Dear Young Criminologists,
for the fourth time, we invite you to participate in the Young Criminologists Forum, which will be held on 18-20 May 2022. The keynote of the next meeting is "Criminal law and criminology in response to the 21st century crises". The choice of the thematic area for the next year's conference was dictated by the multitude of crises that Poland and other countries have to face in the 21st century. To name but a few: the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, migration crises, economic crises, axiological crises connected with the crisis of the family, crises connected with the sense of security, crises of human and social identity, and many others.

The goal of YCF is to integrate young researchers from around the world representing various fields (including lawyers, criminologists, sociologists, educators, doctors etc.), and to create a place for them to exchange substantive information, experience and research achievements in the field of criminology. Forum is the idea of prof. dr hab. dr h.c. Emil W. Pływaczewski – founder of the Bialystok School of Criminology. From the very beginning, YCF has been a platform for the exchange of experience not only between young researchers but also representatives of practice, including trainee lawyers, legal advisers and residents dealing with issues related to contemporary crime and social pathologies.

Striving for the development of interdisciplinarity of the Young Criminologists Forum, its previous organisers - the Chair of Criminal Law and Criminology of the Faculty of Law, University of Białystok - joined forces with the Institute of Women's Studies, which became the co-organiser of the 4th edition of OFMK. The Institute of Women's Studies has been cooperating with the scientific environment of the University of Białystok for years. It conducts and disseminates scientific research, especially on women's issues, as well as legal, educational, cultural, and artistic issues. In view of the previous, always extremely fruitful cooperation between the Faculty of Law of the University of Białystok and the Institute of Criminology, it was decided to join forces also in the area of the National Forum of Young Criminologists.

Following the example of the previous Forum, in the case of the Fourth OFMK the organisers will also strive to make the conference international, and therefore it will be possible to present papers in two languages, Polish and English. OFMK is an opportunity to broaden knowledge of research conducted by criminologists from all over the world, who will participate in conference proceedings. The fourth edition of OFMK will be honoured with an expert panel during which experienced criminologists from both Polish and foreign universities will present the results of their analyses and research concerning the connections between 21st-century crises and criminal law and criminology. The expert panel will be held once again under the motto Current Problems of the Penal Law and Criminology. Current Problems of the Penal Law and Criminology. The inspiration for the name and topic of the expert panel is the publishing series "Current Problems of the Penal Law and Criminology. Aktuelle Probleme des Strafrechsund und der Kriminologie" published for years on the initiative of Prof. Emil W. Pływczewski - the originator and creator of the idea of OFMK and the founder of the Bialystok School of Criminology.

The conference is addressed to all those who deal with criminal law, criminology, crime and social pathologies, with particular emphasis on young researchers specialising in this field. However, the organisers do not impose any age limits - both experienced and recognised scientists with degrees and academic titles, as well as PhD students, practitioners and students of recent years who associate their future with conducting scientific research in the field of criminal law and criminology are invited to participate in OFMK.

The Young Criminologists Forum is a pioneering project on a national scale, now assuming an international character. From the very beginning, the aim of YCF is to disseminate and popularise scientific achievements based on criminological and criminal law research carried out in Poland and abroad. The idea of criminological and legal meetings in Białystok is also a substantive exchange of information on the latest research results of scientists specialising in such areas as widely understood criminal law, criminology, criminal policy or sociology. The conference is also a platform for exchanging experiences between young scientists and experts in the above mentioned specialties as well as practitioners dealing with contemporary crime and social pathology (e.g. employees of the judiciary and law enforcement officers, sociologists, educators, doctors).

We look forward to your participation, a fruitful and substantive discussion and a social meeting among the YCF participants! See you in May 2022 once again in Podlasie.

At the same time, we reserve the right to change the date or form of the conference from stationary to remote (or hybrid) - depending on the development of the pandemic situation.

International conference of Young Criminologists Forum
May 18-20, 2022
Criminal law and criminology in response to the 21st century crises

Organizers:
Faculty of Law at University of Bialystok and Institute for Women's Studies

Conference venue:
Hotel Podlasie***
42 Pułku Piechoty 6 Street
15-181 Bialystok

The Conference Program Committee invites you to submit an abstract for an oral presentation (max 15 minutes).

Registration should be made via the FORM

REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSIONS:

The first round of registration includes:
- acceptance of applications for active participation in the conference (paper presentation),
- acceptance of proposals of abstracts of articles to be published in the conference monograph.

The first round of registration lasts until November 8, 2021. Its results will be announced on 14 November 2021. (papers qualified for presentation during the conference and article proposals qualified for publication in the monograph will be indicated). Thereafter, articles will be accepted until 15 December 2021.

The second round of registration includes:
- only applications for active participation in the conference (presentation of a paper),
- without the possibility of publishing an article.

