University of Silesia in Katowice

Link: https://usosweb.us.edu.pl/

Login is handled via the University of Silesia’s Central Authentication System (Centralny System Uwierzytelniania – CAS), which provides access to various university services.

Doctoral students who already have an account from previous studies at the University of Silesia should use their existing login and password. Those who do not yet have an account should be able to log in using the credentials they used for the IRK admissions system; if this does not work, please use the password generation system and enter the email address used for IRK. In case of difficulties, please contact the USOS technical support team (diots@us.edu.pl). Please note that in some cases, access to registration may not be available until October 1st.

Registration for all classes opens on September 29 at 5:00 PM and runs until the end of the day on October 5; for elective and specialized courses, registration remains open until the end of the day on October 8. All registration options are already visible in USOSweb under News -> Registration Calendar -> Doctoral School.

Registration operates on a first-come, first-served basis, but there is no need for intense competition—in almost every case, there are more available spots than interested students (the exceptions being “Higher Education Teaching” (interdisciplinary classes), where the number of spots only slightly exceeds the number of students, with six groups available to choose from).

Certain courses intended for artistic disciplines are excluded from this registration process; interested students are informed about this separately.

Registration strategies will be discussed at the meeting on October 1, but you may register before then. Any registration can be cancelled or modified.

A course designed to improve English language proficiency, with a particular focus on academic communication. These are elective classes, not mandatory. Group placement is based on a prior placement test.

Placement Test: DS Placement Test – Kopiuj formularz

Oferta: 2026-2027Z English course 1

Note: We ask all doctoral students to complete the test, which will allow us to determine your general level of language proficiency. We also encourage you to sign up for this course, which is conducted to a very high standard in small groups and focus on academic topics.

Doctoral students starting their education in the 2026/2027 academic year are subject to the education program (or curriculum) established by Resolution No. 479/2023 of the Senate of the University of Silesia.

Link to the Polish original: https://aktyprawne.us.edu.pl/d/6902/5/ (please select “anonymous login” when accessing the site)

English translation: Curriculum 2026

Please read the document prior to the meeting on October 1st. Completing the program requires independent planning on the doctoral student. Some courses must be completed during the first year, others by the end of the second year (i.e., during either the first or second year), and some by the end of the entire program. Doctoral students decideon their own — though consultation with their supervisor is recommended — how to schedule the completion of the program year by year, taking into account when the competencies gained through specific modules will be required.

In the first year’s winter semester, there are two mandatory modules for doctoral students:

• Research methodology
• Higher education teaching

In addition, in every year of study—including the first—doctoral students participate in a doctoral seminar with their supervisor and undertake professional practice by teaching classes to students. We discuss these aspects in detail during the training session.

30 hours to be completed, consisting of three 10-hour blocks selected from the course offerings. The methodology block list is divided into fields of education, with the following requirements:

Field of social sciences – doctoral students are required to register for the “common core” classes taught by Prof. Agnieszka Turska-Kawa, as well as two additional modules of their choice.

Offer: 2026-2027Z Methodology – social sciences

As all newly admitted doctoral students in social sciences declared education in Polish, the offer is fully in Polish.

Natural Sciences, Exact Sciences, and Engineering & Technology – doctoral students are required to register for the “common core” classes taught by Prof. Robert Hasterok (one group in Polish, one in English), as well as two additional modules of their choice (or one 20-hour module for Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Offer:2026-2027Z Methodology – natural sciences as well as engineering and technology

Most courses may be organized in English if English-language doctoral students register for the course.

Humanities, Theology, and the Arts – doctoral students register for three selected 10-hour blocks; for Theology, the requirement is one 20-hour module and one selected 10-hour module.

Offer for humanities and theology: 2026-2027Z Methodology – humanities and theology

Selected courses are in English.

Doctoral students in artistic disciplines participate in “Artistic research” classes (2026-2027Z Artistic research) instead of “Research Methodology.” Registration is not required for “Artistic research”; students are added to the appropriate groups in the USOS system and should contact the instructors at the beginning of the year to arrange the class schedule individually. PhD students in the humanities, theology, and social sciences may complete part of the research methodology requirement by participating in the “Meta-, Inter- & Trans-Science” international seasonal school (November 23–27); the program and registration open on September 28.

Note: PhD students in the “Implementation Doctorate” program fulfill the methodology requirement by completing:

• one 20-hour module organized specifically for them, and
• a module of their choice relevant to their field of study.

Details regarding their module will be provided in a separate message.

A 20-hour course preparing doctoral students for the role of an academic teacher, which must be completed prior to the start of the professional teaching placement. The course is divided into two parts:

• Interdisciplinary classes aimed at strengthening specific competencies required for conducting classes (12 hours)
• Discipline-specific (faculty-level) workshops providing essential knowledge and an overview of teaching practices within a specific faculty (8 hours)

For the interdisciplinary classes, doctoral students register for a group of their choice—either Polish-language or English-language. For the discipline-specific workshops, doctoral students are required to register for a group corresponding to their specific discipline (in the case of literary studies and linguistics, the division also depends on whether the studies fall under Polish studies or modern philology).

Full offer: 2026-2027Z Teaching in higher education

Academic English (a year-long course): 2026-2027Z Academic English 1

Intellectual property law (course in English): 2026-2027Z Intellectual property law

Facultative courses – a range of courses designed to enhance general academic competencies.

Specialized courses – a range of courses aimed at doctoral candidates in specific disciplines or sub-disciplines, requiring specific prior knowledge and competencies.

Each academic year, the Doctoral School prepares an updated list of elective courses. Some courses are recurring, while others are offered only once or at intervals of several years.

Registration for elective courses takes place during the winter semester and covers the entire academic year, including courses scheduled for the summer. An additional registration round is held before the start of the summer semester—once the schedule is finalized—but courses that were not selected during the initial registration period are removed from the offering.

Full course list with descriptions [publication scheduled for September 28, 2026]