Touch Science – Meetings with the Faculty of Pharmacy

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Individuals participating in laboratory classes work at a laboratory bench under the supervision of the instructor. In the foreground, glass bottles containing reagents are visible.
We invited secondary school students to participate in scientific workshops organized as part of the initiative “Touch Science – Meetings with the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Medical University of Warsaw (WUM)”.

Participation in the workshops was one of the prizes associated with an art competition organized to mark the 100th anniversary of the WUM Faculty of Pharmacy, celebrated in 2026. The competition, titled “The Faculty of Pharmacy Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – 100 Years of Science, Education and Passion,” was intended to encourage young people to look at pharmacy and laboratory diagnostics not only through the lens of their history, but also from the perspective of contemporary science and the future challenges facing medicine. Thus the anniversary became an opportunity to combine Faculty’s traditions with education and the promotion of pharmaceutical sciences.

The history of the Faculty of Pharmacy dates back to 1926. Established in Warsaw, the Faculty was the first independent academic institution in Poland dedicated to educating pharmacists and, until 1945, remained the only institution of its kind in the country. During the interwar period, almost one in three pharmacy students in Poland studied here.

Another important milestone in the Faculty’s history came in 2002, when education and training for future laboratory diagnosticians was introduced. The 100th anniversary celebrations provide an opportunity not only to recall this history, but also to show the Faculty’s contemporary role as a place where successive generations of specialists are educated and research is conducted to address current challenges in medicine, pharmacy and laboratory diagnostics.

The workshops gave high school students an opportunity to discover the many different facets of modern pharmacy. The young participants were able to learned about the work of scientists, visit the University’s teaching and research facilities, and get familiar with the issues that pharmacists deal with on a daily basis, laboratory diagnosticians and biomedical researchers work with on a daily basis. The meeting was also a chance to demonstrate that studying pharmacy and medical laboratory science opens up far more career possibilities than those most commonly associated with these professions. Knowledge in the field of chemistry and biology is now applied, among other areas, to drug research, laboratory diagnostics, biological sample analysis, toxicology, the development of new therapeutic approaches, and advanced analytical technologies.

The workshops were attended by students representing 12 secondary schools from Warsaw, Pruszków, Piastów and Skierniewice:

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański LXVII High School in Warsaw
CLV High School with Bilingual Classes named after the Heroines of the Warsaw Uprising in Warsaw
VIII Władysław IV High School in Warsaw
Tadeusz Kościuszko High School in Pruszków
Adam Mickiewicz High School with Bilingual Classes in Piastów
Zbigniew Herbert CX High School in Warsaw
Narcyza Żmichowska XV High School with Bilingual Classes in Warsaw
CII High School at School Complex No. 41 with Integration Classes in Warsaw
Aleksander Kamiński LXX High School in Warsaw
Stefan Żeromski XL High School with Bilingual Classes in Warsaw
General Józef Bem LXV High School with Integration Classes in Warsaw
Bolesław Prus High School in Skierniewice
 

The instructor demonstrates a chemical experiment at a laboratory bench to a group of participants observing the exercis
A group of participants gathered around a fume hood listens to the instructor’s explanation of the laboratory equipment.
Participants observe a sample using a stereoscopic microscope during laboratory classes.
Hands wearing laboratory gloves transfer liquid into a test tube using a pipette.
A participant observes a sample under a microscope, using a pipette to apply the material being examined.
A group of participants sits at a laboratory bench, analyzing the results of exercises and preparing samples for testing.
The instructor supervises participants performing a laboratory exercise at a laboratory bench.
View of a laboratory where several teams of participants are simultaneously carrying out practical exercises.
Participants wearing protective clothing prepare and analyze samples during laboratory classes.
A group of participants conducts experiments at laboratory workstations under the supervision of the instructor.
Wide view of a laboratory with participants working at benches equipped with laboratory instruments and reagents.
A person weighs a small sample on an analytical balance in the laboratory.
The instructor discusses the course of the laboratory exercises with a group of participants dressed in protective clothing.
A participant places a sample in a device equipped with an illuminated chamber for laboratory analysis.
A group of participants performs microbiological exercises at a laboratory bench under the guidance of the instructor.
Individuals wearing laboratory coats work at a laboratory workstation. In the foreground, a Petri dish and microbiological testing tools are visible.
Participants in laboratory classes observe work involving a Petri dish. Pipettes, laboratory vessels, and research materials are placed on the work surface.
The instructor presents a laboratory sample to a group of participants gathered around a workbench in the laboratory.
The instructor discusses the contents of a Petri dish during laboratory classes. Participants are seated at a table and observe the presentation.
General view of a laboratory where a group of participants carries out exercises at several workstations equipped with laboratory equipment.