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Science for everyone

Science centres, planetariums, museums of technology, festivals and science trails across Poland.

Science can be seen and touched outside universities too. We list 78 places across Poland – science centres, planetariums, observatories and museums of technology – as well as 14 science festivals and picnics and 8 trails linking places connected with science.

Small science centres (SOWA)

50 of the places are small SOWA science centres – a network that the Copernicus Science Centre develops with local institutions such as museums, cultural centres, libraries and schools.

Narrow the list by kind and region. We list only places and events whose activity we have confirmed in sources; check dates on the organisers' websites, which are mostly in Polish.

Science trails

Trail · 5 places

In the footsteps of Nicolaus Copernicus

From his native Toruń and studies in Kraków to Warmia, where the astronomer spent decades as a canon and administrator of the chapter's estates.

Trail · 3 places

Maria Skłodowska-Curie's Warsaw

Three Warsaw addresses of the Nobel laureate: her birthplace, the laboratory of her first experiments and the institute founded on her initiative.

Trail · 8 places

Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship

A regional industrial heritage trail created in 2006 by the regional government: mines, steelworks, breweries, workers' estates and museums of technology. Selected sites below.

Trail · 9 places

Poland in space

From the space agency in Gdańsk and the Polish Academy of Sciences institutes in Warsaw to observatories, radio telescopes and a planetarium – places where Poland studies space and builds equipment for it.

Trail · 6 places

In the footsteps of Ignacy Łukasiewicz

Subcarpathia and Lesser Poland, where in the mid-19th century the pharmacist Ignacy Łukasiewicz started the industrial extraction and refining of crude oil.

Trail · 6 places

Underground Poland of technology

From Neolithic flint mines to royal salt works and ore adits – underground routes showing the development of mining in Poland.

Trail · 3 places

Enigma – in the footsteps of the Polish cryptologists

Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, graduates of the university in Poznań, attended a secret cryptology course of the Cipher Bureau from 1929, and in the 1930s in Warsaw they broke the ciphers of the German Enigma machine.

Trail · 3 places

The oldest universities and their monuments

Buildings of historic academies where you can still see what studying looked like centuries ago – from Gothic Kraków to Baroque Wrocław and Renaissance Zamość.

Science centres, planetariums and museums of technology

Results: –

Science festivals and picnics

Warszawa

Festiwal Nauki w Warszawie

Science Festival in Warsaw, organised by Warsaw universities and institutes; the 29th edition took place in September 2025.

Warszawa

Piknik Naukowy Polskiego Radia i Centrum Nauki Kopernik

One-day open-air science picnic organised jointly by Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre since 2008.

Wrocław

Dolnośląski Festiwal Nauki

Lower Silesian Science Festival of Wrocław universities and institutes, with events in other towns of the region; 29th edition in September 2026.

Kraków

Festiwal Nauki i Sztuki w Krakowie

Joint festival of Kraków universities; the 20th edition took place in May 2024.

Poznań

Poznański Festiwal Nauki i Sztuki

Poznań Festival of Science and Art, organised mainly by the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation with partner institutions.

Katowice

Śląski Festiwal Nauki Katowice

Silesian Science Festival of the region's universities at the International Congress Centre; 9th edition in December 2025.

Poland

Europejska Noc Naukowców

European Researchers' Night – a Europe-wide event funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, held every year on the last Friday of September.

Toruń

Toruński Festiwal Nauki i Sztuki

Spring festival of science and art in Toruń; the 24th edition took place in April 2026.

Lublin

Lubelski Festiwal Nauki

Joint festival of Lublin's public universities; 21st edition in 2025.

Gdańsk

Bałtycki Festiwal Nauki

Baltic Science Festival on the Gdańsk University of Technology campus, with the Fahrenheit Science Picnic; edition in May 2025.

Białystok

Podlaski Festiwal Nauki i Sztuki

Festival of eleven Białystok universities; the 21st edition in May 2025 had nearly 130 events.

Opole

Opolski Festiwal Nauki

Year-round festival of the University of Opole and partners, with a Night of Science and a science picnic.

Zielona Góra

Lubuski Festiwal Nauki

One-day festival at the Space Technology Park, co-organised by the University of Zielona Góra (May 2025).

Poland

Podkarpacki Festiwal Nauki i Innowacji

Festival of the Subcarpathian Innovation Centre and the regional government; first edition in November 2025.

We list places and events whose activity we have confirmed on the organisers' or public institutions' websites (as of 2026-11-06). Small SOWA science centres follow the list of open centres published by the Copernicus Science Centre. Websites of the places are mostly in Polish.