Committee of Civil Engineering
Polish Academy of Sciences

About the Committee

The Committee on Civil Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CCE PAS) already has a rich history to look back on. The first Congress of Polish Science that took place in June 1951 adopted, among others, a resolution that justified the need to establish the Polish Academy of Sciences. Said institution was established by way of an act of 30.10.1951. This act made it possible to appoint Scientific Committees at the Departments of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and defined the framework of their activities.

The first Scientific Committees were established on May 24, 1952. Among them was the Civil Engineering Committee. This name was valid until January 25, 1966. It was then that the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences gave the Committee of Civil Engineering a new name; Engineering Committee. This name did not last long. Already at the beginning of the 1972-1974 term, the name of the Committee was extended to the Committee for Civil and Water Engineering. This name is still valid today. 

Regardless of the name, the Committee’s basic tasks were similar. On the one hand, they resulted from statutory provisions (Act of April 30, 2010 'On the Polish Academy of Sciences' and 'Statute of the Polish Academy of Sciences' of 24 November 2010), and on the other hand, were shaped over time. They can be summarized and reduced to the following objectives: 

  • environmental integration, 
  • human resources development, 
  • activities for the development of all aspects of the construction industry, 
  • formulating scientific opinions, 
  • speaking on scientific and technical matters related to the scope of the Committee’s competence.

The CCE’s activities are not strictly defined. They overlap with the scope of activities of other Committees of the Fourth Department of Technical Sciences, namely: the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning, the Mechanics Committee, the Transport Committee, as well as the Committee on Water Management acting as the Problem Committee at the Fourth Department of Technical Sciences. The strength of the Committees are their common areas of activities. Hence the past and planned joint meetings and other forms of interdisciplinary activities.

Solving common problems in civil engineering requires going beyond traditional area directly related to the construction of new facilities, maintenance, reconstruction, renovation of existing structures – both cubic and linear – but also the use of basic sciences such as mathematics, physics, computer science, chemistry, geography, biology, and applied sciences such as material engineering, aerodynamics, hydrology and hydrotechnics, and even automation and robotics. Anyone operating within the CCE’s field of scientific and professional activities must also take into account economic, humanistic, sociological, environmental, and safety aspects.

The wide range of issues represented and used by academics in construction-related disciplines is the basis for the statement that the engineering profession – both in scientific research and engineering practice – has been and will remain difficult, strenuous, and very responsible. Perhaps this is why in ancient Rome the saying was born: “If someone took up construction work – there’s no need to bother them. Difficulties will wear them down.”

The Committee on Civil Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences is active in the field of science. But almost from the very beginning of its existence – and on a larger scale since the second half of the 1960s – it has also been open to scientific solutions to technical problems in civil engineering. This is expressed through meetings, cooperation, advisory and creative assistance, as well as joint organization of conferences. The Committee’s cooperation with scientific and technical associations much facilitates said activities.

It is natural for the Committee to also cooperate with scientific and departmental institutes and universities. Cooperation with the Institutes mainly means joint solution of contemporary problems in the construction industry, while cooperating with universities helps educate and promote personnel, including involvement in conducting doctoral studies and leading to a doctoral degree and/or the title of Professor.

Poland is the main area of activity of the CCE PAS. But the Committee is also active in the international field, for example through participation in the work of international institutions, and co-organizing international (including global) conferences. Foreign Professors also participate in the work of the Committee as associate members.

The Committee has been continuously publishing the quarterly journal Archiwum Inżynierii Lądowej since 1955 (since 1990 as the English-language journal Archives of Civil Engineering) and an irregular series of Studia z zakresu Inżynierii since 1958 (95 issues were published by the end of 2016). The editors deserve special thanks for maintaining the high quality of these publications.

The strength of the Committee’s activity are its Sections. Their number, names, and scope of activity varied. Currently, there are eleven Sections covering the whole range of the Committee’s competence. All Section chairmen are members of the Committee.

One of the Committee’s major tasks is to disseminate science. Conferences, seminars, symposia, and congresses serve this purpose. The Committee and Sections are co-organizers or patrons of these events. The members of the CCE are members of the scientific committees of conferences, in order to take care of the substantive level of the papers. Two national conferences are organized under the direct patronage of the Committee: the annual scientific conference in Krynica (in 2019 it was the 65th in turn) and the scientific and technical conference 'Construction Failures' held every two years (in 2019 it was the 29th Conference).

Presidents of the Committee from the beginning of its activity

President of
                Civil Engineering Committee (since 1952)
                Engineering Committee (since 1966)
                Civil Engineering Committee (since 1972)

Cadence President
1952 1957 Prof. Wacław Żenczykowski
1957 1965 Prof. Franciszek Szelągowski
1966 1968 Prof. Wenczesław Poniż
od XI1967 – Prof. Stanisław Hueckel
1969 1971 Prof. Zbigniew Wasiutyński
1972 1990 Prof. Roman Ciesielski
1990 1999 Prof. Józef Głomb
1999 2007 Prof. Andrzej M. Brandt
2007 2016 Prof. Wojciech Radomski
2016 Prof. Kazimierz Furtak