ABOUT US

The Centre for Asian Affairs at the University of Lodz is closely tied to the ever-increasing role of countries located in East Asia economically, politically and culturally. It answers the need to observe and monitor the processes occurring in the region. The rising significance of contacts and rising role of mainly China, Japan, South Korea and South East Asia, calls for the creation of a think tank.

On the monthly basis CAA publishes five monitors: “China Monitor”, “Japan Monitor”, “Korean Peninsula Monitor”, “China-ASEAN Monitor” and “China in the Balkans Monitor”. Moreover, CAA publishes up-to-date commentaries on the current dynamics in East Asian and in Asia-Europe relations in Polish and the series of CAA Briefs, CAA Papers and Commentaries supported by podcasts #TalkingCHINA and #TalkingJAPAN.

CAA cooperates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation and one of the biggest mining company in Poland KGHM and Hong Kong Trade Development Council.  Moreover, CAA conducts research supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Science Centre and the University of Lodz. The Centre is a member of East Asia Net Network, leading European network on Asian studies. The Centre operates within existing domestic and foreign partnerships. Other partners include research institutes in Poland, Europe, Asian countries and the United States.

The Centre for Asian Affairs is an interdisciplinary unit that brings together academics from the University of Lodz, research and teaching units at home and abroad, as well as business and political practitioners, whose research and teaching interests, combined with years of experience, mainly focus on countries located in East Asia. The primary objectives of CAA are: the preparation of studies and analyses in the following fields: trade (with particular emphasis on the promotion and export of European products to Asian markets), investment opportunities, political and market analyses, and the legal, cultural and political conditions in a particular country, researching the field of improvement and effective operation of central and local government authorities and business support institutions operating in Asia, creating the possibility of paid and unpaid internships that will allow preparing better those undertaking the internships for work in an Asian environment and conducting training in the fields of political activity, business, culture and education.

The team of the Centre for Asian Affairs consists of specialists proficient in Asian languages and extensive practical experience. We cooperate with business and political practitioners who are actively involved in shaping relations with Asian partners. OSA is also supported by the Program Council which gathers recognised researchers, diplomats and business practitioners active in Asia.

 

 

PROF. DOMINIK MIERZEJEWSKI, Head of the CAA UL; Professor at CAS WSMiP UL; Chinese language studies at Shanghai International Studies University; internship at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC; visiting professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing; Principal investigator in grants supported by the NSC, Horizon 2020, MOFA, and KGHM; specializes in the rhetoric of Chinese diplomacy, political transformation of the PRC and the role of provinces in Chinese foreign policy.

 

 

PH.D. BARTOSZ KOWALSKI, PhD, research associate at CAA UL; assistant professor at CAS WSMiP UL; PhD in political science; studied Chinese at Shandong University in Jinan and Shifan Daxue University in Kunming; the Principal Investigator in IDUB UL grant; research grants from NSC, MOFA and KGHM; author of numerous publications on China’s relations with CEE; specializes in relations between China and Central and Eastern European countries and the recent history of Xinjiang.

 

 

 

PH.D. MARCIN SOCHA, PhD, research associate at CAA UL; Assistant Professor at CAS WSMiP UL; PhD in Political Science; studied Japanese language at Kwansei Gakuin University and Japan Foundation; Co-investigaror in NSC and MOFA grants; chair of the Center for International Debate of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland; training and consulting projects in the field of renewable energy sources; specializes in Japan's energy policy, political and social changes in Japan and Japanese investment policy.

 

 

PH.D. JOANNA BECZKOWSKA, PhD, research associate at CAA UL, PhD in political science; studies of the Korean language at Korea University in Seoul; Korean language instructor; co-investigator in the Center for International Debate of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland; co-investigator in IDUB UL grant; publications on Korean identity formation; specializes in the topic of South Korean national identity, relations between South Korea and Central European countries and inter-Korean relations.

 

 

PH.D. MATEUSZ CHATYS, PhD, research associate at CAA UL; studies of the Chinese language at Hainan University; recipient of the EU Window Chinese Government Scholarship in China; coordinator of volunteers at the summer school for students from China “Understanding Poland"; co-investigator in NSC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KGHM and Horizon 2020 grants; specializes in economic diplomacy and China's foreign policy towards ASEAN countries.

 

 

 

PH.D. PRZEMYSŁAW CIBOREK, PhD, research associate and administrative manager at the CAA UL; studies of the Chinese language at TUST in Tianjin; intern at the Polish Embassy in Beijing; coordinator of the summer school for Chinese students "Understanding Poland"; co-investigator in NSC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland and KGHM grants; intern in Sigur Center at GWU; conducts research on China's activities in the United Nations; specializes in political-economic relations of the People's Republic of China with countries of the Western Balkans.

PH.D. JOANNA CIESIELSKA-KLIKOWSKA, PhD, political scientist and German studies expert, assistant professor at the CAS WSMiP UL; DAAD scholarship at Technische Universität Chemnitz, lecturer at the summer school at Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken; cooperates with Otto-von-Guericke-Universität in Magdeburg; co-investigator in NSC grants; specializes in German foreign policy in the context of German-Chinese relations and German perception of Chinese activities in Europe.

PH.D. MICHAŁ ZARĘBA, PhD, assistant professor at CAS WSMiP UL; PhD in political science; studied Vietnamese language at Hanoi University; organizer of research studies to Southeast Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia; and to Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam; co-organizer of the MOFA RODM project and Asian debates; specializes in hydropolitics in the Southeast Asian region, regional integrations projects with particular focus on ASEAN and social and economic change in Vietnam.

PH.D. ADRIAN BRONA, PhD, lecturer at the Institute of the Middle and Far East of the Jagiellonian University, conducts research of the Provincial Committees of the CPC financed by the National Science Centre under the Preludium program, specializes in the internal and foreign policy of the PRC.

MA PAULINA UZNAŃSKA, M.A., sinologist; graduate of economics at Yenching Academy of Peking University; member of the board of the Polish Center for Legal and Economic Studies of China, Warsaw University; translator of Chinese; winner of the 3rd edition of the competition for the best Polish-Chinese translation; scholarship holder of the Rector of Warsaw University for the best students of Warsaw University; intern in the Polish Embassy in Beijing; specializes in the issues of social and cultural development of China.

MA JOANNA NAWROTKIEWICZ, M.A., graduate of sinology and law studies at the College of MISHS, University of Warsaw; holder of a Diamond Grant; recipient of scholarships from the Rowny-Paderewski Foundation, DAAD and the Minister of Science and Higher Education; graduate of the TFAS program in Washington, D.C. studies at George Mason University; cooperation with, among others, the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Foundation for Polish-Chinese Education; specializes in historical narratives and historical policy of the PRC.