Svetlana Alexievich
Writer, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature
The goal of the Free Belarus University is to foster a broad, pro-reform Belarusian elite in cooperation with Western universities, drawing on the reform experiences of Central and Eastern European countries and using modern educational technologies.
The strategic objective of the FBU is to create a Belarusian digital university.
The Free Belarus University operates as a provider of European distance education programs, adapting courses to the needs of Belarusian students based on systematic sociological research of the target group.
The primary language of instruction is Belarusian. Selected courses are also offered in Polish, English, French and Russian.
Council of the Free Belarus University
Andżelika Borys
Chair of the Union of Poles in Belarus, former political prisoner
Aleś Bialacki
Chair of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, political prisoner
Marek Bućko
Polish diplomat and civic activist, former counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Minsk and Deputy Head of Mission
Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy
Polish journalist and civic activist, founder and long-serving director of Biełsat TV
Robert Tyszkiewicz
Polish politician and civic activist, long-serving member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Aliaksandr Smalanchuk
Professor, habilitated doctor of history at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, researcher of Belarusian and Lithuanian history in the 19th and 20th centuries, national movements and collective memory
Zakhar Shybeka
Belarusian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor and author of more than 200 academic publications
Founders of the Free Belarus University
Stanisłaŭ Šuškievič (1934–2022)
Professor, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, first head of state of independent Belarus (1991–1994)
Alaksandr Milinkievič (1947–2026) Chancellor of FBU (2017-2026)
Associate Professor, PhD in Physics and Mathematics specialising in quantum electronics, recipient of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Aleś Bialacki
Chair of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, political prisoner
FBU Executive Board
Ina Kulej Chancellor
Ales Lahvinets Programme Director
Master’s degree in Political Science, lecturer, civic activist and translator.
Partners
The Free Belarus University is funded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science. The University of Wrocław is the leading partner of the "Wolny Uniwersytet Białoruski" project.
Academic Partners: University of Wrocław, University of Warsaw, University of Łódź, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Higher School of Management Personnel in Konin, Civitas University, as well as professors from Florida Atlantic University, Tallinn University, University of Bordeaux, Tallinn University of Technology, and Linköping University.
The FBU project has received support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Berlin), Polish-American Freedom Foundation (Warsaw), Leaders of Change Foundation (Warsaw), European Endowment for Democracy (EED, Brussels), International Solidarity Foundation (Warsaw), School of Leadership Foundation, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Poland and Estonia, British Embassy in Minsk, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament Delegation for relations with Belarus and the European Commission.
SUPPORTING A SCIENTIFIC CAREER
Continuing a scientific career in Poland for Belarusian researchers and university teachers
Participants of the FBU courses
Belarusians living in Poland – about 45%. Belarusians residing in Belarus – over 25%.
The remaining participants – from the diaspora across more than 30 countries.
Other countries:
Armenia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Portugal
Mexico
Montenegro
Kenya
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
USA
Vietnam
FBU is built by Belarusians worldwide — beyond borders.