People
Rafał Olszowski, PhD
Expert in social innovation, educational uses of new technology, and research on collective intelligence and digital communication. PhD in social sciences; graduate of Jagiellonian University, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kozminski University, and the E-Government Academy summer school at Tallinn University of Technology. Since 2018 a researcher at AGH in Kraków, principal investigator on research projects funded by the Polish National Science Centre. Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence in Cambridge from 2020 to 2024. President of the Aurea Libertas Institute Foundation since 2009. Author of academic publications, including the monographs "Collective Intelligence in Open Policymaking" and "Edmund Burke. Continuity and Change".
Adam Żądło, PhD
Expert in game design, animation, graphics, photography and film. PhD in art studies; graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Lecturer at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków from 2018 to 2022. Involved in EduVRLab AGH. Director and executive producer of the "Cave VR" application, presented at events including Art*VR in Prague. Founder of the Dyslectic Games studio. Winner and finalist of numerous international festivals, including Sony World Photography Awards, Smithsonian.com, Nikon Photo Contest, Adobe Design Achievement Awards, and Sitges IFF.
Grzegorz Witkowski
Expert in development strategies for local governments. As a European Commission scholar in 2004–2005, he worked on Financial Instruments for Fisheries Guidance for the new Member States, the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Common Fisheries Policy 2007–2014. Engineering graduate of the Agricultural University (renewable energy) and postgraduate studies in European Integration at the Tischner European University.
Bogdan Goc
Member of the Council of the Aurea Libertas Institute. Organizer of lectures and exhibitions promoting Polish culture in the United States. Author of the lecture series "Presentations about Poles who shaped world history" — biographies of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Ignacy Paderewski, and Tadeusz Kościuszko — addressed to American audiences.
Izabela Szeląg
Graduate of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations at Jagiellonian University. Teaching staff member at the Faculty of History of the Pontifical University of John Paul II. With Aurea Libertas from 2011 to 2016 as coordinator of the Skrzydlate Studia scholarship counselling system and project lead for "Ranking of Kraków Local Politicians" and "Małopolska Polish Holidays". Specialist in e-administration. Since April 2016 with the National Centre for Culture in Warsaw.
Rafał Lis, PhD hab.
Associated with the Institute since its inception as a specialist in republican political thought and the intellectual heritage of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Author of numerous publications in this field, including the monograph "In Search of the True Republic. Main currents of political thought of the Four-Year Sejm" (Kraków 2015). Coordinator of many academic seminars run by the Institute. Graduate of Jagiellonian University; lecturer at the Ignatianum Academy in Kraków.
Natalia Olszowska, PhD
Expert in physics and synchrotron-radiation-based research. PhD in physics; affiliated with the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she coordinates the URANOS beamline. Specializes in advanced methods for studying material properties. Member of the Council of the Aurea Libertas Institute.
Bartosz Wilk
With Aurea Libertas since 2014. Experience in running projects across non-governmental organizations and the e-commerce industry. His interests include the commercialization of new technologies and innovation: start-ups, new media, e-commerce, and public relations. Graduate of sociology (social communication and multimedia) and an innovation-commercialization manager program.