Pilot project by IPMA Polska Young Crew

At the end of 2023, IPMA Young Crew Poland successfully completed its pilot project, the Polish Student Project Excellence Award 2023. This project aimed to evaluate student projects according to the guidelines of the IPMA Project Excellence Model.

The Polish Student Project Excellence Award is the first competition of its kind organized by IPMA Young Crew Poland specifically for students. The competition assessed student projects based on the IPMA Project Excellence Model. The goal was to familiarize students with the principles of the model and provide feedback and recommendations for future project management improvement.

Three student projects were recognized in the competition. The third place was awarded to the Furniture Science Club from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences for their project “Research on eco-innovative technology for the production of fully biodegradable furniture composites.” Second place went to the Polish Association of Physics Students for their project “ScienCon 2022.” Finally, the first place was awarded to the Neuroinformatics Club from the University of Warsaw for their project “Organization of the international conference Aspects of Neuroscience with the satellite event Brainhack Warsaw.”

The official announcement of the PSPEA 2023 results took place on December 14, 2023, at the University of Economics in Krakow. During this event, the awarded project teams had the opportunity to showcase their projects. It was a fantastic occasion for young project managers to connect, exchange experiences, and establish new contacts. The event facilitated networking and allowed participants to learn from each other, fostering a sense of community among young project management professionals. On 15 December, the PSPEA 2023 finalists had the opportunity to attend the IPMA Young Crew Poland Workshop ‘Modern Project Management – Tools and Trends’.

The projects were evaluated by a panel of assessors, including Ewa Bednarczyk, Agnieszka Jędrusik, Wojciech Jarosz, Mateusz Trzeciak, Krzysztof Juszczyk, and Krzysztof Witkowski, who are experts in the field of project management.

This pilot project has been a great success in promoting and recognizing the excellence of student projects in Poland. It has provided students with valuable insights into project management and has encouraged them to strive for excellence in their future endeavors. IPMA Young Crew Poland is proud to have been a part of this initiative and looks forward to organizing more successful competitions in the future.

As Małgorzata Zakrzewska (IPMA YC Poland Chair) points out, the Polish Student Project Excellence Award 2023 pilot project brought us great satisfaction and achievement. It was not only an excellent tool for evaluating student projects, but also a great opportunity to promote excellence in project management and inspire future project leaders. We are proud of the results achieved and the enthusiasm generated by the event among students, and hope to continue and further develop similar initiatives in the future.

Participating in the competition gave us the opportunity to look at organising events from a different perspective – we were able to test our organisational skills and learn about the strengths and weaknesses of our organisation. At the same time, we gained a great deal of knowledge in an area that we were not normally familiar with, which we will certainly use in the organisation of future projects.The award ceremony itself was also a unique experience, where we had the opportunity to meet many people involved in project implementation in completely different fields –  Kamila Trafna, member of the Neuroinformatics Club from the University of Warsaw.