On Monday 27 February 2017, an official gala of the 8th INTERSTUDENT competition for the best foreign students studying at Polish higher education institutions was held in Kraków Cloth Hall. This year, Omar Al-Obaidi, a dental medicine student at the JU MC School of Medicine in English, received awards in two categories.
Omar Al-Obaidi received his first award in the Most Popular Foreign Student category. He was chosen from a list of 20 candidates in an Internet poll, in which he received 37,400 votes, beating the runner-up by over 8,000. The second award – in the Best Master's Student category – was presented to him by the Jury which included Prof. Marek Tukiendorf, Rector of Opole University of Technology, Prof. Stanisław Kistryn, Vice-Rector of the Jagiellonian University, Dr. Bianka Siwińska. Executive Director of PERSPEKTYWY Education Foundation, Michał Gajda, President of the National Representation of Doctoral Students, and Tomasz Tokarski, President of the Polish Students’ Parliament. All winners were selected in three categories: Bachelor, Master and PhD Studies.
The results were announced during a gala in the Cloth Hall, held as part of the annual conference International Students in Poland, organised by the PERSPEKTYWY Education Foundation, the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, the City of Kraków, and the Jagiellonian University. The Kraków university was represented by its Rector Prof. Wojciech Nowak. Jarosław Gowin, the Minister of Science and Higher Education, was also amongst the attendees of the event.
Omar Al-Obaidi comes from Sweden. As he said himself, he chose Poland because of many reasons, and the most important one was that the universities here are known for their higher education, which is why going back to Sweden will not be a problem, since the education gained at the Jagiellonian University is recognised back home. Another significant factor for him was that he finds social life in Kraków amazing, and he believes that Poland is probably one of the countries with the best academic atmosphere, as it was very easy to adapt, fit in and understand the culture. In the future, he would like to graduate from the Jagiellonian University, write his national board exam, go back to Sweden and pursue a professional career. He would also like to make the world better by conducting medical research. He envisions establishing dental centres in Sweden, Poland and Dubai and travelling between them to maintain a high level of coordination
The idea behind the INTERSTUDENT competition organised by the PERSPEKTYWY Education Foundation within the framework of the ‘Study in Poland’ programme is to select, reward and promote the best international students enrolled in Polish universities.
In the last year’s edition of the competition, Francesco Gubinelli, a student of the JU Faculty of Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics, was chosen in the Most Popular Foreign Student category.
