University of Silesia in Katowice

Grant projects might provide a scholarship position for a doctoral student. Some grant programmes, such as the PRELUDIUM BIS NCN, are planned so as to create a position for a student at the Doctoral School. Others, e.g. the OPUS or the MAESTRO NCN grant programmes, provide scholarships for doctoral students as members of teams conducting particular research. In each of these cases, the grant-funded project’s leader ought to contact the School as early as at the stage of planning the competition for the position of doctoral student, in order to avoid misunderstandings and formal errors.

Admission of doctoral students following this path may take place throughout the academic year. It is regulated by the admission resolution, adopted for each academic year by the Senate of the University of Silesia.

The Doctoral School at the University of Silesia designs a special curriculum for those doctoral students whose duties in a grant-funded project render them unable to follow the regular curriculum.

General outline of the procedure:
1. The leader of a grant-based research project opens a competition for a doctoral scholarship after agreeing its terms with the Doctoral School or the Doctoral School opens a competition following a supervisor’s motion. Annoucement is settled on the Doctoral School website. The leader:

• prepares call for applications in Polish and in English (application form in Polish, application form in English)
• presents to the dean of the Doctoral School proposition for a admission commission (form in Polish)

2. The person selected in the competition is admitted to the Doctoral School by decision of the Rector of the University of Silesia.
   3. The dean of the Doctoral School appoints a supervisor following the procedure presented below.

Admission to the Doctoral School by means of a competition takes place once a year, in the summer, and is regulated by a relevant resolution of the Senate of the University of Silesia. Each year, the number of places and their distribution among particular fields of learning is decided separately. Throughout the admission process, the candidate cooperates with a scientific advisor, who may later become their supervisor. The advisor helps the candidate prepare their research proposal and confirms their being prepared to conduct research.

General procedure:

1. The Senate of the University of Silesia decides on the rules of admission to the Doctoral School for given academic year, including the limits of places and the rules of supervisors’ selection. Rules for 2020/2021 admission.
2. The student, assisted by their scientific advisor, prepares a research proposal.
3. The scientific advisor declares whether, should the candidate be admitted to the Doctoral School, they agree to become the student’s supervisor.
4. The scientific advisor must meet the following formal requirements:
   • having earned a doctorate or a higher degree
   • being scientifically active
   • a scientific advisor who declares the willingness to become a supervisor must additionally meet the requirements specified for a supervisor.
5. The Dean of the Doctoral School appoints a supervisor in compliance with the procedure (below).

The Doctoral School coordinates the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (hereinafter MSHE) “Doktorat wdrożeniowy” [Implementation-based Doctorate] programme at the University of Silesia. In the programme, a university admits candidates employed by enterprises or other institutions who seek to conduct their doctoral research basing on a particular implementation at their workplace.

General procedure:

1. The cooperation is initiated by the University or by the enterprise/other institution.
2. The candidate and their potential supervisor prepare a project of an implementation-based doctorate. An opinion of the Scientific Board of a relevant Institute might be required.
3. The Coordinator for implementation-based doctoral students, the candidates and their supervisors prepare an application and submit it to the MSHE.
4. Depending on the MSHE’s decision, an internal competition is organised in order to select the candidates who will receive the scholarships granted by the Ministry.
5. The Dean of the Doctoral School appoints a supervisor in compliance with the procedure (below).

A person who wishes to become a supervisor of a student at the Doctoral School has to:

1. Meet the statutory requirements (art. 190 points 4-6 of the Act on Higher Education and Science), i.e.:
   • has earned the degree of associate professor or professor or, for employees of foreign scientific institutions, a Scientific Board of an Institute relevant for the discipline or an interdisciplinary committee (for Boards not allowed to confer doctorates) decides that the person in question has significant achievements in the field of science to be discussed in the doctoral thesis.
   • in the prior 5 years, has not supervised at least 4 doctoral students expelled due to a negative result of mid-programme evaluation and has not supervised at least two persons applying for a doctorate who did not obtain positive reviews in the doctorate conferring procedure.
2. Be scientifically active.
3. Show up-to-date scientific achievements in the discipline in which the doctoral student has undertaken their studies.

Pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the Doctoral School  (art. 24 point 2), the dean of the Doctoral School appoints a supervisor for a doctoral student after consulting the Scientific Board of an Institute relevant for the discipline in which the student is to prepare their thesis.

Stages of the procedure:

1. A student admitted to the Doctoral School submits to the dean of the Doctoral School an application for appointing a supervisor no later than two weeks from commencing education at the Doctoral School. The application ought to include:
   • the supervisor’s consent
   • the supervisor’s affiliation (name of university and its unit)
   • the discipline or disciplines represented by the supervisors
   • information about the supervisor’s scientific achievements
   • justification for the choice of supervisor
2. Should the doctoral student wish to apply for appointment of more than one supervisor or for appointment of an assistant supervisor, they submit a single application, but enclose separate forms for each of the requested supervisors.
3. The dean conducts an initial analysis of the application and returns it for corrections or requests the relevant Scientific Board’s opinion.
4. Having received the Scientific Board’s opinion, the dean makes the decision of appointing a supervisor or rejects the doctoral student’s application.

Should the doctoral student’s application be rejected, the dean may summon the student to submit a new application or appoint a supervisor of their own choice. Both cases require repeating the procedure described in points 3 and 4..