables its creators, OPI, to:

• develop digital services for scientists, academic teachers, and students, such as graduate tracking czy plagiarism detection
• deliver information and reports on the science sector to the public.

• 2011–2014 OPI develops POL-on
  OPI cooperates with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling of the University of Warsaw and Index Copernicus.
• 2014–2018 OPI takes full responsibility for POL-on
  Marek Michajłowicz becomes the POL-on project manager. POL-on is redeveloped to align with the amendments introduced in 2014 to the Higher Education Act of 2005.
• 2015–2017 POL-on becomes an official data source for state-run systems and solutions, including:
  • Statistics Poland
  • the higher education grant division algorithm
  • the evaluation of scientific organisations.
• 2018 The EUNIS Elite Award for Excellence is presented to OPI
  POL-on earns the prestigious EUNIS Elite Award for Excellence in the category of IT systems for higher education in Europe.
• 2019–present
  • OPI redevelops POL-on to adhere to the guidelines of the Act on Higher Education and Science of 2018, which gives rise to the latest version: POL-on 2.0 
  • POL-on undergoes modifications to enhance the collection of information for the evaluation of the quality of scientific activity in higher education and science organisations between 2017 and 2021
  • In 2022, Marta Niemczyk becomes the POL-on project manager. Marek Michajłowicz takes up the position of deputy head of OPI responsible for software development.

• the Act on Higher Education and Science of 20 July 2018 (Polish Journal of Laws, Dz.U., of 2018, item1668, as amended), a.k.a. AHES or Act 2.0
• the Ordinance of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 6 March 2019 on the data processed in the POL-on Integrated System of Information on Science and Higher Education (Polish Journal of Laws of 2019, item 496, as amended), a.k.a. the POL-on Ordinance
• the Act on the implementing rules for the Act on Higher Education and Science of 3 July 2018 (Polish Journal of Laws, Dz.U., of 2018, item 1669, as amended) – a.k.a. the implementing rules for AHES
• the Ordinance of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 22 February 2019 on the Evaluation of the Quality of Scientific Activity (Polish Journal of Laws, Dz. U. of 2019, item 392, as amended), a.k.a. the evaluation ordinance.