Jointly with our neighbours we investigate the trans-border areas

Cooperation involving Poland's borderland and transboundary regions, including the marine area, is the Institute's priority. Bilateral cooperation with the geological surveys and research centres in neigbouring countries is focused on geological, hydrogeological and geoenvironmental projects and on the promotion and development of geotourism.

Belarus
Cooperation with scientific institutes and geological enterprises in Belarus includes lithostratigraphic studies, geological mapping of surface and deep structures, interpretation and visualisation of geological data for spatial planning, and projects to organise border groundwater monitoring.

The Czech Republic
In cooperation with the geological survey of the Czech Republic (CGS) and Saxony's geological survey (LfUG), a Geoenvironmental Atlas was made at the scale of 1:250,000 (2008) for the purpose of environmental protection and spatial planning of the borderland between Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. A project entitled 'Method of Study and Monitoring of Landslide Processes Based on the Example of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia' was completed (2009). Geoenvironmental studies related to the planned Sudetes Highway, a hiking and recreational trail, were started. The PGI's staff participates in the monitoring of the borderland groundwater, in the work of the Polish-Czech Commission for Transboundary Waters and in a Working Group for data management at the International Commission for Protection of the Oder River against Pollution. 

 

Lithuania
We work together with the geological survey of Lithuania (LSG) in monitoring the groundwater in the borderland area and in carrying out hydrogeological studies as part of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. Furthermore, areas of cooperation with Lithuania include the protection of our geological heritage and related geological and environmental studies of areas of special natural and touristic value, the promotion of geotourism, popularization of geological sciences and detailed geological mapping.

Germany
In cooperation with our German partners, first of all with the geological surveys of the border lands, we conduct transboundary monitoring of zones of, in particular, intense anthropopressure. The main topic of consultation is geological mapping. Together with the geological survey of Branderburg (LBGR), we have designed the first transboundary geopark in Poland, Łuk Mużakowa Geopark, and with the geological survey of Mecklemburg-Vorpommern (LUNG), the layout of the Glacier-Epoch Land on the bank of the River Oder. 

 

Russia
Together with the Atlantic Department of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Science, we conducted stratigraphic and sedimentological studies of Tertiary units, including amber-bearing deposits of north-eastern Poland and the Kaliningrad District. Collaboration with the All-Russian Institute of Geological Research (VSEGEI) covers geological and geoecological studies of the Vistula Spit, the Gdańsk Bay and the Vistula Lagoon. 

 

Slovakia
In cooperation with the geological survey of Slovakia (SGUDS), we are compiling a detailed map of the Tatra Mountains at a scale of 1:10,000. We are also monitoring selected Carpathian landslides, conducting hydrogeological studies of the borderland between Poland and Slovakia, and performing transboundary monitoring of groundwater. We carry out magnetostratigraphic and paleomagnetic studies in the Carpathian orogen together with the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Academy of Science of the Slovak Republic and we co-edit a professional journal, Geologica Carpathica. PGI staff take part in the work of the Polish-Slovak Commission for Transboundary Waters.

Ukraine
The general cooperation programme with the geological survey of Ukraine includes regional geology, geological mapping, geophysical investigations, petroleum geology, hydrogeological and geoenvironmental studies of the borderland between Poland and Ukraine and marine geology. We participate in the work of the Polish-Ukrainian Commission for Transboundary Waters and the Working Group for hydrometeorology and hydrogeology. Monitoring of groundwater is carried out in the borderland between Poland and Ukraine, in the basin of the Bug and San Rivers. Collaboration with Ukrainian research institutes is focused on geoecology and regional and resource geology, including the exploration of deep structures of the edge zone of the Carpathians in the context of the discovery of, and making available, new oil and natural gas deposits, and furthermore on studies of the Carboniferous carbon-bearing formation. The joint research programmes resulted, among others, in the Monography the Lvov-Volyn Coal Basin published in Kiev (2007) and the Atlas of the Abiotic Environment in the Border Belt between Ukraine and Poland at the scale of 1:200,000 – 1:500,000 (2007).

We participate in the implementation of European and Global research projects

We are part of regional programmes and projects, including the European Programme of Territorial Cooperation and other projects and programmes of Development Assistance (ODA) for European and Extra-European developing countries.

