prof. Jakub Bijak

doctor of economic sciences (Warsaw School of Economics, 2008), works as Professor of Statistical Demography at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Jakub has over 20 years of work experience both in academia and international civil service. His research focuses on demographic uncertainty, population and migration models and forecasts, and the demography of armed conflict. He has received the Allianz European Demographer Award (2015) and the Jerzy Z Holzer Medal (2007) for his work on migration modelling and forecasting. Leader of a European Research Council project “Bayesian Agent-based Population Studies” (www.baps-project.eu), and a Horizon 2020 project “QuantMig: Quantifying Migration Scenarios for Better Policy” (www.quantmig.eu). Jakub is also the current Editor-in-Chief of Demographic Research (www.demographic-research.org).

Meeting title: “Navigating the maze of contemporary academia”

The plan of the seminar:

1. Short biography and career path
2. The contemporary academic career maze
3. On teamwork: no person is an island
4. Academia is not everything

Moderator of the seminar and networking session – prof. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, Vice Rector for Research, SGH Warsaw School of Economics

prof. Maksymilian Kwiek

After graduating from the SGH Warsaw School of Economics in 1997, he earned his Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University. Since 2003, he works at the University of Southampton. His research is in the field of applied theory and focuses on auction theory, political economy and voting, communication games, etc. He co-initiated and has been co-organising a number of academic conferences in the UK and Poland: Warsaw International Economic Meeting, (Ce)2 Workshop, Workshop in Economic Theory (in Southampton). He co-organises two global online seminar series: Virtual Seminars in Economic Theory, and POLEONUK Webinars. Currently, he is the Deputy Head of School (Education) for the School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences at the University of Southampton, and an Associate Editor of the Bulletin of Economic Research.

Meeting title: “Being a part of a research and teaching community”

The plan of the seminar:

1. My path, my research,
2. Joint research projects and co-authorship,
3. Refereeing and reviewing other people's work,
4. Teaching and mentoring,
5. Organising events,
6. Navigating large institutions, such as universities.

Moderator of the seminar and networking session – prof. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, Vice Rector for Research, SGH Warsaw School of Economics

prof. Marek Kowalkiewicz, QUT Business School, https://www.linkedin.com/in/marekkowal/

Marek is the Chair in Digital Economy at QUT, a research theme lead (digital enterprise) in QUT Centre for Future Enterprise, and the founding director of QUT Research Centre for the Digital Economy, following his five-year appointment as PwC Chair in Digital Economy. He leads QUT’s research agenda to inform and influence a robust digital economy in Australia. He joined QUT from Silicon Valley, where he led innovation teams of one of the largest enterprise software vendors in the world, as a Senior Director at SAP. Before Silicon Valley, Marek worked in Singapore as Research Manager of the largest SAP Research lab in Asia. Prior to that, Marek was a Global Research Program Lead of one of SAP’s main research programs, as well as a Research Fellow at Microsoft Research Asia. Marek is passionate about bringing academic rigour, design mindset, and business insights together, to capitalise on the opportunities of the digital age. He holds fifteen patents describing his numerous contributions to enterprise software systems.

Marek shares his knowledge with wider communities through podcasts, newsletters, and keynotes. He is a member of the Library Board of Queensland, Queensland AI Hub Advisory Board, and the Ministerial ICT Advisory Committee. In 2016, as a member of the Opportunities for Personalised Transport Review Taskforce, he helped shape Queensland’s ride-sharing legislation. Marek frequently contributes to public sector digital transformation initiatives on federal, state, and local levels.

Meeting title: “Research for the real world: bringing together academic, industry, and design mindsets”

During the seminar, Prof. Kowalkiewicz will share his unusual professional development journey, bridging the academic and industry worlds.

The plan of the seminar:

1. PL→AU→CN→AU→SG→US→AU→: why conference dinners matter
2. My ACE MVP philosophy: a balanced approach to academic research
3. Doing research for the real world: research innovation sprints
4. My passion: the economy of algorithms
5. AMA: joining the industry from academia, and joining academia from the industry
6. After the seminar - networking session for PhD students - establishing contacts to carry out joint research