“The idea I find interesting is to promote local graduate associations. I am aware of how many of my fellow graduates decided to stay abroad all over the world, from the Silicon Valley to New York, from London to Berlin. I think associations like these could help the integration and bring together people who might well be working in the same company and not know how much they have in common.(...)"

What are your best memories from studying at the Jagiellonian University?

Without a doubt, the time I spent with my friends. We went out together all the way through college to talk about “everything and nothing,” from philosophy and literature to politics, history, IT and technology.

 How did your professional career start? What were the turning points?

I suppose the main (and rather unusual) turning point came when I started cooperating with professor Paweł Moskal, who later went on to supervise my MA thesis. I got the first taste of scientific work under professor Moskal’s direction. I should also add that this collaboration encouraged me to apply for a one-year scholarship at CERN where I was then taken on as a technical student, working as part of a team responsible for the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of the four large experiments making up the Large Hadron Collider project.

 How did your education contribute to your professional career?

If it hadn’t been for the work I did with professor Moskal, I probably wouldn’t have been offered a placement at CERN, which put my career on a fast track. Also, from experience I can tell that graduates of the Jagiellonian University, as well as Polish IT specialists in general, enjoy a good reputation in Europe and world-wide as I have had plenty of opportunities to find out for myself.

Tell us a little bit about your current job. What do you do?

Currently, I am a PhD student at Cambridge University’s Engineering Department. I am working on an interdisciplinary PhD project spanning across such widely distant domains as human-computer interaction, aeronautic design, civil engineering, architecture and digital twins used in aeronautics and in the refining industry. Generally, my specialities include the design and implementation of visualisations with multidimensional data using immersive analytics or – in this particular case – industrial visual analytics in Virtual Reality technology.

What are your biggest challenges?

Complete my dissertation and take the final exam.

What is life and work like in Great Britain?

In many ways, life in Great Britain seems much more comfortable. However, we should remember that I am in a unique position, being a part of Cambridge’s collegiate system. In a sense, my college (Trinity Hall) is responsible for looking after me by providing food and shelter as well support in my studies and research.

Photo from the graduate's own collection. 

What is your definition of success?

A loving family and a place to call home. Everything else is secondary.

What advice/tips do you have for students entering the job market?

I can’t stress enough how important it is to accumulate experience when you’re still in college. I would recommend, if possible, applying for placements early, even in the first year of university. This may not be your dream job, the salary might leave a lot to be desired, but at least you will gain the experience to give you an edge in your chances of employment after graduation.

How, in your opinion, could the Jagiellonian University cooperate with graduates?

I think a lot has changed in that respect within the last few years and the changes are for the better. What I consider very interesting is our Alma Mater’s mentoring project for students. I think this project cultivates bonds across generations between the Jagiellonion University’s present and past students.

Another idea I find interesting is to promote local graduate associations. I am aware of how many of my fellow graduates decided to stay abroad, all over the world from the Silicon Valley to New York, from London to Berlin. I think associations like these could help the integration and bring together people who might well be working in the same company and not know how much they have in common. Of course, this could be a grassroots movement, but the University would be well advised to provide some form of guidance, such as by running an on-line database of such associations and link individual websites with “uj.edu.pl”.