Since 2010, I have been active in the Citizens’ Initiative of the Polish Academy of Sciences Institutes, an informal group of PAS researchers independent of any political affiliation, whose goal is to improve employment conditions for PAS researchers.
The PAS Citizens’ Initiative stems from several years of lively discussions at the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław about how to improve research conditions and the dramatically low salaries, particularly for young researchers.
I presented the problems of low salaries among employees of some PAS institutes in an interview published in Gazeta Prawna on August 2, 2018.
The PAS Citizens’ Initiative, in cooperation with the National Section of the NSZZ “Solidarność” PAS, was instrumental in securing an amendment to the Act on PAS of October 16, 2019, which: a) equalized the minimum salaries of PAS institute employees with those of university employees, and b) recognized the scientific work of PAS institute employees as creative work (similarly to academic teachers), which guarantees favorable tax exemptions (50% of tax-deductible costs) and simplifies the reporting procedure for PAS institute researchers (see Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o Polskiej Akademii Nauk oraz niektórych innych ustaw, Dz.U. poz. 2227 [the Act Amending the Act on the Polish Academy of Sciences and Certain Other Acts, Journal of Laws, item 2227]).