Dear PhD students and Lecturers, in accordance with the decision of the Minister of Higher Education and Science to suspend teaching activity in Schools, Universities, and also Doctoral Schools in the country, lectures and other teaching activity in the Physics Specialisation of the Warsaw School of Physical and BioMedical Sciences, as well as the International PhD studies at IFPAN will be SUSPENDED UNTIL THE 10th OF APRIL.

More information will follow in future, when we will see how the epidemiological situation develops. Since the spread of the virus is presently just in its initial stages in Poland, with all cases directly tied to overseas travellers, it is the best time to learn from the mistakes of others and impose early preventative measures to limit its spread now.

Regarding delayed lectures, I suggest to simply suspend teaching activity for now, and plan to continue in April, rather than making large efforts to teach through online means or individual consultations. The current spring/summer semester has largely open boundary conditions in summer, hence this delay in teaching activity can be largely recouped later in the semester if the suspension is lifted. This approach can be revised in a few weeks when we know what will happen after April 10.

In the long run, the PhD programme runs over 4 years, so on the scale of things overall teaching impact should be negligible. In the meantime let us enjoy the opportunity to do more research instead.

Piotr Deuar, Institute of Physics Polish Academy of Sciences