Chapter 1

General provisions

§ 1

The Regulations of the Botanic Garden of the University of Warsaw, hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”, define the structure of the Botanic Garden of the University of Warsaw, the type and scope of its activities, and the rules for accessing the collections of the Botanic Garden of the University of Warsaw.

§ 2

In the Regulations, the following terms are used:
1) Faculty – meaning the Faculty of Biology;
2) Garden – meaning the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden;
3) Director – meaning the Director of the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden;
4) Gardener – meaning a worker or service staff member;
5) Collections – meaning the plants assembled in various thematic sections of the Garden, including herbarium collections held in the Garden’s Herbarium.

Chapter 2

Scope of the Garden’s activities

§ 3

The Botanic Garden is a botanical garden as defined in Act of 16 April 2004 on the conservation of nature (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2016, item 2134, as amended), hereinafter referred to as the Nature Conservation Act.

§ 4

The tasks of the Botanic Garden include scholarly, educational and teaching activities related to the broadly understood biodiversity, plant biology and ecology, conservation of nature as well as the relationship between man and nature.

§ 5

The Botanic Garden fulfils its tasks by, in particular:
1) collecting and expanding the living plant collections, with a focus on endangered species, crop plants, and ornamental plants from different climate zones and habitats;
2) conducting or participating in scientific research;
3) teaching in academia and engaging in educational activities, with a focus on the topics of plant biodiversity and preservation of nature;
4) ex situ conservation of endangered plants species;
5) collaborating nationally and internationally in the field of scientific, educational and didactic activities conducted by the Garden;
6) preparing expert reports, reviews, opinions and providing scientific consultations within the scope of the Garden’s activities;
7) keeping the cultivation and breeding records in accordance with standards adopted by botanic gardens;
8) popularising science and promoting the University and the Faculty;
9) providing access, to the extent possible, to the Garden’s collections and other resources for scientific, educational and teaching purposes.

Chapter 3

Organisational structure of the Garden

§ 6

1. According to § 4 section 2 point 10 of the Regulations of the UW Faculty of Biology, the Garden is an internal organizational unit of the Faculty and is directly subordinate to the Dean of the Faculty.
2. The Garden’s internal organisational structures are: themed sections, the Education Laboratory, the Science Laboratory, and the Herbarium.
3. The Director is responsible for the Garden’s work and is the direct supervisor of academic teachers, doctoral students and non-academic staff employed in the Garden.
4. The Director is selected through a competition and appointed for a seven-year term by the Rector of the University. The procedure for appointing the Director is laid down in the Faculty Regulations.

§ 7

The Director’s main tasks include:
1) organising and coordinating the research, educational and organisational work done by the Garden staff and employees of other institutions cooperating with the Garden;
2) proposing changes to the Garden Rules and Regulations;
3) taking responsibility for the Garden’s property status;
4) providing access to the Garden and its collections on the principles set out in §§ 13–17;
5) representing the Garden externally;
6) making decisions concerning the Garden’s functioning that are not reserved for the Dean of the Faculty or the Rector of the University of Warsaw.

§ 8

All creation, transformation, renaming and liquidation of the internal organisational structures of the Garden is done by order of the Director.

Chapter 4

Garden Sections and Herbarium

§ 9

The Director appoints, from among the Garden employees, the Deputy Head of Gardens, hereinafter referred to as the Supervisor, the Deputy Technical Director, the Curators, who are professionally responsible for individual collections or sections of the Garden, the head of the Education Laboratory, and the Herbarium Curator. The Science Laboratory is directly subordinate to the Director.

§ 10

The Supervisor is responsible for coordinating the gardening works throughout the Garden, in particular, for allocating Gardeners to work in specific sections of the Garden. The Supervisor reports directly to the Director.

§ 11

The Deputy Technical Director is responsible for the technical aspects of the Garden’s functioning and for coordinating the organisational work, and reports directly to the Director.

§ 12

The Curator’s Tasks include, in particular:
1) substantive supervision over plant collections in their respective sections as well as planning the development and improvement of plant collections;
2) planning and coordinating, in consultation with the Supervisor, gardening and maintenance works in their respective departments, and performing such work if necessary;
3) maintaining, managing and continuously updating the documentation of the plants in their respective collections as part of an integrated database operating in the Garden;
4) conducting popularization and informational activities concerning the Garden and its plant collections;
5) expanding knowledge of plant collections under their charge.

Chapter 5

Providing access to the Garden and its collections and the rules of using the Garden’s collections for scientific and educational purposes

§ 13

1. The Garden is open to the public every day from spring to autumn of each calendar year. The day of the spring opening and autumn closing of the Garden is determined annually by the Director and announced to the public at least two weeks before the date.
2. There is an admission fee to the Garden. The Director determines the prices and types of individual admission tickets as well as the opening hours of the Garden. This information is updated annually.
3. Employees and students of the University of Warsaw, as well as holders of the Honorary Admission Cards issued by the Director, are exempt from fees.
4. In justified cases, the Director may approve a one-time exemption from the admission fee.
5. On occasions when special exhibitions are organised, the Garden may remain open outside the dates specified in section 1.

§ 14

Visitors are required to comply with the Rules of Order issued by the Director.

§ 15

1. The collections, Herbarium, database and archival materials of the Garden can be used free of charge for scientific and educational purposes by researchers, diploma and doctoral students of the University of Warsaw and other research institutions, subject to prior permission from the Director and on terms agreed with him.
2. A prerequisite for obtaining permission to conduct scientific research or work in the field of art on the Gardens premises, or to use plant material from the Garden or Herbarium, is to fill in a Record Card for Scientific and Research Work available on the Garden’s website.
3. Priority for the use of the collection and the Herbarium of the Garden for scientific and educational purposes is given to employees, doctoral students and students of the University of Warsaw.
4. The rules for commercial use of the Garden’s premises and its collections are subject to individual agreements with the Director and require his/her written consent.

§ 16

1. Any publication prepared on the basis of the data collected at the Garden or derived from the plant material from the Garden should include information on the origin of the data or the source of the plant material.
2. Persons using the Garden’s data and plant material are obliged to submit copies of works prepared and published on the basis thereof to the Garden’s library. It is permissible to submit copies of works in electronic form.

§ 17

In the course of scientific and educational work, it is possible to use the Garden’s equipment, facilities and transport upon agreeing with the Director on the principles, scope, and timing of their use.

Chapter 6

Final provisions

§ 18

Decisions on matters not laid down in these Regulations are made by the Director, unless separate legal regulations reserve them to the competence of the Dean of the Faculty or the Rector of the University of Warsaw.

§ 19

In situations of force majeure, in particular during a state of emergency or an epidemic threat, the Director may, by his/her decision, temporarily suspend or change some of the rules governing the operation of the Garden.