The University of Łódź was founded May 24, 1945 in Łódź, as a continuation of educational institutions functioning in Łódź in the interwar period - the Teacher Training Institute (1921-1928), the Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences (1924-1928) and a division of the Free Polish University (1928-1939).

Currently it has more than 42 500 students and 3827 teachers.

Its international cooperation includes 385 partner institutions from all over the world.

A range of BA, MA, and postgraduate courses held in English as a language of instruction are currently offered both to Polish and overseas students.

Reputation

The University of Lodz strives to maintain its high academics standards, the most recent testimonies of which include:

• 3rd place among Polish Universities for the quality of instruction in Economic Sciences, as shown in the 2011 ranking by the Gazeta Bankowa (a respected Polish finance & banking newspaper)
• 2nd place among Polish Universities for qualifying future lawyers, such as legal counsels, and civil-law notaries, as shown in the 2010 ranking by the Polish Ministry of Justice
• 4th place among Polish higher education institutions of international prestige, as concluded from the outcomes of QS
  Quacquarelli Symonds
  Quacquarelli Symonds is a company specializing in education and study abroad. The company was founded in 1990 by Wharton School MBA graduate Nunzio Quacquarelli...
  
   and Webometrics
  Webometrics
  The science of webometrics tries to measure the World Wide Web to get knowledge about the number and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web and usage patterns...
  
   rankings of 2010

Rector

1. Tadeusz Kotarbiński
   Tadeusz Kotarbinski
   Tadeusz Kotarbiński , a pupil of Kazimierz Twardowski, was a Polish philosopher, logician, one of the most representative figures of the Lwów-Warsaw School, and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning as well as the Polish Academy of Sciences...
   
    – 1945-1949
2. Józef Chałasiński – 1949-1952
3. Jan Szczepański
   Jan Szczepanski (sociologist)
   Jan Szczepański was a Polish sociologist and politician. Professor of University of Łódź, its rector from 1952-1956. His works concentrated on theory of sociology, history of sociology, as well as studying of transformations of social structure...
   
    – 1952-1956
4. Adam Szpunar – 1956-1962
5. Stefan Hrabec – 1962-1965
6. Józef Stanisław Piątowski – 1965-1968
7. Andrzej Nadolski
   Andrzej Nadolski
   Andrzej Nadolski was a Polish historian, specializing in Polish military history, an archaeologist, and professor. During World War II he was a member of Armia Krajowa. Rector of University of Łódź from 1968 to 1969, he resigned in protest over the 1968 Polish political crisis....
   
    – 1968-1969
8. Zdzisław Skwarczyński – 1969-1972
9. Janusz Górski – 1972-1975
10. Romuald Skowroński – 1975-1981
11. Jerzy Wróblewski  – 1981-1984
12. Leszek Wojtczak – 1984-1990
13. Michał Seweryński – 1990-1996
14. Stanisław Liszewski – 1996-2002
15. Wiesław Puś – 2002-2008
16. Włodzimierz Nykiel - 2008-

Faculties

• Biology and Environmental Protection
• Chemistry
• Economics and Sociology
• Philology
• Philosophy and History
• Physics and Applied Informatics
• Mathematics and Informatics
• Geographical Sciences
• Educational Sciences
• Law and Administration
• Management
• International and Political Studies

Other units

• The School of Polish for Foreigners
  The School of Polish for Foreigners
  The School of Polish for Foreigners - an educational institution, part of University of Łódź. Its main purpose is to prepare foreign students to study at Polish universities.The School of Polish for Foreigners was established in 1952 in Łódź...
  
   - first School of Polish for Foreigners in Poland, since 1952
• Branch in Tomaszów Mazowiecki
  Tomaszów Mazowiecki
  Tomaszów Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 67,159 inhabitants . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , it was previously part of Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship...
  
  

Origins

The University was created after the total destruction of Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, during and after the Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...

, and after the expulsion of Poles from Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

. Later many professors left for Warsaw.