, latin_name = , former_names = Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej , president = , established = 1996 , type = Private , founder = Piotr Voelkel, Andrzej Eliasz, Zbigniew Pietrasiński and Janusz Reykowski , rector = Associate Professor Roman Cieślak, Ph.D. , students = 17,500 , undergrad = , postgrad = , address = , city =

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Katowice , state = , country =

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, campus = Urban , free_label = , free = , website
swps.pl
, image = SWPS University.svg , footnotes = , affiliations = EUA, Socrates-Erasmus , administrative_staff = 1000 , faculty = , profess = , colours =

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities or simply SWPS University ( pl, SWPS Uniwersytet Humanistycznospołeczny) is a private non-profit

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in Poland established in 1996 by three psychology professors, Andrzej Eliasz, Zbigniew Pietrasiński and Janusz Reykowski. SWPS University is one of the largest private universities in

with a community of over 14,000 students at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels, including over 1,200 international students from more than 60 countries. The university has five campuses, located in major Polish cities, including

, and Katowice. The institution was formerly known as the Warsaw School of Social Psychology (''Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej, SWPS''). It was granted university status under Polish law in 2015.

Administration

In 2008, the position of SWPS University founder was transferred to the Institute for the Development of Education (''Instytut Rozwoju Edukacji'') and its president, Polish businessman and philanthropist Piotr Voelkel. Before 2018, SWPS University was administered by a privately appointed board of trustees. Trustees served four-year terms and met annually. Andrzej Eliasz was chairman of the board of trustees. Other members included Jan Strelau (former chairman of the board of trustees), Michał Jan Boni (Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

), Magdalena Dziewguć (Google for Work), Robert Firmhofer (director of Copernicus Science Centre), Aleksander Kutela (

Onet.pl Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide an ...

S.A.), Przemysław Schmidt, Ewa Voelkel-Krokowicz. As of 2018, in compliance with the new higher education law in Poland, the governing body of SWPS University consists of rector and director general.

Rectors

# Andrzej Eliasz (from 1996 to 2016) # Roman Cieślak (since 2016)

Academics

SWPS University offers 15 undergraduate and graduate programs taught entirely in English and over 30 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral study programs, with over 70 specializations, in Polish. The main study areas are Psychology, Law, Languages, Literature and Culture Studies, Media and Communication, Management, and Design. The University has been ranked by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as the leading higher education institution offering Social Sciences program in Poland.

Faculties

Seven faculties of SWPS University have the authority to grant doctoral degrees in the following disciplines: cultural studies, literature studies, law, and sociology (in Warsaw) as well as psychology (in Warsaw, Wrocław, and Sopot). The university also has the authority to grant post-doctoral degrees (''habilitacja'') in cultural studies (Warsaw) and psychology (Warsaw and Wrocław). # Warsaw Faculty of Psychology # Warsaw Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences # Warsaw Faculty of Law # Sopot Faculty of Psychology # Katowice Faculty of Psychology # Wrocław Faculty of Psychology # Wrocław Faculty of Law and Communication # Poznań Faculty of Social Sciences and Design Poznan-Wyz Szk Nauk Hum i Dzienn

Notable staff

* Jan Strelau,

doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

Shevah Weiss Shevah Weiss ( he, שבח וייס; born 5 July 1935), is an Israeli political scientist and former politician. Biography Weiss was born in Borysław, Poland (since 1945 Boryslav, Ukraine) into a Polish Jewish family to Gienia and Meir Wolf Wei ...

, doctor honoris causa *

Robert Cialdini Robert Beno Cialdini (born April 27, 1945) is an American psychologist and academic. He is the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and was a visiting professor of marketing, business and psychology ...

, doctor honoris causa * Philip Zimbardo, doctor honoris causa * Małgorzata Kossut, head of the Department of Psychophysiology of Cognitive Processes * Jerzy Adam Kowalski, Institute of Culture Science * Tomasz Witkowski, founder of the

Klub Sceptyków Polskich Klub Sceptyków Polskich or KSP (English: ''Polish Skeptics Club'' or ''Polish Sceptics Club'') is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation actively engaged in the promotion of critical thinking, scientific skepticism and scientific methods. ...

Roman Laskowski Roman Laskowski (16 February 1936 – 21 June 2014) was a Polish slavist. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Learning, as well as a professor at Jagiellonian University and the University of Gothenburg. Laskowski was also a Solidarity activ ...

, professor of the Jagiellonian University and

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...

* Piotr Waglowski, researcher of communication processes in the paradigm of social constructionism * Andrzej Nowak, director and founder of the Institut of Social Psychology of Internet and Communication *

Jerzy Szacki Jerzy Ryszard Szacki (6 February 1929 – 25 October 2016) was a Polish sociology, sociologist and History of ideas, historian of ideas.Jerzy Szacki, Liberalism after communism, Central European University Press, 1995, back cover/ref>Nauka Polska, ...

, one of the most prominent representatives of the Warsaw School of the History of Ideas * Dariusz Doliński, president of the Psychological Sciences Committee in the Polish Science Academy * Bogdan Wojciszke * Klaus Bachmann, associate professor at the Institute of Political Science.

Notable alumni

* Żanna Słoniowska, novelist and journalist * Tomasz Kamusella, historian * Ania, singer *

Aleksandra Szwed Aleksandra "Ola" Szwed (born 8 August 1990 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish actress and singer of Polish and Nigerian ethnicity. She was a popular child actress, starring regularly since 1999 in '' Rodzina zastępcza'' (''Foster Family'') televisi ...

, actress * Katarzyna Cichopek, actress and dancer * Agnieszka Brustman, chess master

Social engagement

SWPS University collaborates with various local and national organizations nurturing the idea of social engagement of its faculty and students. SWPS has a Legal Clinic which offers free legal advice for low-income individuals. The University also supports local craftsmen running their small businesses in the Praga District of Warsaw where the University main campus is located. Much of the research output is devoted to social, business and political issues such as neuroscience, behavioral insights for economy and public policy, health and nutrition, ageing, youth adaptation, or facing EU challenges from Horizon Europe (e.g. migrations, human & technology relations in the digital world). SWPS cooperates with various NGOs and institutions devoted to social causes, are the first European campus with the

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

Journey to Changemaking Certificate, and are member of newly-established Engaged Universities Forum, grouping 7 Polish Universities around the UN SDGs.

Rankings

* SWPS University is ranked the second best private higher education institution in Poland according to Perspektywy 2019 Polish University ranking. * SWPS University is ranked 1001+ in the 2020 World University Rankings by ''Times Higher Education (THE)'' In the 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, SWPS is ranked 401+ in Psychology and 401-500 in Social Sciences by subject. * In ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2019 for Psychology SWPS University is ranked 201-300.http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/psychology.htm
/ref> * According to the American US News Ranking – 1st Psychology in Poland and 308 in the World.

References

External links

*
The SWPS Students Association

Website of The Warsaw Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:SWPS, University Educational institutions established in 1996 Universities and colleges in Poland Universities and colleges in Wrocław Universities and colleges in Katowice Universities and colleges in Poznań SWPS University 1996 establishments in Poland