We conduct research on every continent

Europe

Finland
Marine geology studies and aerogeophysical investigations for the purpose of hydrogeology were conducted with the geological survey of Finland (GTK).


France
As part of the Polish-French Integrated Actions Program POLONIUM, cooperation was developed with Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, in studies of paleoclimatic and paleooceanographic changes in the Polish and French Tetidiane basins. The work with the French Petroleum Institute is on hydrocarbon deposits; with the French geological survey (BRGM) it involves joint participation in the implementation of the 7th Framework Program of the EU.

Holland
The Dutch geological survey (TNO) coordinated between 2005-2010 an international project on the Southern Permian Basin Atlas (SPBA) with the participation of PGI. Also, we work together with the TNO on studies of the impact of the exploitation of natural aggregates from the sea bed on the environment within the framework of the European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST), as well as conducting studies of the shale gas potential.

Romania
Geological field studies were carried out in the Romanian Carpathians related to the implementation of the grant by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education concerning geological studies of exotic klippes in the Flysch Carpathians (2008-2009).

Slovenia
As part of the agreement on cooperation in the field science and technology between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, a project Using the PSInSAR Method for Detection of Vertical Ground Deformations and other Geological Processes was implemented together with the Geological Survey of Slovenia in the years 2008-2010.

Hungary
Collaboration with the E. Lorand University in Budapest and the Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences is focused on the paleomagnetism of the red pelagic marles (Upper Cretaceous) in the Pieniny Klippen Belt and the origin of the Carpathian orocline. A project related to this subject was completed in 2008-2009 as part of an Executive Program to the Intergovernmental Agreement on scientific cooperation between Poland and Hungary.

United Kingdom
We cooperate with the British Geological Survey (BGS) in the implementation of the EU projects on geoinformation and marine geology. The following were the themes of the joint research activities and consultations with British scientific and academic centres: potential source units for hydrocarbon generation in the Zechstein (with Durham University) thermochronological studies (University of Glasgow), stable isotopes of carbon (Oxford University), paleontological collections (Natural History Museum, London), dating of erratic boulders and glacitectonic studies (University of East Anglia and University of St Andrews) and geomagnetism (University of Liverpool). A project on the geology of the Lublin-Podlasie Basin was carried out with the oil company ExxonMobile in 2009.

Italy
Research and consultations on the methodology of satellite radar interpherometry in the interpretation on dynamic phenomena have been conducted with Instituto di Ricera per la Protezione Idrogeologia (CNR-IRPI) in Bari. Between 2007-2009, a project on ground settlement and instability of the subsoil in the area of the salt mine in Wieliczka on the basis of satellite and field data as part of the Executive Program to the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Poland and Italy was completed.

Africa

Angola
As part of the Polish foreign aid programme provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Polish Geological Institute, in consultation with the Geological Institute of Angola (Instituto Geológico de Angola - IGEO), is implementing a project to support the geological survey in Angola. The PGI arranges, in both Angola and Poland, training for IGEO staff to improve their qualifications with respect to applying new methods of geological mapping, systems of keeping records and databases of the resources of mineral raw materials, hydrogeology, geological information, environmental geology and petrology. The skills acquired will be useful in the exploration and exploitation of Angola's mineral resources, carried out on the principle of sustainable development.

Zambia
A project aimed at the development of the research potential of the University of Zambia Environmental Studies Centre in Lusaka with respect to laboratory analysis, teledetection and studies of mineral raw material deposits and the impact of their exploitation on the natural environment is being carried out.

North America

USA
Research services were provided (2009) for Esso Exploration International Ltd in connection with prospecting and exploring the oil and natural gas deposits in some selected concession areas in Poland. With the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), research subjects of interest to both parties were initially agreed upon to enable them to sign an agreement on cooperation. Issues related to landslide monitoring are being consulted and cooperation on gas reserves (shale gas) is being planned. We have cooperated with the USGS, under the GMRAP project, in the assessment of the deposit potential of the salt rocks of the Zechstein Basin in Poland. Issues related to the sedimentology of evaporative deposits were discussed at the Universities of Washington and Oregon, the possibilities of using a Lidar device for geological work were checked at the University of Texas at Austin, and a training course in the methodology of the determination of geological samples using the Re-Os method took place at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Antarctic

