Everything you need to know about applying for the Rector’s scholarship – academic year 2024/2025 [UPDATED]
Category: Rector’s scholarship
This entry will be updated – updates are located at the bottom of the page
Last updated: 14 November 2024
Starting from September 16, 2024, applications for the Rector’s Scholarship for the 2024/2025 academic year can be submitted, which is two weeks earlier than last year.
This year, the application period will last until October 15, 2024, which we hope will help in the preparation and submission of documents.
Similar to last year, after the application period ends, we will provide information on the number of applications received. This data, along with any significant information regarding the verification of applications, can be found at the end of the entry.
The percentage of those eligible to receive the scholarship and the amount of the scholarship itself are the two most important pieces of information for most applicants. They will likely be announced between November and December.
Rector’s Scholarship for students beginning their studies
You can receive the Rector’s Scholarship if you are admitted to the first year of first-cycle (Bachelor’s) or for the first year of a uniform Master’s studies in the year you passed your secondary school exams, and you meet one of the following criteria:
- You are a laureate of an international Olympiad or a laureate or finalist of a national-level Olympiad, in accordance with the regulations on the education system;
- You are a medalist in sports competitions for the title of Polish Champion in a given sport, in accordance with the sports regulations.
Every student who meets these conditions receives the Rector’s Scholarship, and the number of scholarships is not limited.
Rector’s Scholarship for students continuing their studies
If you are studying more than one degree program, you can receive the Rector’s Scholarship for only one of them, according to your choice.
If you already hold a Master’s degree, you are not eligible to apply for the Rector’s Scholarship, even if the degree was obtained abroad. Similarly, if you have a Bachelor’s degree and are applying for the scholarship for another first-cycle (Bachelor’s) program, you will not be eligible for the scholarship.
You are entitled to the scholarship during first-cycle (Bachelor’s), second-cycle (Master’s), and long-cycle Master’s studies. You can receive the scholarship for a total of 12 semesters, regardless of whether you take full advantage of it.
With the provision that during this period, the scholarship is granted for:
- first-cycle studies – for a maximum of 9 semesters;
- second-cycle studies – for a maximum of 7 semesters.
Foreign students are also eligible to apply for the Rector’s Scholarship.
Rector’s Scholarship and Dean’s Leave
You can receive the Rector’s Scholarship while on Dean’s leave.
Rector’s Scholarship and Erasmus+
You can receive the Rector’s Scholarship during your Erasmus+ exchange period.
Application Deadline
Q: Can I submit my application on October 16th?
A: If you submit your application after October 15th, you will not receive a decision and will not be able to appeal. After this deadline, it will no longer be possible to apply for the Rector’s Scholarship. Therefore, don’t leave it until the last minute.
How to submit an application
Grade Average. How are points for the average calculated?
If you are applying for the Rector’s Scholarship, you can calculate the number of points for your grade average using the following example:
You can also obtain your calculated average from the administrative office of your academic unit.
How Points for Scientific, Sports, and Artistic Achievements are Calculated
Detailed information on points for additional achievements (Criteria II – IV) can be found in Appendix No. 3 of the Regulations on Benefits for Students of the University of Warsaw. The document is available at this link: NOTICE NO. 18 OF THE RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW (only in Polish).
In paragraphs § 6-10 of Appendix No. 3 of the Regulations, you will find all the information related to the scoring of additional achievements, including details and criteria.
Assessment Criteria
Change of field of study
If, after submitting your application for the rector’s scholarship, you have changed your field of study, for example:
- you completed your second year in Administration and submitted your application for the rector’s scholarship while still in that program,
- and now you are starting your third year in Territorial Self-Government (and are no longer studying Administration),
you must inform us about this change. This is important so that we can enable you to submit the application under your new field of study.
However, if the change involves transitioning between undergraduate (Bachelor’s) and graduate (Master’s) levels, e.g., you completed your Bachelor’s in Cognitive Science and are starting your Master’s in Administration, you do not need to report this change.
To notify us of a change in the field of study within the same degree level, simply send an email to bpm@uw.edu.pl no later than 3:00 pm on October 15, 2024. After this deadline, it will no longer be possible to change the field of study for which you are applying for the scholarship.
We encourage you to meet this deadline to avoid any issues with the processing of your application.
What to Expect in the Near Future: A Few Tips
We understand that starting a new academic year can be stressful and raise many questions. That’s why we strive to simplify the entire Rector’s Scholarship application process and continuously update our website with valuable tips.
First, we recommend checking our “Rector’s Scholarship” section. There, you’ll find a wealth of useful information and answers to frequently asked questions.
If you still have doubts, feel free to email us at bpm@uw.edu.pl.
Remember to:
- Use an email address with the UW domain,
- Clearly indicate the subject of your inquiry in the email title,
- Provide your student ID number.
We’re here to help!
Stay calm and remember that during the application verification process, we will contact you with information on how to address any concerns regarding your average grade or achievement scores. To help us, please patiently wait until we reach out to you. Contacting us earlier will not speed up the verification process.
Don’t worry if you don’t see your average grade yet. Units are still working on processing academic stages and creating rankings, so your average may not be visible until the second half of November at the latest.
Approach rankings with a sense of perspective. Every year, we notice that some students like to analyze rankings on USOSweb. Remember, they are only supplementary and do not account for additional achievements beyond the grade average, so they may not accurately reflect your real situation.
Q: Does this mean that the ranking on USOSweb doesn’t show my real chance of receiving the scholarship?
A: Rankings on USOSweb only reflect the grade average. They do not consider all relevant aspects, such as additional scientific, sports, or artistic achievements. Therefore, while they are useful, they do not provide a complete picture of a student’s situation.
Filled in – the application is in the process of completion, you can freely make changes to the document. Please note that applications and statements with this status will not be verified.
Delivered – at this stage you can no longer make changes to the application/statement. From this point on, the documents are subject to verification. To avoid problems related to the submission of the application/statement, make sure that USOSweb shows your email in the UW domain. Don’t put off submitting your application until the last moment!
Declared incomplete / Declared incorrect – during the verification of the application, the coordinator found errors or missing documents. Most often, you will find detailed information on how to improve your application in a comment visible in USOSweb or in your email inbox.
Ready for consideration – document verification has been completed. The application is ready for processing.
Verified – the status of the application indicates that a decision will be made available soon.
Considered (decision to be delivered) – the decision will be made/has been made available in USOSweb. Please be patient as the decision will be made available after it is signed, so it may take a few days for it to appear in USOSweb. The decision can be found in the “list of administrative letters” tab (log in to USOSWeb -> Common Section, and then on the left in the column find the “list of administrative letters” tab).
UPDATED 16 October
We have some important information for you about the Rector’s scholarship. We received 5548 applications this year. We are now waiting for the data from the teaching units so that we can start the verification, which we are planning for next week.
The specific dates for the announcement of decisions and disbursements are not yet set, but we anticipate that we will know the decisions and the amount of the scholarship, as well as the percentage of those entitled to receive it, in the first half of December 2024. We will update this information when we have verified 80% of the applications.
Thank you for all the questions we receive and for your patience in this process!
UPDATED 23 October
List of coordinators in the teaching units responsible for the Rector’s scholarship 2024/2025:
UPDATED 11 November
As of today, we have already processed 93% of the applications, and we are currently finalizing the verification process, awaiting data from individual teaching units. We expect to announce decisions in the first week of December, and we will confirm payment dates soon. We appreciate your patience and thank you for your many questions – we will be happy to answer more. We will provide more information once full verification is completed.