University of Economics in Katowice was founded in 1936. It is the only public higher education institution teaching economics in the Upper Silesia and one of the most prestigious universities in Poland. Each year about 15.000 students study here, attending the lectures and seminars conducted by 480 academic teachers.   Special emphasis is put on the development of academic competencies in all of its degree programs, at the Bachelor, Master, Doctoral and Postgraduate levels. UEK cooperates successfully with higher education institutions, enterprises and chambers of commerce operating in European Union, Central and Eastern Europe and non European countries. It belongs to many international networks such as EAIE, EUCEN, EUA, NAFSA, Prime Networking and EURASHE.   UEK has undertaken many initiatives concerning European integration, creating common cooperation areas for education and research through coordination or acting as a partner of the following European projects: Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Ceepus, EUA Quality culture, Interreg IIIc, European Social Fund, Scholarship and Training Fund, 7th Framework Programme, etc. UEK signed over 150 Bilateral Agreements for student mobility and teacher exchange and cooperates with over 250 European enterprises.