In the last decade, rising nationalism has amplified Eurosceptic opposition challenging the values of integration at the root of the European integration project. Political discourse and movements in several European countries have contributed to a crisis moment for the EU (Belenvander and Wodak 2017, Delanty 2021). Across Europe, nationalist movements and parties have become increasingly prevalent, as they present themselves as protectors of national interest in the face of reduced sovereignty, internationalism and socio-economic pressures brought on by globalization (Wodak & Rheindorf 2022). Against this backdrop, this study explores how the rise of nationalism and the euroscepticism underpinning it, are affecting higher education policy in Poland. Two central questions guide the research: a) How are nationalist ideals and discourses influencing the higher education policy trajectories in Poland? B) How are universities and the higher education sector responding? In Poland, there has been a surge of government activity focused on a different vision of Europe itself, one in which Polish international influence in research and higher education is projected to take a leading role. Under the government of the Law and Justice party the Ministry of Education and Science politically and financially promoted radical right Catholic and ultra-conservative institutions of higher education to position Poland as the center for a future so-called “Intermarium”-region. Moreover, initiatives such as the 2023 World Copernican Congress, the Copernican Academy and the “Turiń Declaration” on academic freedom, which the UK and other EU member states signed, represent attempts to not only restructure the Polish sector, but also to reconfigure the globalist discourse of science excellence, merging it with religious fundamentalism. Through a context-sensitive analysis of the impact of nationalist discourse and policy orientations on the higher education domain in Poland, the study reveals the different modalities by which higher education institutions are affected by changing political dynamics and ideals. Highlighting the role of anti-EU sentiments as a manifestation of the rising nationalist movements, the study elucidates how ideals of protectionism and sovereignty permeate the higher education policy domain. By addressing the responses of universities and the higher education sector om Poland, the study also aims to inform understanding on the state-university relationship in the contemporary moment.

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