Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń after the creation of the Nicolaus Copernicus University) that prof. Karol Gorski revealed that before the outbreak of World War II there was an approved plan to open Poznań University long-distance division in Toruń in 1940, to teach the humanities and theology. In 2017, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally. Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It was named after Nicolaus Copernicus who was born in this town in 1473. The first institution of higher education in Torun, the Toruń Academic Gymnasium was founded
Nicolaus Copernicus historian Norman Davies writes that Copernicus, as was common in his era, was "largely indifferent" to nationality, being a local patriot who considered himself "Prussian". Miłosz and Davies both write that Copernicus had a German-language cultural background, while his working language was Latin in accord with the usage of the time. Additionally, according to Davies, "there is ample evidence that he knew the Polish language". Davies concludes that, "Taking everything into consideration, there is good reason to regard him both as a German and as a Pole: and yet, in the sense that modern nationalists understand it, he was neither."