Student’s ABC guide

USOSweb is the portal you will use throughout your studies.Through it, you will, among other things, register for classes, check grades and submit applications and requests – including requests for material support.

A USOSweb account will be set up for you by your dean’s office. If you don’t have access to USOSweb, and you want, for example, to apply for a dormitory place, contact your dean’s office directly and let the people working there know. They will certainly be happy to assist you.

Unfortunately, we cannot expedite the process and are not involved in the process of setting up accounts.

UW has seven dormitories. We conduct two types of recruitment for dormitories:

• basic, which is customarily held during the summer vacation. During its course, you must submit an application by the deadline via USOSweb after logging in, select the tab for all, then applications). During its course you obtain a place for the next academic year.
• Supplementary, which takes place throughout the academic year. Instead of an application, you need to sign up for the waiting list – you can find it in our entry in the news The waiting list for UW student dormitories.

As a rule, rooms in the dormitories are double. It is possible to convert a double room into a single room, but this is only possible if the number of people willing to live in the dorms is less than the number of vacancies. This usually happens from mid-January to the end of the academic year.

A place in a dormitory is granted for 9 months with the possibility of extending the residence for the vacations.

If you will be one of the people living in the dorm, you are encouraged to get involved in the social life of the dorm by becoming a member of the Resident Council. You can read more about this on the Students’ Council of the University of Warsaw:
Main Dormitory Council.

Not sure which dorm is right for you? Use our Dorm tab and see photos and detailed descriptions of each dorm.

Social scholarship:

At the University of Warsaw you can count on support both when you are in a difficult financial situation (you have a low income) and when you suddenly find yourself in a difficult life situation.

When your income per person in the family does not exceed 1 570,50 PLN (as of 1.10.2024) you can apply for a social scholarship. You must submit your application via USOSweb (after logging in, select the tab common section, and then applications). Remember, you apply for this form of support once per semester. The scholarship is paid in a fixed amount for a given person every month, for a maximum of 10 months (up to 5 months in the winter semester and 5 months in the summer semester).

For detailed information on, among other things, the documents you need to attach to your application, see Social Scholarship.

If you have questions, you can reach us:

• come – we are located at Dobra 55 (Contact)
• call – Contact
• write – bpm@uw.edu.pl

Assistance grant:

Anyone can find themselves in a difficult life situation due to unplanned events. Examples of such situations include:

• loss of your (or a member of your family’s) main source of income, such as a layoff of one of your parents,
• loss of income or property due to a natural disaster, e.g. loss of crops during a fire,
• death of a member of your immediate family, such as the death of one of your parents,
• the need to purchase rehabilitation or medical equipment necessary for studying, such as the purchase of corrective glasses,
• the need to incur expenses related to the use of psychological assistance.

In the case of the assistance grant, it is worth remembering some information:

• you can receive a maximum of two assistance grant payments (for different reasons) during one academic year,
• the assistance grant can be granted based on costs already incurred,
• you must submit your application up to 3 months from the date when the event that caused the hardship took place.

For more information about the assistance grant, see the Assistance grant tab.

If you have questions, you can reach us:

• come – we are located at Dobra 55 (Contact)
• call – Contact
• write – bpm@uw.edu.pl

At the UW you will find many forms of support for the brightest. One of the newest projects at the UW is the Scholarship to Start program. Under the program, you can apply for the Scholarship to Start for Olympians and the Scholarship to Start for Athletes.

You can apply for the Scholarship to Start for Olympians when you have obtained the maximum number of points in the admission procedure on the basis of the title of laureate of a subject Olympiad.

You can apply for the Scholarship to Start for Athletes when you have earned a high-scoring place at the Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships or Polish Championships (but no further than 10th) or are eligible for the Rector’s scholarship in the academic year in which you apply for the Scholarship to Start.

It is customary to apply at the beginning of the calendar year and culminate in a scholarship distribution ceremony at a ceremony organized by the Rector in late April or early May.

The scholarship is paid in a single payment. During the I. and II. Edition of the program amounted to PLN 12,000 gross.

Another important support from this category is the Rector’s scholarship. To apply for it you must:

• have passed the baccalaureate exam in the year of admission to the first year of study in which you want to apply for the scholarship,
• have the title of
  • laureate of an international Olympiad or
  • laureate of an Olympiad of the central degree, referred to in the regulations on the educational system, or
  • finalist of an Olympiad of the central degree, referred to in the regulations on the educational system, or
• you are a medalist in at least a sports competition for the title of Polish Champion in a given sport, as referred to in the regulations on sports.

Having health insurance is mandatory for all students (not every student can get it from the university). I encourage you to pay attention to the continuity of your insurance, as it allows you to benefit from free health care. Remember that the university can provide you with health insurance only in certain cases and only upon your request.

Some of the most important rules that everyone should know:

• the university will only insure you upon your written request,
• you must inform the Material Assistance Office whenever you are covered by insurance from another source (e.g., in connection with the signing of an employment contract or a contract of commission – regardless of its duration or whether it was signed at the University of Warsaw!). You cannot be insured in two places at the same time. Failure to declare insurance from another title may be associated with the fact that the National Health Fund will not confirm your right to benefits, for example, during a medical visit,
• as of January 1, 2023, the university does not pay health insurance premiums for the student, but only reports the student for health insurance – so if you are insured by the university as a student, you do not have to worry about not seeing information about the premiums paid in your patient account,
• whenever you have doubts about the correctness of your insurance, it is a good idea to contact the Financial Aid Office to confirm or get information about the need to take any action. Retroactive insurance corrections are difficult and sometimes may be impossible, so don’t put off reporting your concerns.

For more useful information, see Health Insurance.