Young and socially aware

• QueerUP is a safe space for LGBTQI+ people at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
• Foreign students can find help in the Support Team For Exchange Programs "STEP UP"
• Student Club of Honorary Blood Donors "Pijafka" is an association promoting honorary blood donation among students. From 2018, during the Pijafka donating campaigns, you can also register in the DKMS bone marrow donor database.

QueerUP = safe space 

A safe space for LGBTQI+ people at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences is provided by the QueerUP student organization. This is a place for anyone who feels lost or alienated in a new environment, anyone who wants to find similar-minded friends, or anyone who encounters discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity during their studies. 

QueerUP is a very young organization – it was established in February of this year. But after operating for less than a year, it has around 60 members, which indicates how big of a demand for such a club there was, although, as the founders say, the situation at UPWr in terms of tolerance and respect for LGBTQI+ people is good – they haven’t received any information about cases of open discrimination. Members of the club will nevertheless conduct surveys among students and in dormitories to ensure that such cases do not occur. 

According to the founders of QueerUP, third-year veterinary students: Monika Wiśniewska - president and vice presidents Aleksandra Mamrot and Marcelina Jankowska, the idea to create the organization came from a conversation about transgender name tags for the USOS system, which have been introduced at one of Krakow's universities. – We noticed that our university lacks this, so we decided to step in, and do something about it – says Monika, adding with a smile that so far their organisation was met only with bureaucratic obstacles and a lot of paperwork. 

– We are pleasantly surprised that our idea to create QueerUP was so openly accepted, and the response among the lecturers and students was so positive. This allowed us to immediately focus on important plans, of which we have many – adds vice-president Marcelina Jankowska, and the first one is to introduce name tags for transgender students in the USOS system. – A colleague of ours told us that although all lecturers respected his request to use his proper name, the USOS system, especially during remote classes, still displayed his dead name, i.e. the name with which trans people no longer identify. That's why these name tags are needed – explains Aleksandra. 

The founders of the organization also plan to introduce pink boxes with menstrual aids, integration trips for members, as well as training courses for employees, in the organization of which they are helped by the Equality Culture association and the club's supervisor, prof. Aleksander Chrószcz, who is also the chairman of the university's anti-discrimination committee.

"STEP UP" – helping foreign exchange students

Student organization Support Team For Exchange Programs "STEP UP" was established in 2019, previously operating under the name Erasmus Student Network UP Wrocław. Currently, the organization is taking steps to join the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), which is a European association of students who help Erasmus+ students across Europe. 

The “STEP UP” team helps foreign students, e.g. Erasmus students or English Division students, to find their way around the university and in Wrocław in many ways: it supports the integration of international students, organizes events thanks to which foreigners learn about Polish culture, and also supports them – these friendships can last a lifetime! 

– Members of our organization focus on helping foreign students in their everyday life at the university and in the city. We show them how they can have a good time – we want them to see Wrocław from a different perspective than just from within the university. We organize integrations and going out to parties, to eat traditional Polish food and many other attractions, both in Wrocław and other Polish cities. We often act as an interpreter at the doctor’s office, if they don’t speak English, sometimes we even accompany them on trips, including those abroad. We act as a kind of guardian to the visiting students, to whom they can turn in case of need – explains Wiktoria Szewior, a student of biotechnology, who is the president of "STEP UP". 

Joining “STEP UP”, which is possible throughout the year, gives UPWr students the opportunity to make international friendships and learn about new cultures, and thanks to the experience of the team and training courses – it’s an opportunity to improve your language, interpersonal and organizational skills.

Pijafka collects blood 

Student Club of Honorary Donors "Pijafka" is a student association which promotes honorary blood donation among students. Their first donation was carried out in Club Bajer on International Women's Day, March 8, 2007. Since then, the donations have been carried out cyclically. 

Pijafka operates at D.A. Redemptor, and also collaborates with the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław University of Technology, the Academy of Physical Education and the WSB University, among others. 

Wrocław’s university graduates are also involved in promoting blood donation, which is in many cases the most valuable medicine for patients. Members of the club organize honorary blood donation campaigns, lectures on first aid and leading a healthy lifestyle. 

And what is equally important – since 2018, during Pijafka’s campaigns, you can also register to a bone marrow donor database. The DKMS Foundation – Database of Stem Cell Donors Poland – has been operating in Poland since 2008. The Foundation's mission is to find a donor for every patient in the world who needs a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from blood or bone marrow. In over 14 years, the Foundation has registered over 1,800,000 potential donors in Poland.

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  UPWr isn't all about science, it's also about art!

  At UPWr students can develop various passions, not only scientific ones. For those artistically talented, the university offers the opportunity to join the Academic UPWr Choir or the Academic Folk Song and Dance Band "Jedliniok".

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  If you need help, we're here

  The Support and Accessibility Centre (CWiD) is set up to help students with their mental health, support people with special needs, and offer career counselling