University of Silesia in Katowice

1. Humanities, Theology and Arts:

• Philosophy,
• History
• Linguistics
• Literary studies
• Culture and Religion Studies,
• Arts Studies
• Polish Studies
• Theology
• Film and Theatre
• Fine Arts and Art Conservation
• Music

2. Natural sciences as well as engineering and technology:

• Computer Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Biological Sciences
• Chemical Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Earth and Related-Environmental Sciences

3. Social Sciences:

• Communication and Media Studies,
• Political Science and Public Administration
• Law
• Sociology
• Education
• Psychology
• Social and Economic Geography and Spatial Management.

Humanities, theology and art – 20 vacancies.

Exact and natural sciences, as well as engineering and technical sciences – 22 vacancies.

Social sciences – 22 vacancies.

The specified limits are not internally divided into disciplines.

At the request of the admission committee, the rector may agree to admit more candidates than the limit.

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). Scales:2.

Note – The research plan draft is assessed in the first stage of admission. If a candidate obtains 6 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

Admission talk

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). Scales: 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

Science 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, Scales: 1

Items assessed:

• conference presentations (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]
• other scientific or artistic achievments (max. 3 points)

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, Scales: 1.

Assessed elements

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

Obligatory method of confirming achievements

[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.

The Admission Committee will be appointed by the Rector.

The admission procedure is carried out electronically. All documents and information are accepted only this way, through the university’s ICT system.

Link to the system: https://irk2.us.edu.pl/en-gb/

The system will be available on

Document templates will be published.

List of necessary documents to be prepared and placed in the IRK system:

1. a copy of the diploma confirming the qualifications referred to in § 1 ; more: Participation in admission before finishing master’s studies),

•  in the absence of a diploma – a certificate of awarding the professional title issued by the institution which awarded the title; in the case of admission of a candidate to the Doctoral School, a copy of the diploma should be provided immediately after its receipt,
•  in the case of graduating from a university abroad, it is required to certify a diploma or other document in the form of legalization or apostille and a sworn translation of the document into Polish or English (if the document was issued in a language other than the languages mentioned above);

2. draft research plan (max. 12 thousand characters with spaces, not including bibliography) – valid form; ordinance 3-2024 – 1b – project-of-the-research-plan-2024
3. written opinion of the scientific employee of the University of Silesia in Katowice who performs the role of a scientific supervisor of the candidate with the consent for being the doctoral student’s supervisor or auxiliary supervisor; the opinion should refer to the candidate’s former performance and their suitability for academic work; ordinance 3-2024 – 2b – opinion of the scientific advisor of the candidate 2024
4. written opinion of an additional academic or researcher with at least a doctoral degree; ordinance 3-2024 – 3b – opinion of an additional academic teacher or reseracher with at least PhD degree 2024
5. list of the candidate’s scientific achievements – valid form; ordinance 3-2024 – 4b – Scientific-achievements-and-international-cooperation-2024
6. documents confirming scientific achievements (information in the form).
   • scientific conferences – confirmation of active participation by the conference organizer
   • published texts – the first page of an article and the table of content with author’s name
   • texts accepted for print – confirmation of acceptance for print (an e-mail from the publishing house or DOI no. will suffice)

Also, during the procedure, the candidate is required to set up an account in the university’s IT system and then:

1. to consent to the processing of personal data to the extent necessary to conduct recruitment;
2. submit a declaration of not completing education at another doctoral school and of unemployment as an academic teacher from October 1, 2023;
3. post an electronic photo following the requirements for issuing ID cards;
4. Fill out the registration form with all required details and information, including:
   • personal and correspondence data of the candidate,
   • correspondence data of the candidate’s, including the e-mail address through which communication with the candidate will take place,
   • information about the scientific discipline in which the candidate intends to prepare a doctoral dissertation,
   • the title of the project that the candidate wants to implement as part of work on the doctoral dissertation,
   • information about the candidate’s research supervisor (name and surname, academic degree or title, affiliation, business e-mail address),
   • the candidate’s ORCID number
5. pay the application fee in the amount of PLN 400;