Mission

Research

The research work carried out at the Department of Information Systems of the Poznan University of Economics focuses on widely understood information and knowledge representation, processing and management. This comprises all activities connected with knowledge of the whole corporation and every individual working for it. Therefore we concentrate our efforts on enhanced information technologies, namely on filters capable of supplying a variety of information systems with relevant information acquired from the Web. This includes filtering the Web to feed analytical systems (e.g. data warehouses), workflow management systems, customer relations management systems and transaction processing systems.

Knowledge representation issues are directly connected with filtering, thus we also consider mechanical building of filtering profiles an interesting research area. We are investigating the possibilities of profiling data warehouse subjects, markets and products in multi-factor e-marketplaces and definitions and instances of processes in workflow management systems. Other research concentrates on personalization issues, namely: personalized enterprise information portals and other Intranet services. Some interesting studies in the area of content management have also been conducted. They include the concept of bringing unstructured and structured contents together and the idea of organizing them within the existing knowledge resources in the organization. Our research work has resulted in many conference papers, entries in book chapters and several books published by international publishers.

Teaching

The core curriculum of the University provides a solid foundation in the humanities and sciences and offers introductory and in-depth courses in virtually every aspect of business life. The Department of Information Systems offers education in broadly understood business information processing, providing students with a wide business background and the professional skills they will need to succeed in their professional lives.

IT changes very quickly, so we put a strong emphasis on the educational background that allows our students to apply computer information processing to solving problems in business and management throughout their careers. Students learn computer programming in the business environment, contemporary designs and technical problems in information systems, database applications and legal issues in the field, including privacy and security of computer information systems and e-commerce. There are core and elective courses that give students the knowledge they need to expand their individual interests and skills as well. Moreover, they can combine classroom theory and learning with practical experience and become familiar with state-of-the-art technologies. Working in groups enables them to acquire greater confidence and maturity and learn the essential skills that can help them in the future.

In our research and didactics we use tools offered by the IT market leaders. The important elements of the didactic processes are projects and case studies, which help students to learn teamwork, acquire new methods and tools for analysing and solving problems. This enables us to build up students ability to acquire knowledge of organizations they will work for. Our efforts have been rewarded by the rapid expansion of the department. Up to the year 2000 we had about 30 undergraduate students every year. Thanks to our determination and teaching achievements since then, we now attract about 200 freshmen each year.

The department also provides two different two-year graduate MIS programs for business people and IT schoolteachers who need in-depth knowledge in the area of information systems. Many students can continue their studies in doctoral programmes. At present about thirty people take part in the PhD program in the area of information systems and economics. It is due to our efforts that, since 2001, the Poznan University of Economics has been recognized as the second-best School of Economics in Poland by leading professional, economic and political magazines.

Career oportunities

Most of our graduates are employed immediately following graduation by international companies operating in Poland. Current entry-level and long-term career opportunities include the positions of: application programmer, systems analyst, database analyst, webmaster and many other possibilities. Careers are also available in government agencies and businesses as well as in non-profit organizations.