In connection with the implementation of the programme, the 4 International Polar Year 2007-2008, PGI participated in the international project Geochemical and Paleomagnetic Record of the Evolution of the Climate of the Western Antarctic in the Cenozoic Rock Succession on King George Island in the Archipelago of the Southern Shetland Islands. Members of the PGI staff took part in the 31st and 33rd Expeditions of the Polish Academy of Science to the Henryk Arctowski Antarctic Station in cooperation with the Department of Antarctic Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Field work on King George Island was conducted as part of the project Isotope Geochronology and Palaeomagnetism of the Cretaceous and Paleogene Volcanic Formations of King George Island.


Australia
Cooperation is being developed with the Isotope Laboratory RSES at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra with respect to the methodology of geochronological analyses.

Asia

Afghanistan
In 2009, an official study visit was made to the Ghazni province in Afghanistan, in order to identify the possibilities of the implementation of aid projects including, among others, geological and environmental work. An initial geoecological evaluation of aspects of the localization of a landfill site for the town of Ghazni was made.

India
Collaboration with the University of Delhi was focused on studies of the petrogenesis of mafic magmatism within Proterozoic cratons in Poland and in North-Central India.

Israel
Cooperation with the Geological Survey of Israel (GSI) is carried out on hydrogeological and geochemical studies and isotope analysis methodology.

Libya
The Institute is fulfilling a contract signed between Polish-Oil and the Gas Company-Libya VB, providing for consultations on and interpretations of seismic, gravimetric and magnetic data from the area of hydrocarbon deposits in the Murzuq Basin, Libia.

Mongolia
PGI takes part in a research programme within the framework of an executive agreement to the contract concluded in 2006 between the government of the Republic of Poland and the government of the People's Republic of Mongolia concerning the restructuring of Mongolia's debt to Poland and the agreement between the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of the Industry and Commerce of the Mongolian People's Republic. The program includes, among others, geological mapping, deposits , and mineralogical, geochemical and geophysical studies in the region of Hasagt in Mongolia, coordinated on behalf of the Polish part by PGI, and on behalf of the Mongolian part by the geological survey of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia.

We willingly join the activities of international organizations, committees and associations

The basic framework of PGI’s international cooperation is the association of European geological surveys EuroGeoSurveys. We participate in EuroGeoSurvey projects, various activities and expert groups. PGI scientists are members of working groups set up by the European Commission, community organizations and agencies to devise strategy and policy with respect to management and protection of natural environment resources, and geological resources in particular.

Scientists of the Polish Geological Institute – the National Research Institute - participate in:

Association of European Geological Societies (AEGS)
Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association (CBGA)
Central and Eastern Europe geological surveys meeting (CEE)
European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage (ProGEO), working group Northern Europe
European Environment Agency, European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET)
European Large Geotechnical Institutes Platform (ELGIP)
European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources (ETP SMR)
Geological Surveys of Europe – EuroGeoSurveys (EGS)
Geoscience Information Consortium (GIC)
gOcad Consortium
GSI^_3D Research Consortium
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
International Commission for the Protection of the Odra River against Pollution, working groups Data Management and Monitoring
International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP)
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
International Geoscience Programme (IGCP)
International Program of Deep Seismic Exploration
International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA)
International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
Paradigm – gOcad/SKUA
Raw Materials Supply Group (RMSG)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

 

Scientists of the Polish Geological Institute – the National Research Institute - participate in:

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Baltic Sea Geologists (BSG)
Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification (COMLAND)
Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS)
European Association of Geochemistry (EAG)
European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers (EAGE)
European Association of Organic Geochemists (EAOG)
European Coal Geology Group, European Coal Conference (ECC)
European Geosciences Union (EGU)
Geological Society of America (GSA)
German Mineralogical Society (DMG)
International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS)
International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD)
International Bryozoology Association (IBA)
International Commission of the Palaeozoic Microflora (CIMP)
International Commission on Stratygraphy (ICS)
International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP)
International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC)
International Mine Water Association (IMWA)
Pander Society
Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA)
Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP)
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
Swiss Geological Society (SGS)