Silesian Friedrich Wilhelm University

University of Wrocław

Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Latin: Universitas Wratislaviensis
Former names	German: Leopoldina, Universität Breslau, Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau (before 1945)
Type	Public
Established	21 October 1702 (reorganised 1945)
President	Adam Jezierski
Administrative staff	3,481
Students	25,721
Location	Wrocław, Poland
Website	uni.wroc.pl

The University of Wrocław (UWr) (Polish: Uniwersytet Wrocławski; German: Universität Breslau; Latin: Universitas Wratislaviensis) is a public research university located in Wrocław, Poland. The University of Wrocław was founded in 1945, replacing the previous German University of Breslau. Following the territorial changes of Poland's borders academics primarily from the John Casimir University of Lviv (Polish: Lwów) restored the university building heavily damaged and split as a result of the Battle of Breslau (1945). Nowadays is one of the most prominent educational institutions in the region.

The University is currently the largest in Lower Silesian Voivodeship with over 100,000 graduates since 1945 including some 1,900 researchers among whom many received the highest awards for their contribution to the development of scientific scholarship. The University of Wrocław is renowned for its relatively high quality of teaching, placing 44th on the QS University Rankings: EECA 2016, and is located in the same campus as the former University of Breslau, which produced 9 Nobel Prize winners.

The oldest mention of a university in Wrocław comes from the foundation deed signed on July 20, 1505, by King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (also known as Władysław Jagiellończyk) for the Generale litterarum Gymnasium in Wrocław. However, the new academic institution requested by the town council wasn't built because the King's deed was rejected by Pope Julius II for political reasons. Also, the numerous wars and opposition from the Cracow Academy might have played a role. The first successful founding deed known as the Aurea bulla fundationis Universitatis Wratislaviensis was signed two centuries later, on October 1, 1702, by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I of the House of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia.