The Strata Mechanics Research Institute
On July 1, 1954, the Polish Academy of Sciences established the independent Department of Rock Mechanics (ZMG PAN) located in Building A1 of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The first head of ZMG was Professor Witold Budryk, a distinguished scholar and respected authority in the field of mining. In 1959, the department was taken over by Professor Jerzy Litwiniszyn. During this period, there was an intensive development of scientific staff and research. The scientific scope was expanded to include rock mechanics, flow metrology, the dynamics of unsteady air and gas flows in mine ventilation networks, micromeritics, mining damages, flows in porous media, and gas dynamics.
Thanks to the efforts of Professor Litwiniszyn and his deputy, Professor Stanisław Knothe, the construction of a new building for the department at 27 Reymonta Street was financed between 1964-1968, and it has been the current headquarters since 1968. In 1977, ZMG PAN became the Strata Mechanics Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMG PAN), receiving a new statute and the right to confer doctorates. In 1987, Prof. D.Sc. Eng.Wacław Trutwin was appointed as director, followed by Prof. D.Sc. Eng. Wacław Dziurzyński in 2003. Since 2019, the position has been held by D. Sc. Eng. Przemysław Skotniczny.
Scientific and research activities are conducted in two departments: the Department of Flow Physics (with Division of Flow Metrology and the Division of Mine Ventilation ) and the Department of Rock Mechanics (with Division of Micromeritics and Division Rock Deformation ). All research teams at the institute are interdisciplinary to some extent, facilitating collaboration with other research centers and domestic and foreign enterprises.
Since its inception, the research has had cognitive, application, construction, and implementation character. The topics have always included current scientific issues related to mining, especially in the field of underground work safety engineering and its environmental impact. The institute conducts research on issues that have not yet found satisfactory solutions. Examples include methods for controlling rock and gas outbursts, forecasting ventilation processes in complex network structures and porous media, and studying the physical properties of rocks with fluids in the pores. Labor-intensive experiments are conducted to verify the developed theories and methods of the analyzed phenomena and physical processes. The institute continuously develops measurement methods and, thanks to unique equipment, conducts experimental research in laboratories and real objects, as well as numerical experiments. The institute has many laboratories, including the accredited Laboratory for Calibration of the Ventilation Measuring Devices (no. AP 118).
