Polish Children's Fund
The Polish Children's Fund is an independent, non-governmental organization established in 1981. One of its major objectives is to help highly gifted pupils and students pursue and develop their academic interests and artistic talents and to adjust the educational system in Poland to accommodate the special needs of the highly gifted. In this field the Fund has closely collaborated with the Ministry of Education as well as other executive and legislative bodies at the highest level.
The Polish Children's Fund's activities are based on co-operation with numerous higher educational establishments, research institutes, cultural establishments and other institutions, as well as individual academics willing to offer their time and experience to work with particularly talented children. Among those who have taken part in the Fund's activities are: Prof. Jerzy Axer, Prof. Aleksander Gieysztor, Prof. Ernest Gellner, Mr Ryszard Kapuściński, Prof. Leszek Kołakowski, Prof. Włodzimierz Kołos, Prof. Stanisław Kwapień, Prof. Witold Lutosławski, Prof. Mieczysław Mąkosza, Prof. Czesław Miłosz, Prof. Henryk Samsonowicz, Prof. Andrzej Schinzel, Prof. Alfred Stirnemann, Prof. Jan Szczepański, Mr Andrzej Wajda, Prof. Jacek Woźniakowski and Prof. Krzysztof Zanussi. The institutions especially involved in the Fund's activities include Warsaw University, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Copernicus University in Toruń, Chopin Academy of Music and Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Since 1983, 11601 nominations to the Fund's educational enrichment and support programme have been granted to outstanding pupils and students from all-over the country and from all social backgrounds, including a large number from small towns and villages, in the school year 2011/2012 - 548.
Each participant of the Fund's programme is given the opportunity to participate in numerous workshops, seminars and meetings, and to consult the best specialists. Regular concerts of musically gifted scholars and exhibitions of the works of those with a talent in fine arts are also organized by the Fund. The Fund organizes every year 13-15 scientific workshops, 9-10 seminars in humanities, 1 workshop in fine arts, 2 general multidisciplinary meetings, 3 multidisciplinary scientific camps, ca. 20 public concerts, and 3-4 exhibitions. The Fund is also a national organizer of the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
The Fund cooperates with foreign educational institutions. Our scholars have attended Dulwich College in London, London International Youth Science Forum, Research Science Institutes organized by the Center for Excellence in Education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (USA), European Space Camp in Andoya (Norway), summer scientific camps Deutsche SchülerAkademie organized by the Bildung und Begabung Association and International Science Camp at the Gőttingen University in Germany, International Wildlife Research Week in Swiss Alps organized by the foundation Schweizer Jugend forscht.
The Fund's activities are financed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Culture, banks, companies, public institutions and individuals. The Polish Children's Fund has been also assisted in this field by the European Commission, the Italian government, the Leopold Kronenberg Bank Foundation, the Pro Bono Poloniae Foundation and the British Council.
The other aim of the Fund for many years was to improve the children's medical care in Poland by assistance in medical training of neonatologists, pediatric surgeons and oncologists.