The University of Warsaw

The University of Warsaw is the largest and one of the highest-ranking universities in Poland, both in
terms of research and in terms of academic teaching. Its high position is due to the vast number of
studies and specializations it conducts, the variety and flexibility of available studies, international

cooperation with multiple educational institutions in Poland and throughout Europe, and the high
demand for its alumni on the market.

History

The history of the University goes back to 1816. The full history is available here.

Over the two centuries of its existence the notable alumni of the University of Warsaw have included
the world-famous Polish composer Frédéric Chopin and the Nobel prize winning writer Olga
Tokarczuk, but also hundreds of outstanding scientists, writers, philosophers and politicians, working
in Poland and elsewhere.

The campus

The original main building complex in Krakowskie Przedmieście houses the University office as well as
a handful of faculties and prestigious lecture halls. Some faculties are located in the Natural Sciences
campus, while other faculties and institutes, as well as the Warsaw University Library and the
students’ dormitories, are dispersed throughout the city.

The University’s goals and values

1. The basis of the University’s activity is the unity of teaching and research.
2. The mission of the University within society is to guarantee access to knowledge and acquisition of
skill to all who are entitled.
3. The civic mission of the University is the formation of those elites who will in their activities serve
the “imperio rationis” rather than the “ratione imperii”.
4. The cultural mission of the University is a synthesis of universal and local values.

The full text of the University’s mission statement is available here.