Prof. Janusz Kapuśniak elected new Rector of Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa

Prof. Janusz Kapuśniak, currently Vice-Rector for Research & International Relations, has been elected Rector of Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa for the 2024-2028 term. The election was held on April 24, 2024. 

Prof. Kapuśniak is a chemist and food & nutrition technologist. In 1997 he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Pedagogical University in Częstochowa. After graduation, he started working at his alma mater. In 2000, he defended his PhD thesis in chemical sciences at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the Cracow University of Technology. Then, as a scholarship holder of the Columbus Programme of the Foundation for Polish Science, he completed a long-term postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Carbohydrate Chemistry at Iowa State University (USA). After returning to Poland, he continued his employment at his Alma Mater. In 2009, he was awarded the degree of habilitated doctor of agricultural sciences in the discipline of food and nutrition technology by the resolution of the Council of the Faculty of Food Science of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.  In January 2023, he was appointed professor. 

Since 2002, Professor has held managerial positions at his Alma Mater. He headed the Department of General Chemistry, the Department of Biochemistry and Bioproduct Technology, as well as the Department of Dietetics and Food Research (currently). He was the director of the Institute of Chemistry, Environmental Protection and Biotechnology, as well as the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Since 2018, he has been the chairman of the board of the Food Technology and Nutrition Discipline. Since 1 September 2016, Professor has held the position of Vice-Rector for Research & International Relations.

From 2020 to 2022, Prof. Kapuśniak served as Vice President of the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE). He is a member of the Committee on Food Sciences and Nutrition of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the Expert Team of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, a member of the Board of the Carbohydrate Technology Section of the Polish Society of Food Technologists, a member of the Polish Chemical Society, and a member of the Scholarship Club of the Foundation for Polish Science.

Prof. Kapuśniak coordinates the activities of JDU as part of the COLOURS European University Alliance. A group of nine regional universities from Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Croatia, North Macedonia, Spain, Latvia and Poland carries out activities in the field of innovation in teaching and research in close cooperation with the socio-economic environment towards sustainable development.

Prof. Kapuśniak's scientific interests are related to research on the physical, chemical and enzymatic modification of polysaccharides for food purposes (dietary fiber, prebiotics, functional foods, plant-based foods, vegan foods) and non-nutritional purposes (packaging materials, new generation biomaterials, controlled-release microcapsules). He is the author of over 100 scientific articles, 5 chapters in monographs, 7 patents, 4 implemented technologies. He led 6 and was a member of 11 research teams implementing projects financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the National Centre for Research and Development, the National Science Centre and the Foundation for Polish Science. He is a several-time scholarship holder of the FNP, an expert of the National Centre for Research and Development and NAWA. In 2020, Prof. Kapuśniak received the Silesian Scientific Award.