The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (NCU), founded in 1945, is the biggest university in northern Poland and is outstanding both in terms of its scientific potential as well as the courses of study on offer, forms of education, and numbers of students and graduates. Due to the joining of the Ludwik Rydygier Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz to NCU, which took place on 24 November 2004, the University became a multi-profile higher education institution with even stronger research potential and teaching offers. In the recent press rankings, NCU has been granted the honourable position among the first five best universities in Poland. This is a confirmation of a high standard of the research and education offers.* NCU employs over 4,300 people including 2,221 scholars, 242 of whom hold the professorial title. The rich education offer is effectively explored and used by over 30,000 students who are now being educated in 73 fields of studies, 100 specializations, over 130 courses and post-graduate studies and 22 doctoral studies. In recent years, the NCU has been accepting approximately 10,000 candidates a year, and the number of graduates is approximately 150,000. Students find on offer studies of art, conservation, medicine, technical physics and interfaculty studies of humanities, all unique in the country.* *excerpt from: http://www.umk.pl/en/university