The Polish Academy of Sciences was created in 1952. Under the Parliamentary Act of 25 April 1997, it is a state scientific institution, which fulfils its tasks through an elected corporative part (its members) and a research centre composed of over 70 institutes and other scientific units. The governing board of the Academy (President and 4 Vice-Presidents) is elected by the General Assembly of its national members for a 4 year term of office.
Among the functions of the Academy are the organization, conduct, implementation, and promotion of scientific research, publication of monographs and journals, coordination and realization of major research programmes and international scientific cooperation. These functions are carried out by the Academy’s institutes and with the assistance of different scientific committees, in which members of the Academy take part, as well as representatives of universities, technical universities and other higher learning institutes and industry representatives.