As part of the third edition of the Annual Conference for Communicating Research Results at the University of Bucharest, organized by the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB) between November 25-29, 2024, a dedicated panel was held to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the University of Bucharest (UB) and 330 years of continuous higher education in Bucharest.
Taking place on the closing day of the conference, November 29, 2024, the event, supported by the Museum of the University of Bucharest, introduced participants to an „amphitheatre of memories”, in accordance with the title of one of the presentations, highlighting the importance of reclaiming lived history and memory to strengthen the sense of pertaining to the UB community.
The presentations guided the audience through the archives and collections of UB faculties and the UB Museum, exploring the experiences of the first graduates, reconstructing chapters of UB history during unstable times, and delving into the lives of notable university figures, such as Professor Nina Façon, a renowned Italianist, theorist, and historian of Italian literature.
Moderated by Associate Prof. Constantin Vică, PhD, Vice-Rector Internationalization and Public Relations at UB, the panel opened with a presentation on the complex endeavour of collecting and archiving the oral history of the University of Bucharest, conducted by the UB Museum. Presented by Mirela Luminița Murgescu and Florentina Nițu from the Faculty of History, the project began with a conference on teaching history at UB and the first edition of the Memory Amphitheatre, along with archival and oral history research under the theme The Female Universe at the Faculty of History. The project aims to be extended to other faculties within the University of Bucharest.
Florentina Nițu also discussed the challenges of collecting contemporary history for the UB Museum, which has been operating for 55 years and bears significant responsibility for representing institutional history. Her talk encouraged listeners to become active participants and reflect on how contemporary academic memory is preserved.
Another vital project for the restoration of UB’s history was presented by Bogdan Dumitru from the Faculty of Letters, who highlighted the possibility of preservation of the faculty’s 160-year history through its archives. These include permanent records such as matriculation registers, correspondence files, council meeting minutes, personal files of staff, and exam catalogues, covering the faculty’s changes from 1863 to 2010: the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, of Philosophy and Letters, of Philology, of Romanian Language and Literature.
Roxana Utale, lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, guided participants through the personal and professional journey of one of the most important feminine figures of the Italian Department at the University of Bucharest, Professor Nina Façon (1909-1974), an Italianist, philologist, historian, literary critic, and translator. Roxana Utale highlighted Façon’s fascinating and complex personality, as well as her ability to work during challenging historical times while remaining steadfast in her dedication to research.
Moreover, the panel delved into two specific pages of the academic community at UB: Valentin Maier, researcher at the UB Museum presented the history of the university’s first graduates (1865-1906), while Diana Maria Rusu from the Faculty of History discussed UB’s evolution during the royal dictatorship and the national-Iron Guard regime, drawing on research conducted during her time as a documentalist at the UB Museum. The research project also focused on the evolution of the institution and that of the academic community on the brink of WWII.
The Annual Conference for Communicating Research Results: Diversity and Interdisciplinarity
A genuine marathon of research presentations, the conference featured over 100 talks, exhibitions, interactive workshops, and technology demonstrations. The conference stood out through the diverse domains and themes.
Themes included climate change, renewable resources, energy efficiency and battery types, rocks, ammonites and geological sites, natural hazard and tsunamis, digital technologies and their role in sustainable development, soil composition and sustainable solutions in agriculture, the impact of artificial intelligence tools on scientific integrity, chemical reactions, oncology, depression, diabetes and cosmetic surgery, nuclear energy and radiation, cybersecurity, archaeological sites, research and excavations, coins and ceramics, protection of cultural heritage objects, approaches in sociology, tap water and bottled water in New York restaurants, motorcyclists and motorcycle maintenance, civic education and citizenship, genetics, words of Japanese origin that entered Romanian and other languages, cultural urban studies and landscape networks, mobilities and international students, dictionaries and language corpora, voting systems, discrimination and the politicization of institutions, crime and mafia organizations, conspiracies and many others.
More details about the conference themes and panels, inspired by the themes of the five hubs of the CIVIS Alliance, as defined within the UN Sustainable Development Goals: climate, environment and energy; society, culture, heritage; health; cities, spaces and mobilities; digital and technological transformations, can be accessed here and here.
The full event program can be accessed here – PDF.
The annual conference for the communication of research results at the University of Bucharest aims to represent a platform for expression and exchange of ideas for members of our academic community from all scientific fields, professors and researchers, coordinators of research centres or groups and project directors who carry out research activities with concrete and relevant results for the community.
Through this event, dedicated to the main results obtained during the 2023-2024 academic year, the University of Bucharest aims to strengthen the connections within its academic community, as well as create the premises for the development of interdisciplinary collaborations, which will lead to the awareness of the entire society on the value of the efforts in the research space.
The first editions of the conference for communicating research results at the University of Bucharest took place in 2023 and were a real success both through the diversity of the themes and approaches proposed, and through the setting of an open, collegial and modern discussion framework, focused on innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
More information about the first two editions of the annual conference for communicating research results at UB is available here and here.
This year’s edition of the Conference for Communicating Research Results at the University of Bucharest was held with the support of the INOVEX project: Supporting the development of new skills and innovative tools for excellence in interdisciplinary research at the University of Bucharest (CNFIS-FDI-2024-F-0484).