Doctoral programme

The doctoral programme is based on the development of competences essential from the perspective of a beginning researcher and academic teacher. The doctoral students conduct research in a research team or individually, under the supervision of a PhD supervisor and tutors. They participate in classes that develop key competences, prepare grant applications, and through publications, scientific conferences and internships, they join the international scientific community. Each doctoral student who does not yet have a doctoral degree receives a scholarship.

In the field of social sciences admission is carried out in the following disciplines:

• social and economic geography and spatial management,
• communication and media studies,
• political science and public administration,
• law,
• sociology,
• education,
• psychology.

Qualification criteria

Criterion 1 - Research plan draft 

(up to 12,000 characters with spaces), not including bibliography (literature).

Three experts assess each project – researchers representing the scientific discipline in which the candidate wants to study

Number of points 0-10 (average of experts’ ratings)

Weight of points on the ranking list: 2

Note – The research plan draft is assessed in the first stage of admission. If a candidate obtains 5 points or less from at least 2 of the 3 evaluators is not qualified for any further procedure.

 Assessment criteria

The project should include:

• scientific purpose of the project (scientific problem that the candidate undertakes, research questions and hypotheses) (up to 3 points)
• importance of the project for the discipline (justification for researching this area, novelty of the project) (up to 2 points)
• general research plan (initially indicated stages of the research procedure) (up to 2 points)
• research methodology (methods, techniques, research tools) (up to 2 points)
• literature (up to 30 most important bibliographic items that the candidate intends to use) (up to 1 point)
• if the candidate will be part of the research team, describe their contribution to the research project

Criterion 2 - Interview

The candidate who qualifies for the second stage of the assessment participates in an interview with the area admission committee. The committee comprises two representatives of each scientific discipline belonging to the area (see – Scientific disciplines), one representative of doctoral students, a secretary, and a chairman. All committee members can participate in the interview and ask questions. During the interview, the candidate presents the planned project – the concept of the doctorate. The interview admission may concern the project itself and related issues and issues related to the candidate’s education and experience.

Number of points 0-10 (average of all members of the commission, excluding the secretary)

Weight of points on the ranking list: 5

Note – a candidate who receives less than 6 points in this criterion will not be eligible for the Doctoral School, even if he has a sufficient number of points on the ranking list.

 Assessment elements:

• “defense” of a research project – answers to questions concerning the project presented by the candidate
• knowledge of the research area
• knowledge of the English language
• predisposition to conduct research and present its results.

Criterion 3 - Scientific and artistic achievements

The points obtained in this criterion are counted for the candidate’s final evaluation and announced to the candidates only after the end of the procedure.

Number of points 0-22

Weight of points on the ranking list: 1

Items assessed:

• conference presentations (domestic conference – 1 point, foreign conference, i.e. held abroad – 3 points; max. 3 points)¹
• authorship or co-authorship of publications in publishing houses and magazines from ministerial lists (monograph – 10 pts, chapter in a monograph – 2 pts, article in a journal – 5 pts; max. 12 pts)²
• implementation of a research project financed from external funds (manager – 4 points, contractor – 2 points; max. 4 points)³
• inne osiągnięcia naukowe lub artystyczne (maks. 3 pkt)

Criterion 4 - International experience

Points received in this criteria are counted for the candidate’s final evaluation and announced to the candidates only after passing the procedure.

Number of points 0-8

Weight of points on the ranking list: 1

Assessed elements

• participant in the Erasmus program or other international exchange (max. 3 points)⁴
• projects with foreign research scientists, including internships and foreign scholarships (max. 5 points)⁴

Obligatory method of confirming achievements from Criterion 3 and 4

1 - Confirmation of active participation by the conference organizer.

2 - In the case of the text accepted for publication – confirmation of acceptance for printing (an e-mail from the publishing house or DOI number is sufficient), in the case of a published text – the first page of the article and the table contents with the author’s name.

3 - Project number and financing institution.

4 - Confirmation of the home or cooperating institution

How to calculate the final score

WK = 2 x PP + 5 x RK + 1 x ON + 1 x WM

where PP is the grade for the research plan project, RK is the grade for the interview, ON is the grade for scientific achievements and WM is the grade for international cooperation.