The 10-day Orientation Session, organized and led by the Department of International Polish Studies, is intended to introduce Fellows to the country of their research stay: Poland. This preamble is presented in academic and cultural terms. The Fellows follow a programme of an inaugural lecture to officially start the year-long Scholarship Programme, interdisciplinary seminars, meetings with local politicians and representatives of NGOs, and study excursions.

It is in this way that the large multicultural group of Fellows come to be better acquainted with the historical, cultural, political, and economic make-up of Poland before commencing their own independent scholarly projects on a Poland-related topic of their choice.

The Department of International Polish Studies takes its residence in the the building of the former Royal Arsenal, immediately across from Wawel castle, located at ul. Grodzka 64. The Department of IPS occupies the second floor of what is today a modernist building that still possesses its baroque portals. It is in this building that the Department's adminstration office, seminar rooms, library (all on the second floor), and computer lab (first floor) are to be found.

The administration office is placed in room 209. Seminar rooms are stationed in rooms 207 and 208. The library is situated at the end of the hall on the second floor.

Ul. Grodzka 64 is a five minute walk south from the Main Market Square and a 5 minute walk away from Kazimierz.

The main administration offices of the Faculty of Polish Studies are located at ul. Golebia 18.

The Bydgoska student hall of residence is located at ul. Bydgoska 19. It takes approximately 15 minutes travelling time by tram to reach the tram stop, named 'Wawel,' located outside of the building at ul. Grodzka 64.

It takes about 10 minutes travelling time by tram from Bydgoska to reach the heart of the city, the Main Market Square. You can take any tram from tram stop 'Biprostal' to reach the center. Get off at 'Teatr Bagatela.'

The main Jagiellonian University library is located at ul. Mickiewicza 22. From Bydgoska, bus no. 173 will take you straight, in about 10 mintues, to the main university library.

In order to study in Poland, a foreign student is required to be in possession of a Polish student visa. Student visas are issued at Polish consulates the world over and are given for a period of up to 12 months. This visa will allow the foreign student to reside in Poland legally for the given study period. This document must be secured in your home country before arriving to Poland. The responsibility for obtaining a Polish student visa ultimately lies with the individual student.

You will be issued a student visa that will be valid for your entire academic stay in Poland. You will need to present a letter addressed to the consulate from the Jagiellonian University which confirms the specific time period you will have student status in Poland. The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities provides this document for its students. If you are intending to study for one semester you can expect to receive a student visa that will be valid for around 5 months (August-December; February-June), depending on your date of arrival to Poland. If you plan to spend the whole academic year, you can expect to receive a student visa for around 9 months (August-June), depending on your date of arrival to Poland.

The process of acquiring a Polish visa is fairly simple for foreign students. The application process is initiated at the Polish consulate closest to your home. You will want to apply for a multiple-entry student visa. The visa should be issued free of cost but please be aware that theory does not always meet practice in this matter. Polish consulates are given much lee-way and independence in interpreting existing rules and regulations and have been known to charge for student visas.

You will need to provide for the consulate the following:

1. A valid passport with the date of expiry at least 3 months after the date of your required departure from Poland.
2. One colour 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm photograph.
3. A letter of confirmation of acceptance to the Study Abroad Programme addressed to the consulate from the Jagiellonian University. The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities will send this letter to you upon acceptance to the Programme.
4. Documentation proving you have the financial means to travel to and from Poland and to financially support yourself during your study stay in Poland without recourse to gaining employment while residing in Poland. A photocopy or printout of your bank statement or other documents showing you have or are to receive grants or loans will suffice.
5. A completed application form. Application forms are available at each consulate or can be downloaded from here.

You may be requested to provide supplementary documents. Usually this will take the form of providing medical insurance documents. 

Fellows participating in the Lane Kirkland Scholarship Programme are provided with accommodation in the Bydgoska student hall of residence during the Orientation Session and for their entire study period at the Department of International Polish Studies.

The particulars for Bydgoska:

Dom Studencki Bydgoska
ul. Bydgoska 19
30-067 Kraków
Poland

Students will be housed in suites composed of two separate double-occupancy rooms that share, within the suite, a bathroom with full amenities. The typical double room consists of two single beds (linen and pillow are supplied), two small desks, two chairs, two large cupboards that also contain two sets of multi-level shelving to put clothing away, and two sets of shelves above either the beds or desks for books and other items. Fresh bed linen is given once a week. Details of a building on ul. Sławkowska.

On each floor there are two kitchens and one laundry room. The kitchens are equipped with electric element heaters and two sinks. Cooking utensils are not provided for (neither are refrigerators). Access to the laundry room is first acquired by receiving the key to the laundry room on your floor from the reception desk. There is also a paid laundry service in the basement of Piast (near by Bydgoska) where you can hand in your clothes to be washed in the morning and they will be ready for pick-up in the early evening. For an extra fee, the paid laundry service will do any ironing that is requested.

Bydgoska offers the following facilities: a canteen with very reasonably priced meals, a restaurant serving Chinese cuisine, a little shop, a bank, a post office, an internet café, a barber, and a rent-a-bike service. Irons and ironing boards, as well as hair-dryers, are also available at the reception desk. Piast houses its own student pub which has recently been given a fantastic face-lift to become rendolent of the usual trendy Kazimierz bar.

Students have access to numerous sources of English language materials in the libraries and reading rooms of the Jagiellonian University. The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities has its own library situated on the second floor at ul. Grodzka 64. It is in this library that students of the Study Abroad Programme will find their required and supplemental readings for their courses. Thus course materials do not need to be purchased. All course materials are deposited in our own library. There are also quiet study stations in the CASH library for students who wish to use the library's resources on-site. Students of the Centre have full borrowing privileges for all books in the CASH library.

Each academic unit of the Jagiellonian University usually has its own library or reading room. As full-time students of the Jagiellonian University, students participating in the Study Abroad Programme have the the opportunity to use the resources at the various libraries or reading rooms. Please note that borrowing privileges of books from these libraries or reading rooms may be restricted to students of the particular academic unit. However, it is common practice that all students, regardless from which unit of the university, may use the books on the premises.

The main Jagiellonian University library is located at al. Mickiewicza 22. Please note, however, that the main entrance to the building is actually around back, approached from ul. Oleandry. This library accommodates around 3.8 million publications. All students of the Jagiellonian University must have a library card in order to access and utilize the main library's resources. The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities will help students of the Study Abroad Programme acquire library cards for the main library.

Another excellent source for English language academic materials that many students find advantageous is Massolit Books and Café, ul. Felicjanek 4. Massolit contains a great selection of English language books in the fields of Polish literature and history, Jewish studies, and many other books from other branches of the humanities.