The Research Centre of Buddhist Studies was created in 2008 as a unit of the Faculty of Oriental Studies (previously, Institute of Oriental Studies) of the University of Warsaw. Its name was inspired by the tradition of the Warsaw School of Buddhology established by Prof. Stanis+aw Schayer (1899-1941) and his fellow researchers and students, e.g., Jan Jaworski (1903-1945), Constantin Regamey (1907-1982), Arnold Kunst (1903-1981), and Maryla Falk (1906-1980).
The Research Centre of Buddhist Studies is an interdisciplinary unit created for the purpose of conducting academic research, promoting publication in the field of Buddhist studies, and supporting and co-ordinating projects aimed on the advancement of Buddhist studies. The Centre offers lectures, seminars, courses, and other academic programmes in various areas of Buddhist studies for first- and second-cycle students. It publishes the monographic series Studia Buddhica; its staff edit the Polish Journal of Indian Studies (Studia lndologiczne).
The research at the Centre of Buddhist Studies is focused broadly on the study of Buddhist literature, languages, and cultures in Asia. Its main fields are:
- Ancient India and the origins of Buddhism
- Buddha in legend and history
- Buddhism as a religion and philosophy
- Main concepts and doctrines of Buddhism
- History of Buddhism
- South Asia
- South-East Asia
- Central Asia
- East Asia
- Languages of Buddhism
- Buddhist sources (philology, epigraphy, archaeology, art)
- Manuscripts and prints of Buddhist texts
- Buddhist canon of scriptures
- Buddhist literature
- Schools of Buddhist thought
- Buddhism on the Silk Road and the so-called Buddhist civilization
- Buddhist art
- Buddhist studies (Buddhology, Buddhist philology) as an academic discipline; history of Buddhist studies
- Reception of Buddhism in the West
