Theme: Theory of everything

The proposed theme - “Theory of everything” – we perceive as a broad one. It does not delimit the scope of subjects that could be addressed during the TEDx. Contrary to that, it makes the intersections and cross-relations between the various disciplines the prime subject. After all, theory of everything is dedicated to the idea of the holistic nature of our knowledge.

Faculty of physics
Pasteur 5 Street
Warsaw, Mazowieckie, 02-093
Poland

Alojzy Nowak

Economist

Alojzy Nowak is a professor of economic sciences and dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. He specializes in international economic relations, banking, risk management in financial markets and capital market. Apart from the University of Warsaw, he lectures in France, Great Britain, USA, Russia, China and Korea. Over the years, a member of supervisory boards of listed companies, including: PKO BP, PZU SA, JSW, Eurolot. In 2015 he became a member of the National Development Council appointed by President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. Author of books and articles published in renowned scientific press in England, USA and China. The subject of professor Nowak’s speech during the conference will be „Money as intellectual capital”.

Barbara Pietrzak

Biodiversity scientist

Barbara is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Biology. She works on the broadly understood animal response to threat, as well as ecology and evolution of their behavior and life history, including longevity. She teaches classes at the Faculty of Biology and Artes Liberales on ecology of individuals and ecosystems, global environmental changes and civilization threats. A member of the Spokesmen of Science and Science for Nature associations. She publishes articles, conducts lectures, participates in radio programs and embraces shorter and bolder forms of science popularization such as scientific stand-ups (finalist of FameLab contest).

Jerzy Bralczyk

Professor of linguistics

Jerzy Bralczyk is a professor of linguistics, specialising in the language of the media, politics and advertising. Lecturer at the Institute of Journalism at the University of Warsaw. Member of Polish Language Council and Polish Linguistic Society. Author of numerous dictionaries and publications in the field of knowledge about language. In years 2001-2007, a host of popular program 'Mówi się' broadcast in TVP Polonia. He was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit and the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. At the conference Professor Bralczyk will share his thoughts on mutual communication.

Krzysztof Rzepkowski

Classicist and buisnessman

Krzysztof Rzepkowski is a rebellious soul who does not accept the phrase "impossible". Science-wise, he earned a Doctor's Degree followed by Habilitation in Humanities, is a lover of antiquity and ancient languages, and the author of cultural history "Golden Thumb. Mill and miller in Western culture.". At the same time, he is a seller, manager, author of the blog “Customer's Shoes" and a sales trainer, providing training sessions across Poland. Privately, a husband and dad of two, and in a few spare moments an amateur guitarist.

Paweł Golik

Geneticist

Paweł Golik is a geneticist, molecular and evolutionary biologist. He worked in France and in the USA and currently heads the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology at the Faculty of Biology University of Warsaw. He works on genetics and evolution of mitochondrial gene expression and on mitochondrial diseases. In his TEDtalk he is going to tell us why genetics is hard and what we can do about it.

Paweł Mazurkiewicz

Myrmecologist

Paweł Mazurkiewicz is a PhD student at the College of Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Warsaw. He researches mainly for the Laboratory of Ethology in the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology (Polish Academy of Sciences) and for the Department of Animal Physiology (the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw). He obtained the Master degree both in psychology and biology and for quite some time has been busy with studying behaviour of eusocial insects, especially ants. In his effort to popularize their fascinating world he has won a prize in the competition „Engage”, organized by the Foundation for Polish Science, and as a part of his winning project he organized the I Myrmecological Workshop in 2015; he was also the main author of a popular science book „An Ant a Day” („Mrówka na każdy dzień”), published in the form of a calendar. He won the II prize in the Famelab 2016 contest.

Paweł Stępień

Professor of literary studies

Paweł Stępień is a Professor of literary studies at the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" of the University of Warsaw. In his books he reveals the secrets of works of early literature, captured as a microcosm of the culture of the times in which they arose. He focuses on medieval religious literature and its ties with theology, spirituality and the theory of beauty. He examines how religious upheavals of the sixteenth century influenced the contemporary short satirical forms. He investigates Platonic inspirations of Polish literature in the 16th and 17th centuries. He describes the manifestations of libertinism in Polish poetry of the 17th century. He interprets Polish poetry of the twentieth century, showing how it relates to the tradition of the culture of the ancient ages. His latest monograph centres around this issue: Task. "Chaskiel" by Tadeusz Różewicz (2017).

Przemek Mróz

Astronom

Przemek is a PhD student at the Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw. He investigates extrasolar planets, the structure of the Milky Way, as well as explosive stars. He is the first author of two articles in prestigious scientific journal “Nature”. In 2017, he received the Young Scientist Award of Polish Astronomical Society for outstanding scientific achievements. Przemek has made a worldwide breakthrough discovery of the existence of lonely planets with mass close to Earth's mass. He will talk about how to find such planets and how it helps in understanding the formation of planetary systems.

Tomasz Bigaj

Philosopher

Tomasz Bigaj is a professor at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Warsaw. He holds Master’s degrees in physics and philosophy, and a PhD with a post-PhD (habilitacja) in philosophy. His main areas of interest include philosophical and ontological problems of physics, general ontology and philosophy of science. He has published books and articles in international journals, including Synthese, Erkenntnis, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Foundations of Physics. He has visited several renowned universities abroad, among others the University of Michigan, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Bristol.