Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica, Wydział Metali Nieżelaznych
The Faculty of Non-Ferrous Metals of the Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica (AGH) in Kraków (al. Mickiewicza 30, building A-2) is a research and teaching unit that trains specialists and conducts research for modern materials engineering and non-ferrous metals processing. The faculty was established in 1962; according to its own account, its creation was linked to the discovery and start of exploitation of copper deposits in Poland and to the development of aluminium and zinc production. The faculty describes itself as the only one of its kind in Poland.
The faculty comprises three departments – Physical Chemistry and Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals, Materials Science and Non-Ferrous Metals Engineering, and Metal Forming and Physical Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals – as well as the Laboratory of Structure and Mechanics of Solids. It offers first- and second-cycle studies (full-time and part-time), including the programmes Non-Ferrous Metals Engineering, Production and Quality Engineering, and Design Engineering and Jewellery, as well as postgraduate studies in non-ferrous metallurgy; graduates can continue their research at the AGH Doctoral School. The faculty’s laboratories cover, among other areas, hydrometallurgy, electrochemistry of materials, thermal analysis, metallography, scanning electron microscopy, extrusion processes and metal forming.
Its research offer includes the extraction and separation of non-ferrous metals from multi-component alloys, technical and economic analyses of metallurgical and recycling processes, adapting these processes to environmental requirements (BAT), and developing the hydrometallurgical basis for recycling technologies and the recovery of non-ferrous metals. Its curricula incorporate the principles of sustainable development and the circular economy. As an IGMNiR member, the faculty represents the academic community of non-ferrous metallurgy and processing in the Chamber – scientific research and the education of specialists for the industry.