On July 5 this year, at the headquarters of Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia” in Warsaw, we had the opportunity to witness the second edition of the scientific conference “The youth in the time of pandemic”. The first edition of the conference was of a strictly expert nature, but now we gave the floor to students. It should be indicated that, originally, the sociological nature of the research that formed the basis of the conference was extended to include a psychological batch. The involvement of Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia” students allowed for obtaining significant results in the area of the functioning of young people in a situation of social isolation.

The conference was based on proprietary quantitative and qualitative research data (199 respondents in total) coordinated in the psychological part by dr Emilia Samardakiewicz-Kirol and in the sociological part by dr Bartosz Łukaszewski – the originator of the series.

The event was opened with a foreword by the Provost of Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia”, prof. dr hab. Paweł Czarnecki as well as the research coordinators: dr Emilia Samardakiewicz-Kirol and dr Bartosz Łukaszewski.

Magdalena Nowicka, Wiktoria Krzan and Anna Domaradzka (Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia” in Warsaw) presented a paper entitled “The styles of coping with stress among students during the COVID-19 pandemic”. The paper was based on research carried out by the PRAKSIS Psychology Student Research Group. The results of the psychological component of the research indicate that one of the main stressors occurring during remote education is… the very fear of returning to the full-time mode of classes, whereas when it comes to first-year students the fear was about the lack of experience of full-time and direct education as well as the wider lack of contact with the university that is provided only through an online network.

Oliwia Owczarzak (Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia” in Warsaw) and Monika Niedźwiecka (Uczelnia Biznesu i Nauk Stosowanych „Varsovia” in Rzeszów) presented results of a sociological research project conducted under the supervision of dr Bartosz Łukaszewski and entitled “Adaptation strategies of student and subcultural youth during pandemic”. The project was implemented through individual in-depth interviews (IDI) with students of 6 Polish universities as well as the participants of the “Alternatywa” Youth Club in Warsaw. The pandemic has significantly limited the scope of interaction among the subcultural youth, particularly when it comes to the youth at risk of marginalization and social exclusion, yet it has not weakened the mental cohesion of these youth subcategories. Students praised direct interactions with peers, although broadly understood social isolation resulted in a permanent weakening of mental cohesion and a peculiar sinusoidal mood.

We would like to congratulate all the students participating in the research on their commitment!