Jolanta Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng – TopMinds 2023 mentor. Open call for 2023 mentoring programme

25-10-2022

Jolanta Grażyna Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng from the Department of Marketing and Tourism at the Faculty of Engineering Management of Bialystok University of Technology is one of the TopMinds 2023 mentors – a programme that supports young scientists in building their careers.

The uniqueness of the programme is based on the participant’s individual development path, implemented with the help and cooperation of a mentor, as well as dedicated training and workshops.

– The common denominator for mentors is that they are graduates of the Top 500 Innovators programme or have been Fulbright scholarship recipients. I participated in the fourth edition of the TOP 500 Innovators programme, during which I completed internships at Oxford and Cambridge universities. I gained many valuable skills and contacts there. I now want to share them with others, as I believe they can make a young scientist’s career easier and much faster – says Jolanta Grażyna Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng, TopMinds 2023 mentor.

The mentors of the TopMinds programme are a group of representatives from various academic and research institutions. Their role is to support participants in meeting challenges and finding their own path in achieving their goals and objectives. While sharing their own experiences – successes and failures – the mentors also show them ways to strengthen their sense of professional and personal worth.

Like the participants, the mentors of the TopMinds programme also go through a selection screen. During the qualification process, they identify their areas of scientific and business interest, as well as the type of support they can provide to the participant. Based on the information contained in the applications, pairs are formed: the mentor and the person qualified for the programme.

Jolanta Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng, is one of the 40 TopMinds 2023 mentors, a role she also held in the 2021 edition. She will support young scientists in conducting research at the intersection of health sciences, biomedical engineering and kinesitherapy.

– I am keen to help young people plan their academic career path. It’s not an easy path, and a mentor can be that person who will suggest how to make good use of the time allocated to set goals, such as a PhD. I will also share my knowledge and experience, which will be useful to the mentee in strengthening key competences, strength and self-confidence to achieve success – announces Jolanta Grażyna Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng.

Jolanta Grażyna Zuzda, MD, PhD, Eng, graduated from the University of Physical Education in Warsaw and Bialystok University of Technology. In 2011, she obtained her doctoral degree in medical sciences at the Medical University of Białystok. In 2022, she completed postgraduate studies in Master of Business Administration. She participated in the TOP 500 Innovators training and placement programme. She is certified in the implementation of the principles of Universal Design, therapeutic pedagogy and has completed training certificates: Body ART, Pilates, Step Reebok, obtained during internships and courses in Poland and abroad (Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, France, the USA, Portugal, Slovenia and Belarus). She is the author and co-author of 3 books, 52 scientific publications, 4 patents and innovative exercise programmes for the ankle and hip joint as prevention and treatment of dysfunctions of these areas, she has also developed an exercise programme in recovery from COVID-19 infection, popularised in the series “Breathe after Covid-19 – exercise with BUT!”. Between 2008 and 2022, she actively participated in scientific and didactic projects on the issues of physical activity as an element of health prevention and physical fitness as a key measure of health, carried out as part of research and didactic cooperation between representatives of academic centres from Poland, Portugal and Belarus.

Recruitment of participants for the sixth edition of TopMinds is underway. People with passion and ambition who excel in the field of science can apply:

final-year master’s students who are planning a career in science,
persons preparing a doctoral thesis at a Polish university (or other scientific or research institution).

Applications are accepted until 7 November 2023.

The programme is organised by the Top 500 Innovators Association and the Polish-American Fulbright Commission, this edition’s partners are Czestochowa University of Technology and Visnea.