The second round lasts from 9 November 2021 to 28 February 2022. Its results will be announced on 10 March 2022 (papers qualified to be presented at the conference will be indicated).

Conference fees:
- the fee amounts to 120 EUR and is valid for active participants, passive participants, those who publish an article in the monograph and those who do not,
- within the fee the organizers provide the participants with: two nights accommodation in a double room with breakfast on two days of the conference, lunches and coffee breaks, participation in two integration dinners, certificate of participation, participant's packet and conference materials, authors of the articles an author's copy of scientific monograph.

By March 30, 2022, payment for participation in the YCF must be made by wire transfer to the University of Bialystok's bank account as indicated below:
˗ recipient of the transfer: University of Bialystok, Świerkowa 20B, 15-328 Białystok, Poland,
˗ bank account number: PL 79 1160 2202 0000 0002 4179 4289,
˗ SWIFT code: BIGBPLPW,
˗ payment title: OFMK 2022 - name and surname of the participant.

We accept conference fees until 30 March 2022. The amount of the conference fee is determined by the date of sending the application form to the conference.

Invoices for fees will be handed to conference participants during the Young Criminologists Forum.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Forum’s Coordinators via e-mail to ofmk@uwb.edu.pl.

FRAMEWORK SCHEDULE:
Information about the program will appear in spring 2022.

EQUIPMENT:
The conference room is equipped with an OHP, microphone and video projector for PowerPoint presentations – there is no need to bring your own laptop, but your presentation should be fully Windows compatible.

COORDINATORS:
dr Diana Dajnowicz-Piesiecka
Coordinator of Young Criminologists Forum for conferences
e-mail: ofmk@uwb.edu.pl

dr Emilia Jurgielewicz-Delegacz
Coordinator of Young Criminologists Forum for monographs
e-mail: ofmk@uwb.edu.pl

CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT:
mgr Aleksandra Stachelska - mentor for foreign participants
mgr Adriana Kuligowska
mgr Justyna Omeljaniuk
Gabriela Derehajło
e-mail: ofmk@uwb.edu.pl

TRAVEL INFORMATION:
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie voivodeship, situated about 200 kilometres from Warsaw. It has historically attracted migrants from elsewhere in Poland and beyond, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe. This is facilitated by the fact that the nearby border with Belarus is also the eastern border of the European Union as well as the Schengen Area. It is the gateway to many natural attractions of the Podlasie region, known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland, including the Biebrza and Białowieża national parks. Białystok is also the place of birth of Ludwik Zamenhoff, the inventor of the artificial language Esperanto.

Useful links:
City map
About city
Weather

How to get to Białystok?
There are several possibilities for getting from Warsaw to Białystok. The trip to Białystok should take about 2.5-3 hours.

By plane:
The closest Polish international airports are: Warsaw Chopin Airport and Warsaw Modlin Airport, both located in the heart of Europe, about 200 km away from Białystok.
Chopin airport
Modlin airport

By bus:
Once you fly into Warsaw Chopin Airport or Warsaw Modlin Airport, you may take a direct express bus service that leaves for Białystok from either airport. The bus company is Plus Bus. On this webpage You will find schedule for buses to Białystok.
Buying bus tickets online in advance is highly recommended. The price of the bus ticket is about 40-50 PLN (ca. 10-12 euro). Plus Bus operates high quality coaches equipped with air conditioning and free Wi-Fi access.
An alternative to air, train and car travel is a bus connection FlixBus or Żak Express, good value inexpensive inter-city express coach services based in Poland. The companies operate high quality coaches equipped with air conditioning and free Wi-Fi access.

By train:

Warsaw Chopin Airport:
1) by city bus & by intercity train:
take city bus no. 175 Warsaw Central railway station, (link) then take a direct train to Białystok (link),
2) by city train & by intercity train:
take a city train (SKM, WKD) to Warsaw Central railway station, (link) and later take a direct train to Białystok (link),

Warsaw Modlin Airport:
1) by city bus & by intercity train:
take a Modlin shuttle-bus to Warsaw city centre, then at Warsaw Central railway station take a direct train to Białystok (link),
2) by city train & by intercity train:
take a train, to Warsaw Central railway station, then take a direct train to Białystok (link).

Payment in Polish currency (PLN) for a train ticket is required, but you could also use your credit card or buy a ticket by means of ticket vending machines. The price of the train ticket from Warsaw – Białystok is about 30-40 PLN (ca. 10 EUR). Please note that there are many ATMs and exchange offices at the railway stations.

Address of the hotel:
Information soon.

If you would like to order a taxi in Białystok by phone please dial:
+ 48 85 711 11 11 – Jaga Taxi
+ 48 85 746 46 46 – COOLtura Taxi
+ 85 744 44 44 – Komfort Taxi

In Bialystok you can get around using the Bolt application. Bolt drivers will take you directly from a location marked in the app to a specific place in and around our city.