University of Silesia in Katowice

1. During the first year of education, under the supervision of the supervisor, PhD candidates prepare an individual research plan (more – individual research plan) and submit it to the Doctoral School by 30 September (this is the deadline for submitting the final document, IPB is initially submitted to the coordinator till June 30).

2. Then the plan is checked and approved by area coordinators and dean at the Doctoral School.

3. PhD candidates submit a report on its implementation in the first year of education.

4. After approval of IRP by the coordinator and dean of the Doctoral School, IRP and the report are scanned and sent to the evaluation committee.

5. After receiving the documents, the chairman of the evaluation committee contacts the other committee members and sets the date of the meeting. Meetings are held online no later than November 20. At the end of the meeting, the chairman agrees with the other members on the content of the minutes and completes it using an online form (below).

1. Meetings of the commission are held remotely no later than November 15 of the year in which the doctoral student submitted IPB. In particularly justified cases, the chairperson of the committee may postpone the meeting of the committee, but no later than 1 December. The chairperson informs the Doctoral School office (szkola.doktorska@us.edu.pl) about the postponement.
2. The chairperson of the committee sets the date of the meeting in consultation with the other members and prepares the online meeting.
3. All members participate in the meeting of the committee. In particularly justified cases, the absence of one member is allowed. The member should deliver a written opinion containing an opinion on IPB and an assessment of the report by the date of the committee meeting at the latest. The presence of the committee chairperson at the meeting is obligatory.
4. At the invitation of the committee chairperson, a doctoral student or a supervisor may participate in a committee meeting or in part of it.
5. Decisions of the committees are taken by an absolute majority of votes.
6. After completing the work of the commission, the chairperson prepares a protocol, which is forwarded in electronic form to the SD office, to the doctoral student and supervisor. The electronic protocol form is available on the SD website (below).
7. The decision of the committee may be appealed against to the Dean of the SD.

1. The evaluation committee gives an opinion on the doctoral student’s individual research plan and may propose changes.
2. The committee assesses the progress of the doctoral student’s research work on the basis of the IPB implementation report. The evaluation can be positive, conditionally positive or negative. If the assessment is conditional, the commission assigns the doctoral student specific tasks along with a deadline for their implementation. After this date, the commission meets with the doctoral student and reassesses their progress. A negative assessment is the basis for deleting a doctoral student.